Category: Horses

War Admiral became just the fourth horse – after Sir Barton, Gallant Fox and Omaha – to win the American Triple Crown and was subsequently voted American Horse of the Year in 1937, ahead of Sea Biscuit. By Man o’War out of the diminutive broodmare Brushup, War Admiral stood just 15.2 hands high. He was once described by Neville Dunn of the Lexington Herald as “a little brown horse that takes after his mammy in size” and known in some quarters as “The Mighty Atom”. However, his ability more than compensated for his lack of stature; he won 21 of his 26 races and over £273,000 in prize money.

 

Bred and owned by Samuel D. Riddle and trained by George Conway, War Admiral won three of his six starts as a juvenile and his first two starts as a three-year-old, before Riddle made the unusual decision, by his standards, to allow him to take his chance in the Kentucky Derby. After playing up at the start, War Admiral made all the running under jockey Charles Kurtsinger and gradually increased his advantage from the home turn to beat Pompoon by 1¾ lengths.

 

In the Preakness Stakes, just seven days later, War Admiral was again fractious at the start and, although he held a lead of a length or more entering the home straight, he had to withstand a strong challenge from Pompoon in the closing stages, scraping home by a head.

 

In the Belmont Stakes, after again delaying the start, for eight minutes, War Admiral stumbled leaving the starting gate and was later found to have struck into himself, taking an inch-square chunk out of his off forefoot. Despite the obvious handicap, War Admiral not only routed his six rivals by 3 lengths – winning with “speed to spare”, according to the Daily Racing Form – but also broke the track record set by his sire, Man o’War, in the same race 17 years earlier. Despite the injury, War Admiral finished 1937 with a perfect eight-from-eight record.

 

The following November, he started favourite for the long-awaited showdown with Sea Biscuit in the inaugural Pimlico Special. The so-called “Match of the Century” was run without a starting gate, at the behest of Samuel Riddle, and was widely believed to favour War Admiral, granted his early speed. However, Seabiscuit poached an early lead and, although War Admiral drew alongside heading into the far turn, drew away in the closing stages to win by 4 lengths.

California Chrome, bred, and initially owned, by Perry Martin and Steve Coburn and trained by Art Sherman, had the distinction of being named American Horse of the Year twice, in 2014 and 2016. Of his 26 races between 2013 and 2017, he won 16, including the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Dubai World Cup and four other Grade 1 contests, and earned over $14.75 million in total prize money.

 

A great grandson of A.P. Indy, American Horse of the Year in 1992, California Chrome finished sixth of 11, beaten 2 lengths, in the Del Mar Futurity, over 7 furlongs, as a juvenile, but it wasn’t until stepped up to middle distances in his three-year-old campaign that he started to make his mark at the highest level. In 2014, he won his first five starts, including the Santa Anita Derby – a first Grade 1 win for trainer Art Sherman – the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.

 

Consequently, he started odds-on favourite to win the third, and final, leg of the American Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes. However, despite holding every chance on the outside at the two-furlong marker, he was soon ridden by jockey Victor Espinoza and faded late on to dead-heat for fourth, beaten 2 lengths, behind the winner Tonal. A review of the start of the Belmont Stakes revealed that Matterhorn, in stall 2, had struck into California Chrome, in stall 3, as they broke from the starting gate, forcing the favourite to race with a soft tissue injury and superficial tendon damage.

 

In July 2015, Steve Coburn sold his minority share in California Chrome to Frank Taylor of Taylor Made Farms, necessitating the formation of a new partnership called California Chrome LLC. The following year, California Chrome won three more races at the highest level, including the Dubai World Cup, but his final race, the inaugural running of the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park, was an anti-climax. Sent off 6/5 second favourite, he was never really travelling and trailed in ninth of 12, beaten 30 lengths, behind Arrogate, who had beaten him just half a length in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park the previous November.

According to Timeform, Desert Orchid was the third best steeplechaser since the mid-1960s, rated inferior to only Sprinter Sacre and Kauto Star, by 5lb and 4lb, respectively. The plucky grey – he became almost white with age – won 34 of his 70 races, but captured the public imagination perhaps more than any other horse of modern times. Of course, his eye-catching colouration made him easy to pick out in his races, but beyond that he became known for his bold, front-running style, his tenacity and his extreme versatility.

 

In 1988 alone, he won the Tingle Creek Chase – in those days, a limited handicap – over 2 miles at Sandown, the King George VI Chase over 3 miles at Kempton, the Martell Cup over 3 miles 1 furlong at Aintree and the Whitbread Gold Cup over 3 miles 5 furlongs, also at Sandown. The following season, he won the Victor Chandler Chase over 2 miles 1 furlong, the Gainsborough Chase over 3 miles at Sandown, the King George VI Chase and the Cheltenham Gold Cup over 3 miles 2½ furlongs.

 

All in all, he won the King George VI Chase four times, in 1986, 1988, 1989 and 1990, but his crowning glory was his victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1989. On heavy going, bordering on unraceable after overnight snow, he overhauled confirmed mudlark Yahoo in the closing stages to win by 1½ lengths. Jockey Simon Sherwood said afterwards, “I’ve never known a horse so brave. He hated every step of the way in the ground and dug as deep as he could possibly go.”

 

His preference for going right-handed, possibly due to his natural disposition to wander in that direction when fatigued, limited his effectiveness at Cheltenham. Nevertheless, in four appearances at the Cheltenham Festival he never finished out of the first three, chasing home Pearlyman in the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 1988, winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1989 and finishing third in the same race behind Norton’s Coin and Garrison Savannah in 1990 and 1991, respectively.