Venetian Way was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 best known for winning the 1960 Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

. Bred in Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 by John W. Greathouse, he was purchased by Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 businessman Isaac Blumberg who raced him under the nom de course of Sunny Blue Farm.

Venetian Way was trained by Victor J. Sovinski of Kankakee, Illinois

Kankakee, Illinois

Kankakee is a city in Kankakee County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 25,561, and 26,840 as of a 2009 estimate. It is the county seat of Kankakee County...

. At age two, the colt made nine starts winning four times. Of his eleven starts at age three, he earned three more wins. Leading up to the 1960 U.S. Triple Crown series, Venetian Way ran second to Bally Ache

Bally Ache

Bally Ache was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won one of the American Classics in 1960 but died shortly afterwards. In her book American Classic Pedigrees , author Avalyn Hunter wrote that Bally Ache was "a crowd favorite" who "won hearts by his sheer determination."Bally Ache was bred by...

 in the Florida Derby

Florida Derby

The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida on the Saturday closest to the end of March or the first of April. Added to the racing schedule in 1952, the Grade 1 race is run at 1⅛ miles on the dirt...

. He was sent off as the third parimutuel betting

Parimutuel betting

Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vig" is removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets...

 choice in the Kentucky Derby behind favorite Tompion

Tompion

Tompion was an American Thoroughbred race horse owned by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. Immaculately bred, Tompion was the son of the Hall of Fame horse Tom Fool. His damsire was Count Fleet, the 1943 U.S. Triple Crown champion.Trained by Robert L...

 and second choice, Bally Ache.

1960 Triple Crown

Ridden in the Kentucky Derby by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

 jockey

Jockey

A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

, Bill Hartack

Bill Hartack

William John Hartack Jr. was a Hall of Fame jockey. He was born in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania.Referred to by the media as both "Bill" and "Willie" during his racing career, Hartack grew up on his widowed father's farm in the Blacklick...

, Venetian Way remained within striking distance then passed Bally Ache as they came around the final turn heading into the homestretch and won going away by 3½ lengths. In the ensuing Preakness Stakes

Preakness Stakes

The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

, Venetian Way finished fifth to winner, Bally Ache, and then ran second behind Celtic Ash

Celtic Ash

Celtic Ash was an English-bred Thoroughbred racehorse raised in Ireland who is best known for winning an American Classic Race. Bred by Lord Harrington, he was out of the mare Ash Plant and sired by Sicambre, the Leading sire in France in 1966. On the advice of Irish-born trainer Tom Barry, Celtic...

 in the longest of the Triple Crown races, the 1½ mile Belmont Stakes

Belmont Stakes

The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...

.

Retired to stud

Stud (animal)

A stud animal is a registered animal retained for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species usually imply that the animal is entire—that is, not castrated—and therefore capable of siring offspring...

for the 1965 season, Venetian Way was not successful as a sire.