Chateaugay (horse)
Chateaugay | |
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Sire | Jerome Handicap (1963)
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Last updated on April 20, 2007 |
Chateaugay (February 29, 1960 – May 9, 1985) was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse who won two of the three U.S. Triple Crown races. Bred at Darby Dan Farm near Lexington, Kentucky by his prominent owner, John W. Galbreath, Chateaugay was a son of Swaps, the 1956 U.S. Horse of the Year and a Racing Hall of Fame inductee.
Racing career
1962: two-year-old season
Racing at age two for future U.S. Hall of Fame trainer James P. Conway, Chateaugay showed limited promise, winning two of five starts but without a victory in a stakes race.
1963: three-year-old season
Prep races
At age three, the colt began to develop and after winning the
Triple Crown races
The 1963 edition of the Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown series, saw 120,000 patrons gather at Churchill Downs for a race that featured three Thoroughbred stars. Time magazine reported jockey Eddie Arcaro as saying: "I can't remember a Derby creating so much excitement."[1]
Leading up to the race, Rex C. Ellsworth's undefeated
had made Candy Spots the 3-2 favorite, No Robbery the second choice at 5-2, and Never Bend the third pick at odds of 3-1. Even though he came into the race undefeated at three (3-3) including a win in April's Blue Grass Stakes, Chateaugay was nearly ignored amid the hype surrounding the three star horses and was sent off at 9-1 odds.When the gate opened, Never Bend quickly took the lead and by the 1⁄4 mile mark No Robbery had moved into second place along the inside rail with Candy Spots sitting third. After running in sixth place through the first three-quarters of a mile, coming out of the backstretch Chateaugay moved to the far outside and raced into fourth place behind the three leaders. As they turned for home, jockey Braulio Baeza spotted an opening between the second- and third-place horses. He raced through it to pull alongside Never Bend and then moved ahead to win the race by 1+1⁄4 lengths.
In the
As a result of major renovations in progress at New York's Belmont Park, the 1963 Belmont Stakes was run at Aqueduct Racetrack. As he had been in the Derby and Preakness, Candy Spots was the betting favorite. Sent off at 9-2 odds, Chateaugay repeated his running style from the previous two Classics and was well back of the leaders. Once again, while other horses began to tire during the 1+1⁄2 mile race, in the stretch, Chateaugay passed Candy Spots and pulled away to win by a widening 2+1⁄2 lengths.
Later races
Chateaugay went on to capture the 1963
Later career
He was raced at age four and five with limited success before being retired to
Stud record
In 1971, Chateaugay became the first Kentucky Derby winner to be sold to Japanese interests. From 1972 until his death in 1985, he stood at a breeding farm in Japan, where he sired the 1981 Champion juvenile colt, Hokuto Flag.
Pedigree
Sire Swaps |
Khaled | Hyperion | Gainsborough |
---|---|---|---|
Selene | |||
Eclair | Ethnarch | ||
Black Ray | |||
Iron Reward | Beau Pere | Son-in-Law
| |
Cinna | |||
Iron Maiden | War Admiral | ||
Betty Derr | |||
Dam Banquet Bell |
Polynesian | Unbreakable | Sickle |
Blue Grass | |||
Black Polly | Polymelian | ||
Black Queen | |||
Dinner Horn | Pot Au Feu | Bruleur | |
Polly Peachum | |||
Tophorn | Bull Dog | ||
Leghorn |
In popular culture
- In Ken Grimwood's novel Replay, the main character is stuck in a time loop and makes his first bet (of which he already knows the outcome), on Chateaugay in the 1963 Kentucky Derby.
- In the TV show Mad Men, Season 3 Episode 3, Roger Sterling throws a Kentucky Derby party for the 1963 edition of the race.
References
- ^ "Horse Racing: A Big Day for Optimists". Time. 10 May 1963. Archived from the original on March 8, 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2018.