"Here lies the fleetest runner the American turf has ever known and one of the greatest and most generous of horses." Epitaph on Domino's headstone. My girls are both related to Domino, one of the fastest sprinters in racing history. Born in 1891, he was undefeated at age 2, won 19 of 25 starts and earned $193,550. He won 8 stakes races. He died of meningitis in his second season at stud, so he left behind only 20 foals, 19 unnamed. Among his 19 named children, 8 became stakes winners, for an astonishing rate of 42%. Just 9 of his children went on to breed. His best son, Commando, won the Belmont Stakes and sired the Belmont winner Peter Pan. Disguise defeated the English Triple Crown winner, Diamond Jubilee. Because of his unusual color -- seeming chestnut in some lights and coal black in others -- he was nicknamed "the brown phenomenon" and "the black whirlwind." He was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1955, and he is considered the backbone of the Quarter Horse breed.
As part of his history, he had a yearling handler, African American Albert Cooper. And his family of owners, two brothers, were torn apart by the Civil War, with Domino's branch, led by Major Barak Thomas joining the Confederate Army -- which, of course, nearly broke him, if it weren't for the value of his mare, Hira, who foaled Himyar, Domino's daddy!
Hailee, has Commando at leaset 4 times, Disguise at least 5 times, and Running Stream and Pink Domino a few times.
Violet has Commando at least 7 times (!), Pink Domino at least 5 times, and Running Stream.
The Pedigree post said that he was "brilliant, beautiful, a prepotent sire and a case study in linebreeding. Domino was all this and more -- grown men wept at his burial.
You can read more about this amazing, important sire at the following links:
or
or
or
