One-eyed longshot Society Joe wins 2024 Puss N Boots Cup at Fort Erie Race Track

Brent Jones
September 4, 2024 at 3:58 AM

Society Joe, a horse with only one eye, shocked spectators and competitors alike by winning the 2024 Puss N Boots Cup at Fort Erie Race Track on Labour Day. The horse, owned and trained by longtime Fort Erie participant Gary Chudobiak, entered the $30,000 stakes race as a 40-1 longshot.

“He wasn’t supposed to win,” Chudobiak admitted after the unexpected victory. Before this race, Society Joe had only five wins in 40 starts, making Monday’s triumph even more surprising.

“At those odds, it was a real longshot,” said Chudobiak, who, despite the horse’s modest track record, decided to enter Society Joe in the race on a whim.

“Once I looked at the field, I thought, well, we’re not totally out of our class here, but I still knew it was going to be tough, so we made a few tweaks, a couple little changes, and it worked out,” he explained.

“Now everyone is calling him the one-eyed wonder horse.”

During the race, Society Joe spent much of the time running in the middle of the pack. However, with about an eighth of a mile remaining, jockey Amanda Vandermeersch urged the horse into third place.

Jockey Amanda Vandermeersch celebrates after steering Society Joe to victory in the Puss N Boots Cup, sending owner Gary Chudobiak for the traditional pond plunge. Credit: Michael Burns Photography

In the final yards before the finish line, Society Joe made a decisive move, surging past the two leading horses to clinch the victory.

As is tradition for the Puss N Boots Cup, Chudobiak took the customary plunge into the infield pond to celebrate the win, honouring the race’s quirky namesake.

The Puss N Boots Cup is named after a horse that famously jumped into the infield pond while leading a race in 1961.

The tradition of the winning connections taking a swim began when owner Robert Elkins promised to jump into the lake if his horse, Dancing for Beans, won the race. Since then, the annual plunge has become a beloved ritual at the race track.

This year, Kim Merrill, daughter of Puss N Boots’ trainer Frank Merrill, attended the race and presented the trophy to Chudobiak.

“My dad would be so proud to know that Fort Erie is still doing this, all these years later,” she said.

The next event at Fort Erie Race Track is the Prince of Wales Stakes, scheduled for September 10, with the first post time set for 1 p.m.