Blue Larkspur
Encyclopedia
Blue Larkspur was a bay Kentucky
-bred thoroughbred
race horse. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
in 1957, awarded the 1929 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
, and ranks Number 100 in Blood-Horse magazine's top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century. Of the 127 stakes winners bred by Colonel Edward Riley Bradley
at his Idle Hour Stock Farm
in Lexington, Kentucky
– which includes the great Bimelech
out of the great broodmare La Troienne
– Blue Larkspur was considered the Colonel's finest horse.
, who also sired Kentucky Derby
winner Black Gold
). Black Servant was second in the 1921 Kentucky Derby, just behind his Idle Hour stablemate Behave Yourself
. Blue Larkspur's dam was Blossom Time, by North Star III. Blossom Time's dam was Vaila, an influential mare imported by Bradley.
); the 1932 Derby with Burgoo King
; and the 1933 Derby with Brokers Tip
. But his loss in 1921 with Black Servant rankled him, even though another of his horses took home the roses. He was furious with Black Servant's jockey, Charles Thompson, who had apparently defied orders to save the horse for the stretch run; rumors flew that Bradley (and many Idle Hour employees) had a great deal of money riding on Black Servant.
. Derby Dick was not kind to horses, working them hard. Thompson won more Kentucky Derbies than any other trainer before Ben Jones
.
Racing as a two-year-old, Blue Larkspur started seven times. He won the Juvenile Stakes, the National Stallion Stakes, and the Saratoga Special Stakes
. He was beaten in the Hopeful Stakes
by Jack High (whom he had defeated three times), getting stuck in traffic and carrying high weight of 130 pounds. At the start of the Belmont Futurity
he was kicked by another horse, finished eighth and was allowed to rest for the remainder of the season.
In Blue Larkspur's time there was no Southern racing circuit to prepare for the Kentucky Derby, so he was trained hard all winter in Lexington. In his first race as a three-year-old he beat Clyde Van Dusen
, a gelded son of Man o' War
. On Derby Day, however, the track was deep and muddy. Worse for the colt was his trainer's bout of appendicitis, which kept Thompson from adequately preparing him for the race. The job went to an apprentice trainer, who neglected to have Blue Larkspur shod in "stickers" (special shoes for slippery mud). Blue Larkspur struggled to finish fourth, defeated by Clyde Van Dusen.
Later in his 3-year-old season, however, Blue Larkspur convincinly won the one-mile Withers Stakes
. Ridden by Mack Garner, he closed with a rush. He also took the 1½-mile Belmont Stakes
, although he was again kicked at the post and the track was muddy. Jack High finished third. Continuing Blue Larkspur's bad luck, he was kicked yet again in a later start. Although he won the race, the wound became infected and he was again sidelined for a time. Following the layoff, he won the Arlington Classic by five lengths. His season ended with a bowed tendon
, but he was still unofficially named 1929's Horse of the Year.
As a 4-year-old, Blue Larkspur raced only three times (winning the Stars and Stripes Handicap and the Arlington Cup) before his leg again failed him. During his career (from 1928 to 1930) he raced 16 times with 10 wins, 3 seconds, and 1 third, earning $272,070.
at Idle Hour Stock Farm, Blue Larkspur excelled as he had on the track – especially with his daughters. Among his progeny was Oedipus
, the 1950 and 1951 American steeplechase champion. Blue Larkspur made the Broodmare Sires List every year from 1944 through 1960, with his daughters producing 114 stakes winners and six champions. This may be because he is thought to have been a carrier of the X factor
(a genetic trait which causes an extraordinarily large heart, and is only passed on to a stallion's daughters via the x-chromosome).
Blue Larkspur also produced the Hall of Famer Myrtlewood
and Blue Denim, a mare who produced six stakes winners. Blue Denim's most important offsping was her daughter Ampola, who never won a stakes race but became one of the Stud Book's most important foundation mares for Gertrude T. Widener
.
Blue Larkspur died in 1947, aged 21.
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
-bred thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
race horse. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
in 1957, awarded the 1929 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....
, and ranks Number 100 in Blood-Horse magazine's top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century. Of the 127 stakes winners bred by Colonel Edward Riley Bradley
Edward R. Bradley
Colonel Edward Riley Bradley was an American steel mill laborer, gold miner, businessman and philanthropist. As well as a race track proprietor, he was the preeminent owner and breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses in the Southern United States during the first three decades of the 20th Century...
at his Idle Hour Stock Farm
Idle Hour Stock Farm
Idle Hour Stock Farm was a 400 acre thoroughbred horse breeding and training farm near Lexington, Kentucky, United States established in 1906 by Colonel Edward R...
in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
– which includes the great Bimelech
Bimelech
Bimelech was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse who won two Triple Crown races, was twice named American horse of the year, and is ranked #84 among U.S. racehorses of the 20th century. After retiring to stud, he sired 30 stakes winners and his daughters produced 50 stakes winners.-Early...
out of the great broodmare La Troienne
La Troienne
La Troienne, was one of the most famous and influential Thoroughbred broodmares in twentieth century America. She produced 10 winners while at stud....
