Despite not even being on track, the great Cal-bred Swaps managed to be a presence at the 1963 Kentucky Derby. In fact, he was able to do so thanks to two of the top three horses in the race that year: Chateaugay and Candy Spots.

By extension, that means Southern California became part of that trifecta as well. And that is actually quite ironic, because only one of those Thoroughbreds happened to race in the Southland.

Chateaugay never made a start at Del Mar, Hollywood Park or Santa Anita, but he was the son of the legendary Cal-bred Swaps. And like his father eight years earlier, Chateaugay got the mile and one-quarter distance under the Twin Spires to make himself eligible for the Triple Crown.

Finishing third in that year's Run for the Roses was a California-bred named Candy Spots. A grandson of Khaled, who fathered Swaps, he was owned and bred by Rex Ellsworth and trained by Mesh Tenney. Both men were part of the connections of the chestnut wonder who took his home state by storm in the mid-1950s, and the two found themselves back at Churchill Downs less than a decade letter as part of North America's biggest race. That group also included Bill Shoemaker, who rode Swaps many times and was now piloting the offspring of the grand equine.

Candy Spots went into the Derby off wins in the Florida and Santa Anita Derbies, while Chateaugay prevailed in the Blue Grass Stakes before venturing to Louisville. The latter got the big prize, but runner-up Never Bend and Candy Spots were not far behind at the wire.

That marked the first time Candy Spots met defeat. But he was issued a chance to settle the score two weeks later at Pimlico Race Course.

The two met up again in the Preakness Stakes on May 18. Now the only horse with a chance to sweep the Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, Chateaugay also had the opportunity to win the two spring classics his father never did. Candy Spots went in with the possibility of getting his own piece of Triple Crown glory as well as atoning for the recent blemish on his record. Shoemaker was back on for the Preakness, while Braulio Baeza retained the mount on Chateaugay.

Favored to win the Derby, Candy Spots again saw himself take the most win money at the windows, getting odds of 1.50-1 (the same as in Louisville). Chateaugay, who went off at 9-1 when leaving the gate two weeks earlier, was installed around 3-1 for the Preakness. He was the third choice behind Candy Spots and Never Bend, who took part in the rematch at a price of 9-5.

The public saw the Preakness as being a three-horse race, with none of the other five competitiors given any kind of a chance to win. And they ended up being proven right in the sense that one of the three principals indeed got to the wire first.

They all started the Preakness the way they began the Derby. Never Bend set the early pace at Pimlico, but Candy Spots was not far behind. He traveled in third place while Chateaugay watched the action from the back. This continued for a while, but Never Bend no longer had the lead in the stretch.

Candy Spots did.

But Chateaugay had made his way past the field, including Candy Spots. All that stood between him and a shot at the Triple Crown now was his rival from a fortnight ago. Could he finish the rally and become the eighth horse to complete racing's most sought after sweep?

On that day, he could not. Candy Spots would not take defeat for a second straight race. He and Shoemaker beat Cheateaugay and Baeza to the wire as Candy Spots became the first horse to win both the Santa Anita Derby and Preakness Stakes. Following them home was Never Bend, giving the top three horses in the Kentucky Derby another sweep in the Preakness.

After not entering Swaps in 1955, Ellsworth and Tenney now had two Triple Crown races in their possession. As for Shoemaker, he enjoyed his first win in the middle jewel of the series.

And for Swaps, he became part of the race he never even competed in as a three-year-old, just like two weeks earlier. He ended up doing so again in the Belmont as Chateaguay rebounded to win the twelve-furlong contest. And who finished second? None other than Candy Spots.

But Candy Spots earned his big moment in a classic event, and it would not be the last time he won a race, either. He would go on to have a productive career.

But his biggest victory came in Maryland, and that sent him into California racing history as he joined the club of Cal-breds to triumph in a Triple Crown race.