Celtic Ash was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

-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...

 racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 raised in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 who is best known for winning an American Classic Race. Bred by Lord Harrington, he was out of the mare Ash Plant and sired by Sicambre

Sicambre

Sicambre was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and Champion sire. He was bred by Jean Stern at his Haras de Saint Pair du Mont in Le Cadran, Calvados. Stern raced and owned him throughout his life....

, the Leading sire in France

Leading sire in France

The list below shows the leading Thoroughbred sire of racehorses in France for each year since 1887. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won by the sire's progeny during the season .-----References:* -See also:*...

 in 1966. On the advice of Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

-born trainer Tom Barry

Thomas J. Barry

Thomas J. "Tom" Barry was a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorse who won two American Classic Races with foreign-bred horses...

, Celtic Ash was purchased by Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 banker, Joseph E. O'Connell who imported him to the United States to race for his Green Dunes Farm.

At age two, Celtic Ash made three starts without winning, then at three made a total of six starts. He was not entered in the 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...

 but won two minor races at Laurel Park Racecourse, in one of which he set a new track record time for one mile. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vSwNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=M2wDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6884,2036285&dq=celtic+ash He was then entered in the May 14, 1960 Preakness Stakes

Preakness Stakes

The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

, the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series

United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing

In the United States, the "Triple Crown" is usually the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, a series of three Thoroughbred horse races for three-year-old horses run in May and early June of each year consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.While Daily Racing Form...

. Under jockey Sam Boulmetis

Sam Boulmetis, Sr.

Samuel A. Boulmetis, Sr. is a retired American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey who was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1973...

, longshot Celtic Ash finished third behind runner-up Victoria Park

Victoria Park (horse)

Victoria Park was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. A grandson of American Triple Crown champion Gallant Fox, he was the first Canadian-bred horse to place in an American Triple Crown race...

 and winner, Bally Ache

Bally Ache

Bally Ache was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won one of the American Classics in 1960 but died shortly afterwards. In her book American Classic Pedigrees , author Avalyn Hunter wrote that Bally Ache was "a crowd favorite" who "won hearts by his sheer determination."Bally Ache was bred by...

.

Unlike today, the $100,000 added Jersey Derby

Jersey Derby

The Jersey Derby is a $100,000 American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in late July/early August at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. Since 1993 it has been raced on grass at a distance of 1 1/16 miles....

 at Monmouth Park Racetrack

Monmouth Park Racetrack

Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.Monmouth Park's marquee event...

 was run between the Preakness and the third leg off the U.S. Triple Crown. The New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 race regularly drew the top three-year-olds and more than 50,000 fans showed up on Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...

 1960 to see Celtic Ash, under future U.S. Racing 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...

 jockey Bill Hartack

Bill Hartack

William John Hartack Jr. was a Hall of Fame jockey. He was born in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania.Referred to by the media as both "Bill" and "Willie" during his racing career, Hartack grew up on his widowed father's farm in the Blacklick...

, finish third behind Tompion

Tompion

Tompion was an American Thoroughbred race horse owned by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. Immaculately bred, Tompion was the son of the Hall of Fame horse Tom Fool. His damsire was Count Fleet, the 1943 U.S. Triple Crown champion.Trained by Robert L...

 and winner, Bally Ache. Hartack had ridden Venetian Way

Venetian Way

Venetian Way was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1960 Kentucky Derby. Bred in Kentucky by John W. Greathouse, he was purchased by Chicago, Illinois businessman Isaac Blumberg who raced him under the nom de course of Sunny Blue Farm.Venetian Way was trained by Victor...

 to victory in the Kentucky Derby but had been criticized for his ride on the colt after he finished fifth in the Preakness Stakes. After the Jersey Derby, Hartack accepted trainer Tom Barry's offer to ride Celtic Ash again in the upcoming Belmont Stakes.

1960 Belmont stakes

The day prior to the Belmont Stakes, betting

Parimutuel betting

Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vig" is removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets...

 favorite Bally Ache came up lame and had to be withdrawn from the 1½ mile third leg of the Triple Crown. His absence left Venetian Way, with superstar jockey Eddie Arcaro

Eddie Arcaro

George Edward Arcaro , known professionally as Eddie Arcaro, was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who won more American classic races than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Triple Crown twice...

, as the favorite. However, winning the Belmont Stakes with an underdog was nothing new for Celtic Ash's owner, Joseph O'Connell. Two years earlier in 1958, he and trainer Tom Barry won the Classic with the lightly raced Irish-bred colt, Cavan

Cavan

Cavan is the county town of County Cavan in the Republic of Ireland. The town lies in the north central part of Ireland, near the border with Northern Ireland...

. Unfortunately, on June 11, 1960 Joseph O'Connell was in a Brighton, Massachusetts hospital and could only watch on television as Bill Hartack brought his colt from last place to overtake Venetian Way in the stretch then pull away to win easily by five and a half lengths.

As a sire

Retired to stud

Stud (animal)

A stud animal is a registered animal retained for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species usually imply that the animal is entire—that is, not castrated—and therefore capable of siring offspring...

 duty, Celtic Ash stood in the United States from 1962 through 1964. He was then sent to Great Britain where he stood until 1971. There, he notably sired Athens Wood

Athens Wood

Athens Wood was a Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning a British Classic, the St. Leger Stakes. He was bred by Kilcarn Stud near Navan in County Meath, Ireland. His sire was Celtic Ash, a British-born colt who raced in the United States where in 1960 he won an American Classic, the...

, who won the 1971 St. Leger Stakes

St. Leger Stakes

The St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...

, and Hoche, winner of the 1972 Premio Presidente della Repubblica

Premio Presidente della Repubblica

The Premio Presidente della Repubblica is a Group 1 flat horse race in Italy open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Capannelle over a distance 2,000 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in May.-History:...

. He was also the grandsire of 1998 Grand National

Grand National

The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...

 winner, Earth Summit

Earth Summit (horse)

Earth Summit was foaled in 1988, a son of Celtic Cone who was a winning stayer on the flat and over hurdles. Celtic Cone loved soft ground, as did all of his progeny...

. Sold in 1971 to a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese breeding operation, Celtic Ash died in Japan at age twenty-one in 1978.