Rinaldo Del Gallo, III
By Rinaldo Del Gallo, III
When we look at great horse races, it is quite an accomplishment for a sire to have several winners. It is even more of an accomplishment for a mare. PARADIGM (GB) br. M, 1852 {1-j} was one of those horses. Paradigm was the mother of LORD LYON (GB) b. H, 1863 {1-j}, the third English Triple Crown winner, and ACHIEVEMENT (GB) br. M, 1864 {1-j}, who won the St. Leger and 1,000 Guineas. Achievement beat Derby winner Hermit (a legendary sire) a couple of times. Paradigm was also the dam of several other stakes winners, but her full-blooded siblings Achievement and Lord Lyon both won the St. Leger.
The point I am driving home is that while occasionally full siblings win the same great race, this is a relatively rare event. An Urban Sea might have been the dam of two Derby winners (itself an extreme rarity), but Galileo was sired by Sadler’s Wells and Sea the Stars by Cape Cross.
But full siblings winning the same great stakes race does happen. For instance, take the Jockey Gold Cup, once called the “Jockey Club Stakes.” The Jockey Club was won by Man O’War in 1920 at 12 furlongs (the second running of the race), and Man O’War’s full brother My Play, who won the 1924 rendition. Another fun fact, a full sister to Man O’War and My Play by the name of the stakes winner MASDA (USA) ch. M, 1915 {4-c} was to be the fourth dam of 1973 Jockey Gold Cup winner Prove Out (who beat Riva Ridge and also beat Secretariat in the Whitney Handicap).
Which brings me to the tidbit about the Alabama Stakes, one of America’s historic races. There are a number of horses that have sired three winners of the Alabama. Gleneg sired the winners in 1879, 1884, and 1887; Peter Pan sired the Alabama winners that won in 1919, 1921, and 1928. And there are horses that sired four winners of the Alabama. Man O’War sired the winners in 1925, 1937, 1940 and 1941. Northern Dancer also sired four winners of the Alabama who won in 1970, 1971, 1978 and 1983.
There was one daughter of Man O’War, VALKYR (USA) ch. M, 1925 {13-c}, who herself was 2nd in the Alabama, but produced two winners from two different sires, VAGRANCY (USA) b. M, 1939 {13-c}(by Sir Gallahad) and HYPNOTIC (USA) ch. M, 1943 {13-c} by Hypnotist, who also won the Coaching Club Oaks. Vagrancy has a Grade 2 stakes race named after her run at Belmont Park. But Vagrancy and Hypnotic are only half-sisters, not full.
Which brings me back to the subject of full siblings winning the Alabama Stakes, full siblings winning major stakes being such a rarity in horse racing. The imported BILLET (GB) br. H, 1865 (winner of the Zetland Stakes which is still run at Newmarket today) sired the three Alabama winners. The winners of the 1882, 1883, and 1886 edition were all sired by Billet, who was a darn good sire that a column could be written about. It is kind of crazy that he was such an excellent sire, for he was far below his offspring as a runner himself. According to American Classic Pedigrees, “Billet managed to win a decent race in the Zetland Stakes early in the season but did not progress from that and spent most of his career in selling races, running sometimes in selling stakes (of which he won three) but sometimes for price tags as low as the equivalent of US$200.” I can’t nail the definition, but I believe a “selling stakes” is a form of stakes race (i.e., you have to put up a “stake” to run in it), where the winner is sold at auction at the end of the race—hence the name “selling stakes.”
Two of Billet’s three Alabama winners came out of the mare FANCY JANE (USA) ch. M, 1869 {A34}. Fancy Jane’s daughter BELLE OF RUNNYMEDE (USA) b. M, 1879 {A34} won the 1882 Alabama (and was 2nd in the Ashland stakes and Illinois Oaks). According to the thoroughbred bloodlines website, Belle of Runnymede had a number of stakes winning descendants. For instance, the great gelding turf running THE TIN MAN (USA) b. G, 1998 {A34} sired by Affirmed descends from her, as does the Belmont winner SCOTTISH CHIEFTAIN (USA) dkb/br. H, 1894 {A34}, as does the Preakness winner EFFENDI (USA) br. H, 1906 {A34}.
But the other product of Billet and Fancy Jane was the filly Miss Woodford who won the Alabama one year later in 1883. Miss Woodford was to be admitted into the Hall of Fame and has a stakes named for her at Monmouth Park. According to Wikipedia, “Miss Woodford ran in 48 races and won 37. She was second in 7 and third in 2. In her three match races, she won two. Her lifetime earnings at distances up to 2½ miles amounted to $118,270. This made her the highest stakes winning filly in American history.”
But while Miss Woodford was one of the greatest fillies of all time, it was to be Belle of Runnymede that was to be the horse that left a mark on the breed. Miss Woodford wasn’t a terrible mare—she had two stakes winning offspring, but her children left no lasting mark on the breed. Miss Woodford’s son George Kessler won the Great American Stakes, a reasonably important stakes race at the time. George Kessler’s sire was the Hall of Famer SALVATOR (USA) ch. H, 1886 who also was (like Miss Woodford) inducted in the inaugural class. According to Wikipedia, George Kessler (July 16, 1862 – March 20, 1923) was an American pioneer city planner and landscape architect. I assume that is how George Kessler derived his name.
But there is not one, but two sets of full siblings that won the Alabama (which most major stakes races have none)—the third running in 1874 was won by REGARDLESS (USA) b. M, 1871 {32}, and the fifth running in 1876 was one by MERCILESS (USA) b. M, 1873 {32}. Regardless and Merciless had a full sister RUTHLESS (USA) b. M, 1864 {32} who won the first running of the Belmont Stakes in 1867, and also won the fourth running of Travers. Given that the Alabama was first run in 1872 when Ruthless was eight years of age, Ruthless could not run because it is a race restricted to three-year-old fillies. But Regardless and Merciless was part of the “Barbarity Battalion,” which included RELENTLESS (USA) ch. M, 1865 {32} (who ran once and won in the Saratoga Stakes, a fairly prestigious race), and US 2 year old champion filly REMORSELESS (USA) ch. M, 1867 {32} who also won the Saratoga Stakes. All these gBritain the dam from Ireland.
As for Barbarity, I know not whether there is anything left of her in the breed. PLEVNA’s (USA) b. H, 1876 {32} mother is Regardless, and he won the fairly important Juvenile Stakes run at Jerome Park, then Morris Park, then Belmont Park and discontinued after 1984. There were horses such as LADY RECLUSE (USA) b. M, 1928 {23-b} who had both Miss Woodford and Regardless in her pedigree within 5 generations via George Kessler and Mars. MOSBY REB (USA) b. H, 1943 {23-b} is another horse with both Miss Woodford and Regardless, again through George Kessler and Mars, as with ROUGE REB (USA) ch. M, 1941 {23-b}. Unknown horses such as SKY LAD H, 1931 {9-g} (via Mars) show the blood dying out. But these were not great horses and Barbarity blood was leaving the breed.
I would like to end on one other quirky historical note. There is the case of LADY ROTHA (USA) b. M, 1912 {2-h}, still in many pedigrees today. Lady Rotha actually won the Travers (albeit by disqualification) and was second in the Alabama.
