West Australian and My Girls!

In the past 150 years of racing the English Triple Crown, only 15 horses have won it. My girls share in the pedigree of the very first one, West Australian. Here he is in a painting by Harry Hall. West Australianwas born in 1850 to Melbourne and Mowerina, a filly born from the champion-producing, Emma, daughter of Touchstone. West Australian was a vigorous descendant of the Godolphin Arabian line. His jockey was Frank Butler, and original owner was John Bowes. The trainer was John Scott. West Australian's record was 11: 10-1-0. And he won the St. Leger in a canter. Of this accomplishment, Butler said, "I only touched him with the whip once and I was glad to get him stopped!" He ended his amazing race career with a 20-length victory in a stakes race. Unfortunately, he was not celebrated for his stud work in his life time. He produced Australian and Solon and through these and his other kids, produced amazing horses, such as Spendthrift, Kingston, Hastings, Fair Play, Man 'O War, Spearmint, and Plucky Liege. These are all noble horses in Violet and Hailee's pedigree. So, it wasn't until much later that he became known for his amazing contributions to the genetic heritage of thoroughbreds. Sort of like a Van Gogh among horses. In fact, he was even overshadowed in death. He died 3 days before Stockwell at age 20, while he was living in France. And so the media covered Stockwell's death in great detail and mentioned West Australian as an afterthought. We got wise later. He later received honors and memorials for his special gifts. You can read more about Violet and Hailee's English Triple Crown winner at the following links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Crown_of_Thoroughbred_Racing
or
http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/WestAustralian.html
or
http://www.thoroughbredchampions.com/library/engtrip2.htm

Spendthrift and My Girls!!!

Both my girls are related to Spendthrift, the champion racing sire who was the foundation for Man 'O War. He was born in 1876, and was his own sire's greatest runner. He is from the male line of the Godolphin Arabian and his grandpa was the first English Triple Crown winner, West Australian. His owner, Daniel Swigert, named him Spendthrift to memorialize his wife's spending habits, since she loved to travel to NYC and go on huge shopping sprees. A year later, Mrs. Swigert named Spendthrift's younger brother, Miser!. He was known as a fine-tempered horse who was easy to ride, very eager to please. He was also philanthropic. The winnings from his third race were donated to a fund for those who were plagued by Yellow Fever! What a good boy! He won the Belmont Stakes, and in the Lorillard Stakes, he was kicked at the gate and left behind at the start. But he still came from behind to win!! He was co-champion 3-year-old with Falsetto. His final race record was 16: 9-5-0, and he was retired fairly early because of problems with the soles of his feet. He produced amazing babies, during his stud career. This fine animal had several owners and stood at several studs, but finally ended up at Overton Chenault's farm on Winchester Pike outside of Lexington. No matter where he stood, he was a fine stallion! After all, he is Man 'o War's great-grandpa on his sire's side and the sire of Hastings who won the Belmont Stakes, for example. On Spendthrift's dam's side, Aerolite, his grandpa is Lexington whose track record is 7:6-1-0 and who was the leading American sire 16 times and who is in the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame! You can read more about Spendthrift at the following links:

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

or

http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/Australian.html#Spendthrift1

or

http://www.bloodlines.net/TB/Bios2/Bios-S/Spendthrift.htm

Hailee's Lena's Bar!

Lena's Bar is Hailee's great-great-grandma on her daddy's side. She was bred to Jet Deck to produce Easy Jet. She was inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame in 2003, and her Quarter Horse race track record was 76-24-18-10. Her sire was Three Bars and dam was Lena Valenti. She had six children, 4 boys, 2 girls. Easy Jet had a full brother named Jet Smooth whose children won $2,546,842 on the track. Lena's Bar has a royal pedigree herself, including Commando, Sweep, Eclipse, Pocahontas and Derby winner Ben Brush. Through Lena's Bar, Hailee is related to two English Triple Crown winners, Diamond Jubilee and West Australian. Look at the photo -- she looks just like my sweet, independent, fierce little mare! You can read more about Lena's Bar at the following link:

http://www.qhd.com/horse/stallion.asp?id=23302&sex=mare

Violet's English Triple Crown Relatives!

So, we have a Triple Crown series in the United States with the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes. But England has had a Triple Crown Series for many years before our young one! Their Triple Crown consists of the 2,000 Guineas (at 1 mile), the Epsom Derby (at 1 1/2 miles), and the St. Leger Stakes (at 1 mile 6 furlongs and 127 yds). Of the 15 English Triple Crown winners, I found after a casual search that Violet is related to 9 of them! She's related to the very first four, and then her last Triple Crown winner was in 1918. Here are her famous English Triple Crown family members: West Australian (1853), Gladiateur (1865), Lord Lyon (1866), Ormonde (1886), Isinglass (1893), Flying Fox (1899), Rock Sand (1903), Gay Crusader (1917) and Gainsborough (1918). The last English Triple Crown winner was in 1970, by the name of Nijinsky. Gainsborough, Violet's most recent English Triple Crown family winner, is in the photo. His sire was Bayardo who also sired Gay Crusader. Gainsborough's dam was Rosedrop, a filly who won the 1910 Epsom Oaks. When Gainsborough retired, he had a brilliant stud career and produced many stakeswinners, such as Violet's Hyperion, and also produced many major studs and breeding mares. Suave, as well as fast! You can read more about the English Triple Crown and Gainsborough at the following links:

http://www.sportingchronicle.com/racing/englishtriplecrown.html

http://www.horseracinghistory.co.uk/hrho/action/viewDocument;jsessionid=3FF8916E880D7EC8C17217C47121DCEB?id=868

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainsborough_(horse)