Gallant Fox and my Girls!

Here's a photo of Gallant Fox, the second Triple Crown winner in history (1930) when he was a baby. He is standing with his mom, Marguerite. His dad is Violet and Hailee's own Sir Gallahad! He raced17 times for a final record of 11, 3, 2. He was owned by William Woodward and under his care won the Wood Memorial by 4 lengths over a field of classic hopefuls, beat 14 other horses to win the Kentucky Derby, won the Arlington Classic, and won the Saratoga Cup. He lost the Travers Stakes to a 100-1 shot, Jim Dandy, the same track where Man 'O War lost to Upset. Gallant Fox and Man 'o War's losses at Saratoga were part of the reason why that track is called "The Graveyard of Champions!" He ended his race career as a top money-earner, a 3 year-old Champion of the Year! He retired where he was born, at Claiborne Farms, where in his very first foal crop, he produced Omaha the next Triple Crown winner. He is blessed as the only Triple Crown winner to sire another Triple Crown winner!!! When he passed, they buried him next to his mom and dad (my girls' relatives). Gallant Fox was voted #28 of the Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th century and was inducted into the National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame in 1957. You can learn more about him at the following links, including seeing some really great film footage of his wins at the Youtube site! They are hilarious because they talk about his "gregarious" style of racing. He liked to be in the pack or come up from behind. Though he could beat horses by lengths, he just generally liked running along with his pals!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvXXNoyIYRQ&NR=1
or

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

or

http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=77

or

http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/gallantfox.html

or

http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/SirGallahad.html#GallantFox

Fabulous Saratoga Race Track

Saratoga Race Track was opened in Saratoga Springs, New York on August 3, 1863. It is the oldest sporting event in the United States. In fact, Saratoga holds the Travers Stakes, continuosly running since 1864, the oldest horse race in the U.S.! You will remember the Travers Stakes because that's the one where Violet's relative, Jaipur, beat Ridan in one of the Top 100 moments in racing history!! Saratoga has a 6 week meet and holds many races, some of the most important being the Woodward, Travers, and Whitney! Saratoga is nicknamed "The Spa" and "Graveyard of Favorites." It earned the latter nickname because some pretty famous horses lost there. Man o' War lost his only race against Upset, Secretariat lost his only race to Onion, and Gallant Fox lost his only race to Jim Dandy. Tough to be a favorite and a champion at Saratoga!!! Anyway, here's a photo of Saratoga, and then here's a 2005 photo of Angel Cordero, always a Saratoga favorite, riding Afleet Alex, Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner, at an end-of-career party for Alex. If you want to read more about this historically significant race track, check out the following links:

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

or

http://www.nyra.com/index_saratoga.html

or

http://www.nyfolklore.org/pubs/voic29-1-2/saratoga.html

Whisk Broom and my Girls!

My girls are related to the famous Whisk Broom II, born in 1907 to Broomstick and Audience. Audience was sired by the 1888 Belmont Stakes winner, Sir Dixon, and her dam was sired by Hindoo, a major stakes winner and Kentucky Derby winner. Whisk Broom was born at the Kentucky Horse Park, then called Senorita Farms, and was sent to England to race. In Great Britain, he won the Prince of Wales Plate, the Trial Stakes, Select Stakes, Peril of the Peak, Victoria Cup, and came third in the 2,000 Guineas. When he came to the United States, he raced only three times, but won the most difficult Triple Crown of Racing, the New York Handicap Triple Crown -- the Metropolitan, Suburban Handicap and Brooklyn Handicap. Only Tom Fool and Fit to Fight ever duplicated this amazing feat of winning the Handicap Triple Crown! In his last race ever, he carried a staggering 139 lbs to the second place horse's 112 lbs and still set a scorching track record!!! His final race record was 26: 10-7-1 for total earnings of $47.931. He won the 1913 U.S. Horse of the Year Award and U.S. Champion Handicap Horse of the Year, and the U.S. Handicap Triple Crown. In retirement, he sired 163 foals with 23 stakes winners for a stakes percentage of 16%. He was inducted into the National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame in 1979. Among his children, he sired Upset, the only horse to deliver Man 'O War a defeat. He also foaled the Kentucky Derby winner, Whiskery, and Whiskaway, as well as the Preakness winner, Victorian, who was the damsire of Seabiscuit. You can visit him in his family cemetary at C.V. Whitney Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. He is related to both Hailee and Violet. An obvious connection for Hailee is in her Bim-a-Nick line, where Whisk Broom produced the sire John P. Grier. This is a pretty interesting line -- Whisk Broom and Fair Play were the sires of horses crossed to produce Algeria who was bred to Bubbling Over to produce Airegla to be bred to Bimelech to produce Sir Bim. For Violet, you can see Whisk Broom in her Boodle line where his son John P. Grier is crossed with the famous mare Elf to produce Boojum. You can read more about the fabulous, tough, world-travelling, Triple Crown winning sweetheart at the following links:

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

or

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

or

http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/Graves/cem/GraveMattersWhitney.html

or

http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=160

or

http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/whisk.html

Man 'O War and My Girls!

Man 'O War is the #1 race horse of the 20th century. Stories about him are legendary. He is buried at the Kentucky Horse Park. One story says that he passed away of heartbreak within a month of his groom's Will Harbut's death. And why not, since Mr. Harbut really understood his Man 'O War. Mr. Harbut once said, "That's Manny Wah. When he wants to git up, he gits up. When he wants to lie down, he lies down." Man 'O War raced 21 times, winning 20 of them. He only lost to Upset on a non-gate start. He was being turned to face the line-up and the bell went off. He had his back to the track when the other horses ran. He won the Preakness and Belmont, but never had a chance to win the Triple Crown because his owner, Mr. Samuel Riddle, didn't like Kentucky and didn't think 2 year olds should run so early in the season. He changed his mind, by the time he was racing Man 'o War's baby, War Admiral. And notice that War Admiral is a Triple Crown Winner! Man 'O War beat Sir Barton, a Triple Crown winner, in a match race -- the first complete filmed horse race on historical record.

My girls are related to Man 'O War, of course. Violet is related through 7 lines! She has War Admiral crosses three times, and then Man 'O War's children Furlough, Sunset Gin, Frilette, and War Glory. Hailee is related twice through Top Deck. She has Man 'O War's children Frilette and Taps in her family tree, each occurring twice. So, Violet and Hailee share Frilette.

You can learn more about Man 'O War at the following links:

http://www.angelfire.com/stars/acer/manowar.html

or

http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/manowar.html

or listen to his funeral at:

http://www.claibornefarm.com/media/