Whimsical and My Girls!

The second filly to ever win the Preakness Stakes was Whimsical in 1906, a few years after the first winner, Flocarline. I think the New York Times captured the spirit of her win with this headline: "Whimsical easily won the Preakness Stake, T.J. Gaynor's Filly Made her Own Pace and Romped in First." The text of the news item said that she was strong through the whole race and took command going in front of the stands, whereupon she "galloped in front at her ease." Another filly was in that race too, Flip Flap, and was also a powerful runner. I love the names of both these girls!

The Whimsical Stakes for older mares at Pimlico Race Course is named after her and raced on Preakness weekend.

Whimsical is listed as having one son, Whimsy out of Burgomaster. My girls are related to her through her sire, Orlando, and from her mother, Kismet, they share Hindoo, Touchstone, and Voltigeur. I couldn't find a picture of her, so you can have one of my darling Rory and Jackie.

The Fabulous Beldame and my girls!!

August Belmont bred Beldame at his farm near Lexington, Kentucky. He leased her to a friend of his, Newton Bennington, because he was very busy building Belmont Park and the New York City Subway system. Also, he was irritated with Beldame's trainer who refused to take Belmont's worries about a skin condition she suffered seriously. I can relate! Poor Belmont worried that she had shingles and the trainer couldn't care less! Anyway, under Bennington at age 3, she was magnificent (as reported in the Blood Horse Top 100 Race Horses of the 20th Century publication). In 14 starts, she only lost twice to much older boys, and she was winning at short and long distances. She was a macho machine!!! But she did love a little snack or two -- every day she liked to nosh on corn cobs!! In 1904, she spanked very famous boys in the Saratoga Cup, and in that year, she even beat Broomstick in another race. She was all about the business of beating the boys! And she was only the third filly to win over $100,000. She was so white hot in her third year that she was severely weighted and handicapped in her fourth year. Belmont and Bennington thought that was not fair to their super girl, so they let her retire early in triumphant style! She was the Eclipse Horse of the Year winner in 1904, voted #98 of the top 100 race horses of the 20th century, and was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1956 . She also has the Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park as an honor!! My girls are related to her through Bend Or, Touchstone, Pocahontas, Macaroni, and Stockwell. You can read more about this high-powered, trouble-making, boy-spanking girl at the following links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beldame
or
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=27
or
http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/beldame.html

Lord Lyon and my Girls!!

Both my girls are related to Lord Lyon, the third British Triple Crown winner in history, in 1866. He started 21 times and won 18 of them. He was a good stallion, and his influence is felt through his kid Minting. He also was the leading earner among the famous Stockwell's progeny. My girls are related to him through his dad, Stockwell, and through Touchstone. In the racing painting, Harry Hall is the artist depicting Lord Lyon's win in the St. Leger! Actually, it represents Sir Sutton's Lord Lyon winning against Lord Ailesbury's Savernake! Here are two cool things about his name. There is a pub named after him in the heart of racing country in England!! And the Lord Lyon Court is the Scottish administrative unit that controls all badges and heraldry!! You can read more about him and his bar and his royal badges at the following links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_the_Lord_Lyon

or

http://www.heraldry-scotland.co.uk/lyoncourt.html

or

http://www.lordlyon.com/

or

http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/Stockwell.html

Touchstone and my Girls!

Both my girls are related to Touchstone, one of the most influential sires of the 19th century and a 4x leader on the sire lists! When he was grown, he was only 15.2 hands with a too long back. When he ran, he was very odd-looking with his hocks turned out and his knees super straight. He would veer if the jockey used the whip, and he'd start slow, but once he got going, his jockey could not pull him down. He favored long races where he "could stay forever." And at exercise, the Thoroughbred Gallery reports that "he was very lazy, and could hardly be kicked along!" During his career, he won the Ascot Gold Cup twice, the St. Leger Stakes, and the Doncaster. He features in this painting by John Frederick Herring. Among the ways my girls are related to him, Hailee has one of his kids, Flatcatcher, and Violet has Orlando! The Sir Dixon line carries Touchstone. You can read more about Touchstone at the following link:
http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/Touchstone.html

Miss Woodford and My Girls

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

My Girls are Ruthless!!!

Ruthless was a filly out of Eclipse and Barbarity. She was the first of 5 fillies from that combination. Her sisters included Relentless, Remorseless, Regardless, and Merciless. They were collectively called The Barbarous Battalion!. Ruthless was the first horse to win the Belmont Stakes in 1867, and one of only 2 fillies who have ever won the Belmont in over 100 years of the race's history. She was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1975, and has a race named after her at Aqueduct called "The Ruthless." Hailee and Violet are related to this macho girl through the following horses (and others): Orlando, Whalebone, Touchstone, Bay Middleton, Selim, Camel, and, of course, Eclipse! You can read more about this Belmont Girl at the following links:

http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=129

http://saratogaracing.com/Aqueduct/stakes/Ruthless.html