Zev was an American

United States

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

 thoroughbred horse racing

Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

 champion.

Background

A brown colt, Zev was sired by The Finn

The Finn

The Finn was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that is best remembered as the winner of the 1915 Belmont Stakes and as the sire of Zev and Flying Ebony, the respective winners of the 1923 and 1925 Kentucky Derbies. The Finn was foaled in Lexington, Kentucky at Hamburg Place, the stud farm of John...

 out of the mare Miss Kearney (by Planudes). Bred by the famous horseman John E. Madden

John E. Madden

John Edward Madden was a prominent AmericanThoroughbred and Standardbred owner, breeder and trainer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He owned Hamburg Place Stud in Lexington, Kentucky and bred five Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winners.He was inducted into the National...

, Zev was owned by the Rancocas Stable

Rancocas Stable

Rancocas Farm was an American thoroughbred horse racing stud farm and racing stable located on Monmouth Road in Springfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, Jobstown, New Jersey....

 of Harry F. Sinclair

Harry F. Sinclair

Harry Ford Sinclair was an American oil industrialist.-Early life:Harry Sinclair was born in Benwood, West Virginia, now a suburb of the city of Wheeling. Sinclair grew up in Independence, Kansas. The son of a pharmacist, after finishing high school, he entered the pharmacy department of the...

, the founder of Sinclair Oil

Sinclair Oil

Sinclair Oil Corporation is an American petroleum corporation, founded by Harry F. Sinclair on May 1, 1916 as the Sinclair Oil & Refining Corporation by combining the assets of 11 small petroleum companies. Originally a New York corporation, Sinclair Oil reincorporated in Wyoming in 1976...

, who was a central figure in the Teapot Dome scandal

Teapot Dome scandal

The Teapot Dome Scandal was a bribery incident that took place in the United States in 1922–23, during the administration of President Warren G. Harding. Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome and two other locations to private oil companies at low...

, and served time in prison.

Sinclair named the horse Zev in honor of his friend and personal lawyer, Colonel James William (also known as J.W.) Zevely.

1922: Two-year-old season

Trained by Sam Hildreth

Sam Hildreth

Samuel Clay Hildreth was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer and owner.Born in Independence, Missouri, Sam Hildreth began his training career in 1887, competing at racetracks in the Midwestern United States with such horses as the good racemare Hurley Burley, the dam of...

, as a two-year-old Zev won five of his twelve races, finished second on four occasions, and was a leading colt of 1922.

1923: Three-year-old season

The following year he was the dominant three-year-old in America, winning a number of important Grade I

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

 stakes races under jockey Earl Sande

Earl Sande

Earl H. Sande was an American Hall of Fame jockey and thoroughbred horse trainer.Born in Groton, South Dakota, Earl Sande started out as a bronco buster in the early 1900s but then became a successful American quarter horse rider before switching to thoroughbred horse racing in 1918...

. Included in his victories were the Lawrence Realization Stakes

Lawrence Realization Stakes

The Lawrence Realization Stakes was an American horse race first run on the turf in 1889. The race, for three-year-old Thoroughbred colts, geldings and fillies, was last run in 2005.-History:...

 and the most prestigious race in the United States, the 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...

, for which David J. Leary was credited as trainer, as he was for the 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...

, which was run before the Kentucky Derby in 1923. Zev encountered problems in the Preakness and finished a disappointing 12th, but came back to win the Derby and then the 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...

.

On October 20, 1923, one of the most significant match race

Match race

A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.The term may be best known as a race between two sailing boats racing around a course...

s in worldwide thoroughbred racing took place at Belmont Park

Belmont Park

Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...

 on Long Island

Long Island

Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. A crowd estimated at close to 50,000 watched Zev easily beat Epsom Derby

Epsom Derby

The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...

 winner Papyrus

Papyrus (horse)

Papyrus was a British Thoroughbred racehorse bred in Ireland. Out of the mare Miss Matty, he was sired by Tracery whose sire was Rock Sand....

 by five lengths. Zev's victory marked the first time a Kentucky Derby winner defeated an English Derby winner. Later that season, Zev won another match race, this one against In Memoriam. His performances in 1923 earned Zev the unofficial titles Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year-Old Male.

1924: Four-year-old season

After successfully campaigning as a four-year-old, Zev retired as racing's all-time leading money earner, surpassing Man O' War's record.

Stud career

At stud, he proved less successful than he had on the track, at best siring two minor stakes winners (Zevson and Zida).

In 1983, Zev was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and 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...

. In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, he was accorded 56th place.