The 30-to-1 Kentucky Derby Longshot Buried in a Broome County Pet Cemetery

There's a Kentucky Derby winner buried in the Town of Binghamton, and his name was Exterminator.

He was not a person. He was a horse nicknamed “Old Bones” because he was lanky, awkward-looking, and not much to look at standing still. But once Exterminator started running, he became one of the toughest and most accomplished Thoroughbreds of his era.

More than 80 years after his death, the 1918 Kentucky Derby winner is still buried at Whispering Pines Pet Cemetery on Gardner Road in the Town of Binghamton.

Bought as a $9,000 Workhorse to Train Another Racer

Exterminator was born in Kentucky in 1915 and sold as a yearling for $1,500. In 1918, Willis Sharpe Kilmer bought him for a reported $9,000.

Kilmer did not buy Exterminator because he thought he had found the next Kentucky Derby winner. According to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Kilmer saw Exterminator as a work horse to help train his much more highly regarded colt, Sun Briar.

Sun Briar was expected to run in the 1918 Kentucky Derby but was not entered after training poorly. That left Exterminator to represent Kilmer.

He had not raced in almost 10 months and had never run farther than six furlongs. He went into the Derby as a 30-to-1 longshot.

The 30-to-1 Longshot That Shocked Churchill Downs

On May 11, 1918, Exterminator won the Kentucky Derby by one length over Escoba.

The victory put him in the national spotlight, but it was only the beginning. Exterminator raced until he was 9 years old, an unusually long career for a top-level racehorse. He finished with 50 wins from 100 starts and career earnings of $252,996, according to the Racing Hall of Fame.

He was named Champion Older Male Horse in 1920, 1921, and 1922. In 1922, he was also named Horse of the Year.

Carrying 135 Pounds to Defeat Future Hall of Famers

Exterminator didn't just win races. He beat some of the best horses of his time.

In the 1922 Brooklyn Handicap at Aqueduct, Exterminator carried 135 pounds and defeated future Hall of Famer Grey Lag by a head. Grey Lag carried 126 pounds.

That was a huge moment for a horse many people had initially dismissed because of his lean build and strange appearance. Exterminator also set two world records in 1920, including one in the Saratoga Cup and another in the Autumn Gold Cup.

He may have looked like a longshot, but Exterminator became one of racing’s great distance runners.

Retiring to Binghamton With His Companion Ponies

After retiring in 1924, Exterminator lived at Kilmer’s Sun Briar Court in Binghamton. The Racing Hall of Fame says he spent his retirement with a succession of companion ponies, all named Peanuts.

Exterminator died on September 26, 1945, at age 30. He was buried in Binghamton beside his old stablemate, Sun Briar.

The horse was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1957, but his final resting place is not in Kentucky, Saratoga, or at Churchill Downs.

It's right in Broome County.

Where Exterminator Is Buried in the Town of Binghamton

The former LaFrance Pet Cemetery on Gardner Road in the Town of Binghamton is now known as Whispering Pines Pet Cemetery. The cemetery identifies Exterminator as one of its notable residents and calls him Binghamton’s hero.

A horse bought as a training partner for another racer went on to win the Kentucky Derby, defeat future Hall of Famers, set world records, and become Horse of the Year. Then he spent his final years in Binghamton and was buried here after his death.

Get our free mobile app

For a place most people drive past without thinking twice, that is a pretty incredible story.