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Exterminator (horse)
Encyclopedia
Exterminator was an American
Thoroughbred
racehorse and the winner of the 1918 Kentucky Derby
, and in 1922 won Horse of the Year
honors.
The lanky chestnut colt was bred by F. D. "Dixie" Knight (Mrs. M.J. Mizner, Knight's mother, was said to be the actual breeder) and foaled at Almahurst Farm near Lexington, Kentucky
. Exterminator was sired by McGee who also produced Donerail
, the winner of the 1913 Kentucky Derby. At the Saratoga Paddock sale of 1916, he was bought as a yearling for $1,500 by J. Cal Milam who trained his own horses. The big colt grew fast, reaching 16.3 hands at two but he was awkward and coarse looking. For this reason, Milam had him gelded
. On June 30, 1917 at Latonia Race Track
in Covington, Kentucky
, Exterminator made his debut in a six-furlong maiden race that he won by three lengths. Sent to race in Windsor, Ontario
, Canada
, he suffered a muscle sprain and Milam gave him time off to grow into his size, which by now was 17 hands. Still, he had earned $1,500 and a potential nomination to the Kentucky Derby.
Before Exterminator could begin his third season, Milam sold him to Willis Sharpe Kilmer
for $9,000 and a pair of fillies, quite a bit of money for the times...especially as Kilmer had only authorized his future U.S. Hall of Fame trainer, Henry McDaniel, to pay about $700 for a "workhorse." Kilmer bought Exterminator to help his prized colt, Sun Briar
in his workouts. (Kilmer had purchased his colt at the same sale Milam bought his, but for $5,000.)
Kilmer didn't think much of his new purchase; he called him "that Truck Horse," or "the goat." Exterminator was supposed to stay behind Sun Briar merely to urge him on to greater effort, but he ran easily beside Sun Briar unless held back. Even then, it was no effort to match Sun Briar...and Sun Briar had topped his juvenile division, winning 5 of 9 starts. Henry McDaniel was impressed by Exterminator's understanding of his job. He pressed when he was supposed to, held back when necessary. McDaniel considered him the most intelligent thoroughbred he'd ever known. Unfortunately, Sun Briar, who had won U.S. Two-yr-Old Champion Colt
honors, developed ringbone
and Kilmer suddenly had no horse for the Derby. He was urged to run Exterminator by McDaniel, but wouldn't hear of running "that goat" in his colors. It took Colonel Matt Winn
, president of Churchill Downs
, to convince him. Winn had seen the colt's workouts and was very impressed.
The morning of the race, it poured with rain. The track was deep in mud. Not since he was a two-year-old had Exterminator raced, and none of his races could be considered a suitable prep for the prestigious Kentucky Derby. Ridden by a disappointed Willie Knapp
, who'd expected to be up on Sun Briar, Exterminator went off at odds of 30-1 to the heavily favored War Cloud
. Exterminator raced at the back until the field turned for home, then he turned it on, flying down the track, passing one horse after the other. Nearing the wire, he was coming on stronger than ever, taking on Escoba, who was all that stood between Exterminator and the roses. He won the Derby by a length.
Willie Knapp became an instant fan of the tall chestnut gelding. Many years later he said of the champion: "When he was at his best, Exterminator could have beaten Man o' War
or Citation
or Kelso
or any other horse that ever lived on any track doing anything."
When Man o' War was three, Kilmer tried for a match race between the two horses. Somehow, Man o' War's owner, Samuel Riddle, although seeming to agree, never managed to have that happen.
As a gelding, Exterminator went on to compete in 99 races, winning 50, finishing second and third, 17 times each. His lifetime earnings amounted to $252,996. Beaten in the Brooklyn Handicap
by Grey Lag
, Exterminator got better as he got older and later defeated Gray Lag in the same race. The Daily Racing Form
named Exterminator unofficial U.S. Champion Older Male Horse
three straight times from 1920 through 1922.
and found evidence that he only had 99 official racing starts.
Additionally the local Binghamton, New York paper (where he spent his final years) noted upon his death in their front page coverage that he had only 99-lifetime starts
The 100th "start" was an exhibition run by himself alone at Hawthorne Race Course
in Cicero, Illinois
September 1922. It was not for purse money and of his win, place or show finishes none are uplifted by this walkover effort in a public workout.
Exterminator lived in his private barn at Court Manor
in Virginia until Kilmer's death in 1940, after which he was moved to Binghamton, New York. He died at the age of thirty on September 26, 1945 in his stall at Sun Briar Court, which has since been razed. At the time of his death it was reported that he was buried beside several of the companion ponies (all named "Peanuts") although no markers exist today reflecting their grave. Exterminator's grave stone is in former La France Pet Cemetery now renamed Whispering Pines Pet Cemetery, Binghamton, New York
and is shared with fellow Kilmer owned and raced horses: Sun Briar
(b. 1915 - d.1943) and the mare Suntica (b. 1929 - d. 1947).
The Blood-Horse
ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, put him at #29.
His career record of 33 stakes wins has never been broken by any thoroughbred raced in North America.
A children's book was written about him: Old Bones, the Wonder Horse written by Mildred Mastin Pace and published by McGraw-Hill in 1955 with illustrations by Wesley Dennis. It was reissued in 1983 as a paperback by the Scholastic Book Services.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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 and the winner of the 1918 Kentucky Derby
1918 Kentucky Derby
The 1918 Kentucky Derby was the 44th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place May 11, 1918.- Full results :- Payout :* The winner received a purse of $15,000.* Second place received $2,500.* Third place received $1,000....
, and in 1922 won 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....
honors.
The lanky chestnut colt was bred by F. D. "Dixie" Knight (Mrs. M.J. Mizner, Knight's mother, was said to be the actual breeder) and foaled at Almahurst Farm near 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...
