Stage Door Johnny

Stage Door Johnny
Stage Door Johnny
Sire	Saranac Handicap (1968)
Awards
	TRA & DRF U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old-Colt (1968)
Honours
	Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame
	Last updated on January 14, 2008

Edwardian musical comedies

Stage Door Johnny (May 22, 1965 – November 21, 1996) was an American

U.S. Triple Crown series, the Belmont Stakes.^[2]

Background

Stage Door Johnny was a chestnut horse with a white

stallion Princequillo, a horse of great endurance who won several important races at longer distances. Princequillo broke the Saratoga Race Course

record for 1¾ miles and his performances were such that he is considered by many to be the best long-distance runner in American racing history.

Stage Door Johnny's damsire was the Irish colt Ballymoss, winner of several races at the Belmont Stakes distance of 1½ miles including the Irish Derby, England's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and France's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe,

Racing career

Stage Door Johnny did not run in the 1¼ mile

John M. Gaver, Sr., he was bred and conditioned for success in the gruelling 1½ mile Belmont Stakes

.

In 1968, a great deal of controversy swirled around the Belmont Stakes as Forward Pass had won the first two legs of the U.S. Triple Crown series as a result of the disqualification of Kentucky Derby winner Dancer's Image. The controversy filled the sporting news of every media outlet in North America and was the cover story for Sports Illustrated magazine, which referred to it as the sports story of the year. A victory by Forward Pass in the Belmont Stakes would make him the first Triple Crown winner in twenty years and many fans, experts, and CBS racing commentators felt he would be an illegitimate champion.

Ridden by

U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old-Colt

, while Forward Pass topped the poll organized by Turf & Sports Digest magazine.

Stud record

Retired to stud duty at Greentree Stud in Lexington, Kentucky, Stage Door Johnny proved a successful sire of a number of stakes race winners, including:

Eclipse Award for Outstanding Male Turf Horse
.
Eclipse Award for Outstanding Older Female Horse
Open Call - wins included the 1981 Rothmans International Stakes
Class Play - filly who won the 1984 Coaching Club American Oaks

Damsire of:

Go for Gin, winner of the 1994 Kentucky Derby
Open Mind, won Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, voted American Champion 2-Year-Old Filly (1988), American Champion 3-Year-Old Filly (1989)

Stage Door Johnny died in November 1996 at the age of thirty-one and is buried at Greentree Stud, now part of the Gainesway Farm property.^[7]

Pedigree

Pedigree of Stage Door Johnny, chestnut colt, 1965
Sire Prince John	Princequillo	Prince Rose	Rose Prince
		Prince Rose	Indolence
		Cosquilla	Papyrus
		Cosquilla	Quick Thought
	Not Afraid	Count Fleet	Reigh Count
		Count Fleet	Quickly
		Banish Fear	Blue Larkspur
		Banish Fear	Herodiade
Dam Peroxide Blonde	Ballymoss	Mossborough	Nearco
		Mossborough	All Moonshine
		Indian Call	Singapore
		Indian Call	Flittemare
	Folie Douce	Caldarium	Brantôme
		Caldarium	Chaudiere
		Folle Nuit	Astrophel
		Folle Nuit	Folle Passion (family: 1-1)

References

^ "Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame - Stage Door Johnny". Aikenracinghalloffame.com. 1977-01-23. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
^ "Stage Door Johnny hero in wildest Triple Crown". Daily News. June 4, 1968. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
^ Nichols, Joe (1968-06-30). "STAGE DOOR JOHNNY FIRST - - CHOICE PAYS $3.40". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
^ Nichols, Joe (1968-07-14). "GREENTREE COLT VICTOR IN DWYER". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
^ "Dark Mirage wins honor". Spokane Daily Chronicle. December 4, 1968. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
^ "Unprecedented turf sweep by Dr Fager". Press-Courier. November 28, 1968. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
^ "Grave Matters Thoroughbreds". Tbheritage.com. Retrieved 2012-07-13.

External links

video of Stage Door Johnny winning the 1968 Belmont Stakes

[1] "Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame - Stage Door Johnny". Aikenracinghalloffame.com. 1977-01-23. Retrieved 2012-07-13.

[2] "Stage Door Johnny hero in wildest Triple Crown". Daily News. June 4, 1968. Retrieved 2012-07-13.

[3] Nichols, Joe (1968-06-30). "STAGE DOOR JOHNNY FIRST - - CHOICE PAYS $3.40". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-07-13.

[4] Nichols, Joe (1968-07-14). "GREENTREE COLT VICTOR IN DWYER". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-07-13.

[5] "Dark Mirage wins honor". Spokane Daily Chronicle. December 4, 1968. Retrieved 2012-07-13.

[6] "Unprecedented turf sweep by Dr Fager". Press-Courier. November 28, 1968. Retrieved 2012-07-13.

[7] "Grave Matters Thoroughbreds". Tbheritage.com. Retrieved 2012-07-13.

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