– Blue Larkspur was considered the Colonel's finest horse.
Pedigree
Blue Larkspur was sired by Black Servant. Black Servant was a son of Black ToneyBlack Toney
Black Toney was bred by James R. Keene's Castleton Farm. Keene, whose health was failing , sold all his holdings in 1912 to Colonel Edward R. Bradley's Idle Hour Stock Farm in Lexington, Kentucky...
, who also sired Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
winner Black Gold
Black Gold (horse)
Black Gold was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 50th running of the Kentucky Derby in 1924....
). Black Servant was second in the 1921 Kentucky Derby, just behind his Idle Hour stablemate Behave Yourself
Behave Yourself (horse)
Behave Yourself , by Marathon out of Miss Ringlets , was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was one of four Kentucky Derby winners owned by Colonel Edward R...
. Blue Larkspur's dam was Blossom Time, by North Star III. Blossom Time's dam was Vaila, an influential mare imported by Bradley.
All Bs
Bradley's Idle Hour farm was also known as the "Lucky B" because he named most of his horses with "B" names. Blue Larkspur raced in Bradley's silks (white with green hoops and cap). Bradley also won the 1926 Kentucky Derby with Bubbling Over (sire of Baby League, dam of BusherBusher (horse)
Busher was a thoroughbred racing filly. She was sired by War Admiral, the winner of the Triple Crown in 1937, and the great son of a great legend, Man o' War. She was out of Baby League by Bubbling Over, the colt who won the 1926 Kentucky Derby...
); the 1932 Derby with Burgoo King
Burgoo King
Burgoo King was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the first two legs of the U.S. Triple Crown series but who did not run in final race, the Belmont Stakes....
; and the 1933 Derby with Brokers Tip
Brokers Tip
Brokers Tip , by Black Toney out of the French mare Forteresse, was a Thoroughbred racehorse and the only horse in history whose sole win was in the Kentucky Derby...
. But his loss in 1921 with Black Servant rankled him, even though another of his horses took home the roses. He was furious with Black Servant's jockey, Charles Thompson, who had apparently defied orders to save the horse for the stretch run; rumors flew that Bradley (and many Idle Hour employees) had a great deal of money riding on Black Servant.
Racing career
Blue Larkspur was trained by Herbert J. "Derby Dick" Thompson, an inductee of the National Museum of Racing Hall of FameNational Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
. Derby Dick was not kind to horses, working them hard. Thompson won more Kentucky Derbies than any other trainer before Ben Jones
Ben Jones
Ben Jones may refer to:*Ben Jones , British actor*Ben Jones , British radio DJ*Ben Jones , Welsh soccer player*Ben Jones , English soccer player...
.
Racing as a two-year-old, Blue Larkspur started seven times. He won the Juvenile Stakes, the National Stallion Stakes, and the Saratoga Special Stakes
Saratoga Special Stakes
The Saratoga Special Stakes is an American grade II thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid-August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The race is for two-year-olds willing to race six and a half furlongs on the dirt....
. He was beaten in the Hopeful Stakes
Hopeful Stakes (USA)
The Hopeful Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Open to two-year-old horses, the Hopeful is the first Grade I stakes for two-year-olds each season and historically has been a showcase for some of the top East Coast horses...
by Jack High (whom he had defeated three times), getting stuck in traffic and carrying high weight of 130 pounds. At the start of the Belmont Futurity
Futurity Stakes (USA)
The Futurity Stakes, commonly referred to as the Belmont Futurity, is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid September at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to two-year-old horses, it is raced on dirt over a distance of seven furlongs.The creation of James G. K...
he was kicked by another horse, finished eighth and was allowed to rest for the remainder of the season.
In Blue Larkspur's time there was no Southern racing circuit to prepare for the Kentucky Derby, so he was trained hard all winter in Lexington. In his first race as a three-year-old he beat Clyde Van Dusen
Clyde Van Dusen (horse)
Clyde Van Dusen was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and the winner of the 1929 Kentucky Derby.Although he was a son of the noted Man o' War, Clyde Van Dusen had an unimpressive appearance, being described as "a mere pony of a horse with a weedy frame." Owner/breeder Herbert Gardner, an...
