Citation (horse)

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Citation (April 11, 1945 – August 8, 1970) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the eighth winner of the American Triple Crown. He won 16 consecutive stakes races and was the first horse in history to win US$1 million.^[1]

Background

Owned and bred by

Citation was trained by the Hall of Fame inductee Ben Jones and his son, Hall of Famer Horace A. "Jimmy" Jones. The horse was originally ridden by Al Snider and later by Eddie Arcaro and Steve Brooks.

Racing career

1947: two-year-old season

Citation won his first start as a two-year-old at the Havre de Grace racetrack on April 22, 1947. The race was a 4+1⁄2-furlong sprint on a sloppy track. He won by three-quarters of a length in :54 1/5. He broke the

Citation started the 1948 racing season with two victories over older horse Armed, who had been named Thoroughbred racing's 1947 Horse of the Year, in an allowance race and the Seminole Handicap. It is rare for a three-year-old to defeat older horses so early in the year, let alone a top handicap star such as Armed.

After Citation won the Everglades Stakes and the

Citation then won the Stars and Stripes Handicap, equaling Armed's track record. He next won the American Derby and the Sysonby Mile. After that came the Jockey Club Gold Cup at 2 miles (3.2 km), which he won by seven lengths over 1947 Preakness winner Phalanx. He then won the Empire City Gold Cup.

In Citation's next start, he deterred potential challengers and won the Pimlico Special in a rare walkover. Citation then traveled to California, where he finished the year with two wins, including in the Tanforan Handicap at Tanforan Racetrack.

By the end of his three-year-old season, Citation had a record of 20 starts, 19 wins and $709,470, for a new single season record.^[6] His total career record now stood at 27 victories and two seconds in 29 starts and earnings of $865,150. He had also amassed a 15-race winning streak. For his performances, Citation was named Horse of the Year, gaining 161 of a possible 163 votes in the poll conducted by Turf and Sport Digest magazine.^[7] Toward the end of his three-year-old season, he developed an osselet.^[8]

1950–1951: later career

The osselet injury kept Citation from racing in 1949, but he came back to race in 1950, winning his 16th race in a row at

In the latter event, Noor conceded weight to Citation and set a world record of 1:581⁄5 which stood as an American record on a dirt track until Spectacular Bid broke it 30 years later. Citation's times in these races would have also been records; he did not become a millionaire at age five solely because Noor ran faster than any horse in history up to that point. Citation himself set a world record in winning the Golden Gate Mile Handicap in 1:333⁄5 in a race that Noor sat out.

Citation was brought back by his owners one more time at age six in 1951 in an attempt to become the first racehorse to win a record one million dollars. After two third-place finishes, Citation finished out of the money for the first time in the Hollywood

Stud record

Citation retired after the Hollywood Gold Cup. As a sire at Calumet Farm, he produced a number of noteworthy offspring including the Hall of Fame filly Silver Spoon, Get Around (won $164,868), Guadalcanal (won $243,337) and 1956 Preakness Stakes winner Fabius.^[8]

While at stud at Calumet Farm, he was said to be afraid of owner Lucille P. Markey's Yorkshire Terrier Timmy Tammy. The dog reportedly nipped at him on several occasions.

He died on August 8, 1970, at the age of 25 and was buried in the horse cemetery at Calumet Farm.^[10]

Honors

In 1959, Citation was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

In the

Around the time of Citation's death, Jim Taylor, a marketing executive at Cessna Aircraft Company, convinced chairman Dwane Wallace to use Citation's name for the new business jet Cessna was designing. Cessna has continued to use the Citation name and trademark horseshoe logo for an entire series of jet aircraft that comprise the Cessna Citation family.^[11]

A famous statue of Citation can be found at

In 2020, as part of a fundraiser for emergency relief efforts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a "virtual Kentucky Derby" was held wherein the field included all 13 Triple Crown winners. Citation finished second (placed) to Secretariat.

Pedigree

See also

• List of leading Thoroughbred racehorses
• List of racehorses

References