Miss Woodford was born in 1880 and her final race record was 48: 37-7-2. She was the first U.S. horse to earn over $100,000 during her career. She was owned by Mike and Phil Dwyer of Dwyer Brother Stables, and she was meant to replace their retired champion and relative of Violet and Hailee, Hindoo. They loved racing and not breeding, so she ran for a long time! She was born near Paris, Kentucky and was a daughter of Billet who was imported from England and a leading sire in America in 1883. Her dam, Fancy Jane, never raced. She ran for over 5 seasons, against the finest colts of her day, even at long distances of 2 1/2 miles. She was the American Champion Older Female in 1884-1886 from ages 4-6, and, in fact, she earned 7 Eclipse Awards, one division title for each year she ran, and two Horse of the Year Honors!!! She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1967. When she was 3, 4, and 5, she won 16 consecutive races and was a national hero. She even won the Pimlico Stakes during that streak as a 3 year-old. She even beat the colt, George Kinney, who had won the Belmont Stakes. She was trained by James G. Rowe, a Hall of Famer. Five Hall of Fame trainers thought that she was one of the best fillies of all time. And in an American Trainers Association poll in 1955, she was voted 5th greatest filly in American racing history, with Gallorette voted first. She was so hip that she has her own race named after her, Miss Woodford Stakes, which is run each August at Monmouth Park Racetrack -- it's a race for 3-year-old fillies and mares. Of course, my girls are related to her through several shared relations, including the following: Glencoe, Touchstone, Hambletonian, Waxy, Eclipse, and Pot8os. You can read more about this truly stellar filly at the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Woodford_(horse)
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Woodford_Stakes
or
http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/Billet.html
or
http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/Champs/AmChampOlderFemale.html
or
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/trainer.asp?ID=285