Little Current (April 5, 1971 – January 19, 2003) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the final two legs of the 1974 U.S. Triple Crown both the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. Background Owned and bred by John W. Galbreath's Darby Dan Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, he was out of the mare Luiana and sired by the great European champion Sea-Bird, whose Timeform rating at 145 is the second highest in racing history, surpassed only by Frankel's 147. John Galbreath and his wife owned a summer retreat at Manitoulin Island on the north shore of Lake Huron in Ontario, Canada. In 1969, they named one of their new foals Manitoulin. Sired by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Tom Rolfe, the colt raced for the Galbreaths in Ireland, where at the famous Curragh Racecourse he won the 1972 Royal Whip Stakes and Blandford Stakes. In 1971, the Galbreaths named another new foal for their summer home, this time for the island's town of Little Current. 1973: Two-Year-Old Season Trained by Lou Rondinello and ridden by Ángel Cordero Jr., Little Current made four starts at age two but despite his breeding, showed little promise. Wintered in Florida, at age three Little Current prepared for the 1974 Kentucky Derby. He won two of his first five races that spring, including the 1⅛ miles Everglades Stakes at Hialeah Park. Entered in the Blue Grass Stakes, under new rider Miguel Rivera he finished fourth to Claiborne Farm's Judger. Trained by Woody Stephens, Judger went to the gate in the Kentucky Derby as the betting favorite. The 1974 U.S. Triple Crown Series Kentucky Derby One year earlier, Thoroughbred racing had witnessed Secretariat captivate much of the American public with his record-breaking performances en route to becoming the first Triple Crown winner in twenty-five years. One of the spillovers from Secretariat's enormous popularity was the record crowd of 163,628 who showed up at Churchill Downs on May 4, 1974, for the 100th running of the Kentucky Derby. Among those in attendance were Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret and her husband, Lord Snowden. In light of Little Current's performances leading up to the 1¼-mile Derby, he was given little consideration by the betting public and was sent off at more than 22-1 odds. Because jockey Miguel Rivera had earlier committed to ride Rube The Great in the Derby, Bobby Ussery was aboard Little Current in