, a gelded son of Man o' War
Man O' War
Man O' War, man o' war or manowar may refer to:* Man-of-war, a warship* Man of war for uses with this spelling - Places :...
. On Derby Day, however, the track was deep and muddy. Worse for the colt was his trainer's bout of appendicitis, which kept Thompson from adequately preparing him for the race. The job went to an apprentice trainer, who neglected to have Blue Larkspur shod in "stickers" (special shoes for slippery mud). Blue Larkspur struggled to finish fourth, defeated by Clyde Van Dusen.
Later in his 3-year-old season, however, Blue Larkspur convincinly won the one-mile Withers Stakes
Withers Stakes
The Withers Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds willing to compete one mile on the dirt. Held at Aqueduct Racetrack every year at the end of April , it is a Grade III event, and offers a purse of $150,000...
. Ridden by Mack Garner, he closed with a rush. He also took the 1½-mile Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
, although he was again kicked at the post and the track was muddy. Jack High finished third. Continuing Blue Larkspur's bad luck, he was kicked yet again in a later start. Although he won the race, the wound became infected and he was again sidelined for a time. Following the layoff, he won the Arlington Classic by five lengths. His season ended with a bowed tendon
Bowed tendon
Tendinitis/tendonitis is inflammation of a tendon. Many times, the tendon tissue is torn. A bowed tendon is a horseman's term for a tendon after a horse has sustained an injury that caused the tendon fibers to be torn, and then healed with "bowed" appearance.-Description of a Tendinitis in...
, but he was still unofficially named 1929's Horse of the Year.
As a 4-year-old, Blue Larkspur raced only three times (winning the Stars and Stripes Handicap and the Arlington Cup) before his leg again failed him. During his career (from 1928 to 1930) he raced 16 times with 10 wins, 3 seconds, and 1 third, earning $272,070.
As a sire
As a stallionStallion (horse)
A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded .Stallions will follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" neck, as well as a somewhat more muscular physique as compared to...
at Idle Hour Stock Farm, Blue Larkspur excelled as he had on the track – especially with his daughters. Among his progeny was Oedipus
Oedipus (horse)
Oedipus was an American Champion Thoroughbred steeplechase racehorse. Sired by 1929's flat racing Horse of the Year Blue Larkspur and foaled in Kentucky, Oedipus was purchased by Lillian Bostwick Phipps and was conditioned by future Hall of Fame trainer Pete Bostwick.Oedipus raced from 1948...
, the 1950 and 1951 American steeplechase champion. Blue Larkspur made the Broodmare Sires List every year from 1944 through 1960, with his daughters producing 114 stakes winners and six champions. This may be because he is thought to have been a carrier of the X factor
Circulatory system of the horse
The circulatory system of the horse consists of the heart, the blood vessels, and the blood.-The heart:The equine heart is made of muscle tissue, more rounded in shape than a human's, built with the sole purpose of pumping blood throughout the body...
(a genetic trait which causes an extraordinarily large heart, and is only passed on to a stallion's daughters via the x-chromosome).
Blue Larkspur also produced the Hall of Famer Myrtlewood
Myrtlewood (horse)
Myrtlewood was a champion Thoroughbred race horse as well as an exceptional broodmare. She was by Blue Larkspur, himself by Black Servant by the great sire Black Toney, which means she went back to Ben Brush. Her dam was the French-bred Frizeur, by Sweeper, a son of another great sire, Broomstick...
and Blue Denim, a mare who produced six stakes winners. Blue Denim's most important offsping was her daughter Ampola, who never won a stakes race but became one of the Stud Book's most important foundation mares for Gertrude T. Widener
Gertrude T. Widener
Gertrude T. Douglas Widener was an American socialite and a successful Thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder. Born in Albany, New York, she was the daughter of New York State Senator, Curtis N...
.
Blue Larkspur died in 1947, aged 21.
See also
- Idle Hour Stock FarmIdle Hour Stock FarmIdle Hour Stock Farm was a 400 acre thoroughbred horse breeding and training farm near Lexington, Kentucky, United States established in 1906 by Colonel Edward R...
- MyrtlewoodMyrtlewood (horse)Myrtlewood was a champion Thoroughbred race horse as well as an exceptional broodmare. She was by Blue Larkspur, himself by Black Servant by the great sire Black Toney, which means she went back to Ben Brush. Her dam was the French-bred Frizeur, by Sweeper, a son of another great sire, Broomstick...
- X factor
External links
- Blue Larkspur's pedigree, with photo
- Blue Larkspur's page in the Hall of Fame, with painting
- America's Championship three-year-old males
- Video at YouTube of Blue Larkspur's 1929 Kentucky derby
Further reading
- Robinson, William, The History of Thoroughbred Racing in America.