Elocutionist was an American 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...

 best known for winning the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown

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...

 series. Bred by Josephine Abercrombie's Pin Oak Stud and foaled at her Versailles, Kentucky

Versailles, Kentucky

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,511 people, 3,160 households, and 2,110 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 3,330 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 88.18% White, 8.67% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.35%...

 farm, his sire was the multiple stakes winner, Gallant Romeo, a son of 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...

 inductee, Gallant Man

Gallant Man

Gallant Man was a thoroughbred racehorse, named for a horse in a Don Ameche movie.- Career at Kentucky Derby:Gallant Man is remembered primarily for his upset loss in the 1957 Kentucky Derby...

. Out of the mare

Mare

Female horses are called mares.Mare is the Latin word for "sea".The word may also refer to:-People:* Ahmed Marzooq, also known as Mare, a footballer and Secretary General of Maldives Olympic Committee* Mare Winningham, American actress and singer...

, Strictly Speaking, his damsire the very fast Fleet Nasrullah, a multiple stakes winner who broke two track records.

Elocutionist was purchased at the July 1974 Fasig-Tipton

Fasig-Tipton

The Fasig-Tipton Company, Inc. is an auction house for Thoroughbred horses founded in 1898 by William B. Fasig and Edward A. Tipton. It is the oldest auction company of its kind in North America....

 yearling

Yearling (horse)

A yearling is a young horse of either sex that is between one and two years old. Yearlings are comparable in development to a very early adolescent, they are not fully mature physically, and while they may be in the earliest stages of sexual maturity, they are considered too young to be breeding...

 sale 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...

 by Gene Cashman

Eugene C. Cashman

Eugene C. "Gene" Cashman was an American businessman and Thoroughbred racehorse owner. He was a prominent Chicago commodities trader and was a member of the Chicago Board of Trade for nearly half a century....

, a Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 native who made a fortune as a commodities trader

Trade (financial instrument)

In finance, a trade is an exchange of a security for "cash", typically a short-dated promise to pay in the currency of the country where the 'exchange' is located...

 which afforded him the opportunity to establish a large Thoroughbred racing stable. At the auction, Cashman and his trainer, Paul Adwell

Paul T. Adwell

Paul T. Adwell was an American Thoroughbred horse racing trainer best known for winning the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series in 1976....

, narrowed their selection to two yearling colts they liked. However, unable to decide which one to buy, they flipped a coin

Coin flipping

Coin flipping or coin tossing or heads or tails is the practice of throwing a coin in the air to choose between two alternatives, sometimes to resolve a dispute between two parties...

 and Elocutionist wound up being the one Cashman bought. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SSIMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VF0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6713,308235&dq=elocutionist+cashman

1975 racing season

A late bloomer, Elocutionist made his first start on October 13, 1975. The two-year-old's racing debut was a winning one and he went on to win all four of his ensuing starts that year including the 49th running of the Hawthorne Juvenile Stakes

Hawthorne Juvenile Stakes

The Hawthorne Juvenile Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually from 1927 through 1999 at Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney/Cicero, Illinois...

 at Chicago's Hawthorne Race Course

Hawthorne Race Course

Hawthorne Race Course is a race track for horse racing in Stickney/Cicero, Illinois, near Chicago.The oldest continually-run family-owned racetrack in North America, in 2009 the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced a rating system for 65 Thoroughbred racetracks in North America...

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1976 Preakness Stakes

At age three in 1976, the undefeated Elocutionist began the year with a third and a second place finish in his first two outings then won three races in a row including the Forerunner Stakes

Forerunner Stakes

The Forerunner Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the third week of April at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. Open to three-year-old horses, it is contested on turf over a distance of one and one-eighth miles .Inaugurated in 1950, the Forerunner Stakes...

 at Keeneland

Keeneland

Keeneland is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and sales complex in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. Operated by the Keeneland Association, Inc., it is also known for its reference library on the sport, which contains more than 10,000 volumes, an extensive videocassette collection, and a substantial...

 and the April 3 Arkansas Derby

Arkansas Derby

The Arkansas Derby is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is currently a Grade I race run over a distance of 9 furlongs on dirt....

 at Oaklawn Park

Oaklawn Park

Oaklawn Park is an American thoroughbred racetrack in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is the home to The Racing Festival of the South.In 2009, the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced a rating system for 65 Thoroughbred racetracks in North America. Of the top Ten, Oaklawn was ranked...

. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nL4RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fu0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6749,619929&dq=elocutionist+cashman Elocutionist's performances earned him entry into the first of the Triple Crown races, a first for his owner, trainer, and for his jockey, John Lively. The colt ran third 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...

 behind winner Bold Forbes

Bold Forbes

Bold Forbes was a champion thoroughbred racehorse, winner of the 1976 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.-Beginnings:...

, who had been the yearling Cashman and Adwell did not buy at the auction as a result of the coin toss. However, Elocutionist came back to win the 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...

 by three and a half lengths, beating runnerup Play The Red and Bold Forbes who finished third.

Scheduled to run in the third leg of the Triple Crown, a week before the race Paul Adwell announced the colt had suffered an injury to his right foreleg and would not run in the 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...

. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kIsSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vPYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5376,154554&dq=paul+adwell Elocutionist never recovered from his injury and on September 8, owner Cashman announced that Elocutionist was being retired and would be syndicated 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...

. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/616730722.html?dids=616730722:616730722&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Sep+09%2C+1976&author=Neil+Milbert&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=Syndicated+to+stud&pqatl=google

During a short career that spanned only seven months, Elocutionist compiled a remarkable record. He finished on the board in all twelve of his starts, winning nine, running second once, and taking third in the remaining two.

At stud

Retired to stud duty, Elocutionist met with modest success as a sire. The best of his progeny was Demons Begone who won the 1987 Arkansas Derby

Arkansas Derby

The Arkansas Derby is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is currently a Grade I race run over a distance of 9 furlongs on dirt....

 for Loblolly Stable

Loblolly Stable

Loblolly Stable was a Thoroughbred horse breeding and racing stable in Lake Hamilton, Arkansas owned by businessman John Ed Anthony and his former wife Mary Lynn. The stable's first top runner was Cox's Ridge who won important races in 1977 and 1978 and went on to become an excellent sire...

. He was the heavy favorite going into the Kentucky Derby but began bleeding profusely during the race and had to be pulled up. http://www.bloodhorse.com/articleindex/article.asp?id=4902 Through his daughter, Haute Autorite, Elocutionist is the damsire of 1993 American Horse of the Year, Kotashaan

Kotashaan

Kotashaan was an Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in France and earned Champion honors in the United States. He was bred and raced by brothers Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, owners of the House of Chanel in Paris. Kotashaan was sired by Darshaan, winner of the 1984 French Derby and the Leading...

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