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/

Count Fleet -- Triple Crown Winner and Violet's Direct Relation!

Violet is a direct relation of Reigh Count, Count Fleet, and Fleet's baby, One Count. You have no idea how cool that is. Reigh Count is a Kentucky Derby Winner. Count Fleet was the 1943 Triple Crown Winner, 1943 Horse of the Year, inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, and voted #5 of the Top 100 Race Horses of the 20th century by Blood Horse magazine. He earned $250,300, which is $2.6 million in 2002 dollars. He was so good at age 2 that the Jockey Club assigned him a handicap of 132 points, the largest ever imposed by that organization. He had 26 starts, 16 wins, 4 seconds, and 1 third. He was born March 24, 1940 and passed at the distinguished age of 33 on December 3, 1973. His owner, Hertz of the Hertz rental car company had a stable employee named Sam Ramsen who said of Count Fleet, "When that leggy brown colt wants to run, he can just about fly." And his jockey, Johnny Longden, once said about entering the Belmont, "Going into the race, I thought he'd have to fall down to get beat, and even then I thought he could get up and win. He was that good." But Longden admitted that the fast, high energy colt wasn't easy, he also said, "If he didn't have racing room, he'd go to the outside or just climb over horses. If you were in close quarters with him, you were in trouble."

His son, One Count, also Violet's direct relation, shared 1952 Horse of the Year honors with the famous 2-year-old star, Native Dancer. Among the races he won, One Count won the Belmont Stakes, Travers Stakes, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup! No wonder when Violet puts her nose down and does a buckaroo crow hop and takes off, she just looks like high speed royalty! You can read more about Count Fleet and One Count on my friendly links at Thoroughbred Blood Lines! Violet has at least 4 lines from Count Fleet, and each is impressive. In two lines she's bred through One Count, in another she's bred through Count Fleet and a a Bull Lea filly, and the last is where Count Fleet and War Admiral are the sires of One Count and Wee Nip who produced Three Fingers! Awesome how much Count Fleet she has!

Read more about Count Fleet:
http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/countfleet.html
Video footage of Count Fleet's Triple Crown wins!
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=51

Bimelech -- Hailee and Violet's Shared Relative

Hailee and Violet share a relative in Bimelech who is a thoroughbred with an outstanding pedigree and track record. He had 15 starts, 11 wins, 2 seconds, and 1 third. He was declared the U.S. Champion racing colt in both his 2nd and 3rd year. And he was inducted into the Thoroughbred National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame. The Blood Horse magazine declared him among the Top 100 Racing Horses of the 20th century!

During his career, he won the Saratoga Special, Hopeful Stakes, Pimlico, the Blue Grass, The Derby Trial, the Preakness and Belmont. He sired 30 stakes winners, including siring the stake winner Better Self who is a direct relative in Violet's family.

He fell short of the Triple Crown because he was second in the Kentucky Derby. Some say that he might have had the Triple Crown had he been given a rest from racing. When he broke from the gate on Derby Day, it was his 3rd race in only 8 days! His jockey took the blame and said that he accidently rode him very wide off the rail. In the Preakness, Bimelech beat the horse who edged him out of a Triple Crown in the Kentucky Derby. Not surprisingly, he was called "the iron horse!" You can read more about Bimelech at:

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

Secretariat Running His Own Private Belmont Stakes!

Both Hailee and Violet are related to the 1973 Triple Crown Winner, Secretariat, though not directly. Hailee is related primarily through her Man 'O War heritage. Violet, on the other hand, is related to Secretariat multiple ways! she has several lines of Nasrullah, Nearco, and Princequillo, among other connections to Big Red. I am so proud to share in Secretariat's heritage through taking care of his sweet Violet! Those who know Violet personally think she really shows her relation to the Champion who won the Belmont by 30 lengths in a breezy, relaxed, loose finish! Violet is a big red, sexy girl!!

Video footage of Secretariat's Triple Crown races:

http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=135