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Certain (horse)

American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 2, 2026
Entity authorityQ16956489 ↗
Source-derived summary

Certain (foaled 1996 in Florida) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. His sire was Out of Place and his grandsire was Cox's Ridge. Conditioned for racing by two trainers, Leo Azpurua Jr and Terry J. Brennan, Certain had three wins and two second places in five starts at age two. His best winning performance was in the grade three What a Pleasure Stakes. His three-year-old debut was an allowance win over The Groom is Red and Cryptodiplomacy, both owned by basketball coach Rick Pitino. Certain's next race was the Fountain of Youth Stakes where he finished third by one length behind winner Vicar and second Cat Thief. His next race was in the Florida Derby where he finished fourth.

1999 Arkansas Derby

In 1999, Certain went to Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas to run in the Arkansas Derby, against the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Champion Answer Lively, and Valhol, a 30-1 long shot in the race. Valhol won this race with Certain in second place and Answer Lively in fifth place; however, after the race, Valhol's jockey Billy Patin was accused of using or carrying an electrical stimulating device, after video footage from ESPN showed him dropping something on the ground and grounds keepers found a battery pack on the track. A stewards inquiry was set in motion, and a year later, Certain was declared the winner of the 1999 Arkansas Derby, with the winner's share of the $500,000 prize money given to his owners.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Certain (horse)” is american-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Certain, horse and American-bred, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1996, 1999—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1996. For this dossier, Certain, horse and American-bred is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “american-bred Thoroughbred racehorse” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16956489. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1996 and 1999.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Certain (horse)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Certain (horse) primary sources, Certain (horse) archive and Certain research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Certain (horse)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.