Going back to the 1930s, the timelines of both the Santa Anita Handicap and Hollywood Gold Cup have featured a plethora of winners. That is of course to be expected, along with the fact that some of the greatest Thoroughbreds have retired as a champion of at least one of the two races.

But the Big 'Cap and Gold Cup share a link due to the fact both races comprise a club reserved for few Thoroughbreds. You might think that the club is for those who have won both races over the course of a career.

Well, you would not be wrong if you came to that conclusion. It is true, not very many horses have won both races, and that naturally makes for a truly unique and admirable accomplishment.

But it goes even deeper. There is another club even more exclusive than that one. If a horse is to become a member, one requirement must be fulfilled.

Obviously, a horse must win both the Big 'Cap and Gold Cup. But it has to be done in the same year.

Suddenly, that list narrows greatly. And you will find a select few that have scored the double throughout California racing's history.

But who was the first to do so? Was it Affirmed in 1979? Or maybe Ack Ack during his 1971 Horse of the Year campaign? Or perhaps Noor during his memorable 1950 season?

All three achieved that classic double in one year, but you will have to go all the way back to 1939 to discover the group's charter member.

He is not an obscure horse, either. If you are a Seabiscuit fan, then you have likely heard of him. The reason why? They were stablemates, and they ran one-two in the 1940 Big 'Cap.

That horse was Kayak II.

Bred in Argentina, this son of Congaree knew how to be consistent. And even better, he knew how to win. He finished third or better in every start prior to the 1939 Big 'Cap, and had two wins and a third place in three starts during Santa Anita's winter meet that year before he even tried the "Hundred Grander." His excellent form gave him favorite status as part of a coupled entry with Sorteado.

Sent off at 3-1, Kayak II never stayed very far from the front as Whichcee, who was no stranger to the circuit, composed the tempo out front. But Kayak II kept his strong Santa Anita campaign going, getting up in time to become the fifth winner of the Big 'Cap as owner Charles Howard and trainer Tom Smith celebrated their first of three wins in the famed race. Jockey John Adams had a big day as well, capturing his first of two wins in the event.

After staying idle throughout the entire spring, Kayak II showed up at Hollywood Park in the summer. He took the one and one-eighth mile American Handicap on July 4, and that prepared him for a start in the second Hollywood Gold Cup. Howard and Smith already knew the exhilaration of winning that race, for they saw Seabiscuit win the inaugural running one year earlier.

The Biscuit was favored to win the Gold Cup, and Kayak II succeeded him as the chalk for 1939. He also had a much smaller field to contend with than he did in the Big 'Cap, battling just six rivals at Hollywood Park as opposed to fifteen at Santa Anita. Among the horses doing battle with him was Whichcee, who had a chance to avenge his defeat from over three months earlier. Could he turn the tables?

Just like he did over Santa Anita's main track, Whichcee took charge early in the ten furlong contest. And just like in the Big 'Cap, Kayak II stayed within striking distance of the leader. He did not have Adams aboard this time; instead, he had the winning rider from the 1938 Gold Cup in George "The Iceman" Woolf. The duo did not wait for the stretch to get the lead. No, they had it after six furlongs, and they had it at the wire.

Kayak II defeated the field handily to take the Hollywood Gold Cup, and that made him the very first horse to sweep both that race and the Santa Anita Handicap in the same year. The races may have been months apart, but being able to win at a mile and one-quarter is a very special skill to have. And Kayak II handled the distance while achieving something truly special.

Sweeping Southern California's two biggest races played an instrumental role in Kayak II winning Top Handicap Horse honors for 1939. But time has shown he forged his status as a legend of the sport, and certainly in California. Eleven years went by before another horse won the Big 'Cap and Gold Cup in the same year, with Noor pulling off the feat in his 1950 Horse of the Year campaign. And as of the 2021 season, only six other horses have been able to match what Kayak II did.

When you consider all the horses that have won the Big 'Cap or Gold Cup, it is an amazing number of Thoroughbreds. That also goes for the horses who have claimed trophies in both races. That is a hallmark of the stamina they possessed in their careers. But to capture the Big 'Cap and Gold Cup in the same year? Amazing, epic, spectacular, tremendous. Every one of those words can describe that accomplishment.

And it all began with Kayak II.