. Exterminator was sired by McGee who also produced Donerail
Donerail
Donerail was an American thoroughbred racehorse, who was the upset winner of the 1913 Kentucky Derby. His driving win stands to this day as the biggest long shot in the history of the Derby. Going off at 91-1, Donerail provided a $184.90 payoff for a $2 bet. He was drawing away at the finish...
, the winner of the 1913 Kentucky Derby. At the Saratoga Paddock sale of 1916, he was bought as a yearling for $1,500 by J. Cal Milam who trained his own horses. The big colt grew fast, reaching 16.3 hands at two but he was awkward and coarse looking. For this reason, Milam had him gelded
Gelding
A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. Castration, and the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday...
. On June 30, 1917 at Latonia Race Track
Latonia Race Track
Latonia Race Track on Winston Avenue in Latonia Kentucky, six miles south of Cincinnati, Ohio, was a Thoroughbred horse racing facility opened in 1883. The track hosted a spring-summer racing series and a second in late fall. It was once regarded as among the United States' top sites for racing,...
in Covington, Kentucky
Covington, Kentucky
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile...
, Exterminator made his debut in a six-furlong maiden race that he won by three lengths. Sent to race in Windsor, Ontario
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, he suffered a muscle sprain and Milam gave him time off to grow into his size, which by now was 17 hands. Still, he had earned $1,500 and a potential nomination to the Kentucky Derby.
Before Exterminator could begin his third season, Milam sold him to Willis Sharpe Kilmer
Willis Sharpe Kilmer
Willis Sharpe Kilmer , son of Jonas M. Kilmer and Julia E. Sharpe, was a marketing pioneer, newspaperman, and horse breeder. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he graduated from Cornell University in 1890. Kilmer was perhaps best known for advertising and promoting his uncle's Swamp Root patent medicine...
for $9,000 and a pair of fillies, quite a bit of money for the times...especially as Kilmer had only authorized his future U.S. Hall of Fame trainer, Henry McDaniel, to pay about $700 for a "workhorse." Kilmer bought Exterminator to help his prized colt, Sun Briar
Sun Briar
Sun Briar was a Thoroughbred racehorse voted the American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt of 1917 and the American Champion Older Male Horse of 1919. He was a son of Sundridge, the 1911 Champion sire in Great Britain who also sired Epsom Derby winner, Sunstar. Sun Briar was out of the mare Sweet...
in his workouts. (Kilmer had purchased his colt at the same sale Milam bought his, but for $5,000.)
Kilmer didn't think much of his new purchase; he called him "that Truck Horse," or "the goat." Exterminator was supposed to stay behind Sun Briar merely to urge him on to greater effort, but he ran easily beside Sun Briar unless held back. Even then, it was no effort to match Sun Briar...and Sun Briar had topped his juvenile division, winning 5 of 9 starts. Henry McDaniel was impressed by Exterminator's understanding of his job. He pressed when he was supposed to, held back when necessary. McDaniel considered him the most intelligent thoroughbred he'd ever known. Unfortunately, Sun Briar, who had won U.S. Two-yr-Old Champion Colt
Eclipse Award for Outstanding 2-Year-Old Male Horse
The American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971....
honors, developed ringbone
Ringbone
Ringbone is exostosis in the pastern or coffin joint of a horse. In severe cases, the growth can encircle the bones, giving ringbone its name...
and Kilmer suddenly had no horse for the Derby. He was urged to run Exterminator by McDaniel, but wouldn't hear of running "that goat" in his colors. It took Colonel Matt Winn
Matt Winn
Colonel Martin J. "Matt" Winn was a prominent personality in American thoroughbred horse racing history and president of Churchill Downs racetrack, home to the Kentucky Derby race that he made famous....
, president of Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs, located in Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, is a Thoroughbred racetrack most famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby annually. It officially opened in 1875, and held the first Kentucky Derby and the first Kentucky Oaks in the same year. Churchill Downs...
, to convince him. Winn had seen the colt's workouts and was very impressed.
The morning of the race, it poured with rain. The track was deep in mud. Not since he was a two-year-old had Exterminator raced, and none of his races could be considered a suitable prep for the prestigious Kentucky Derby. Ridden by a disappointed Willie Knapp
Willie Knapp
William "Willie" Knapp was an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey.-References:*...
, who'd expected to be up on Sun Briar, Exterminator went off at odds of 30-1 to the heavily favored War Cloud
War Cloud
War Cloud was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first horse to compete in all three U.S.Triple Crown races. Bred by Jack Barnato Joel, one of Britain's most prominent Thoroughbred owner/breeders, War Cloud was sold as a yearling and brought to race in the United States.- Racing...
. Exterminator raced at the back until the field turned for home, then he turned it on, flying down the track, passing one horse after the other. Nearing the wire, he was coming on stronger than ever, taking on Escoba, who was all that stood between Exterminator and the roses. He won the Derby by a length.
Willie Knapp became an instant fan of the tall chestnut gelding. Many years later he said of the champion: "When he was at his best, Exterminator could have beaten Man o' War
Man O' War (horse)
Man o' War, is considered one of the greatest Thoroughbred racehorses of all time. During his career just after World War I, he won 20 of 21 races and $249,465 in purses....
or Citation
Citation (horse)
Citation was the eighth American Triple Crown winner, and one of three major North American Thoroughbreds to win at least 16 consecutive races in major stakes race competition...
or Kelso
Kelso (horse)
Kelso was an American thoroughbred race horse considered among the best racehorses of the 20th century. In the list of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century by The Blood-Horse magazine Kelso ranks 4th, behind only Man o' War , Secretariat and Citation...
or any other horse that ever lived on any track doing anything."
When Man o' War was three, Kilmer tried for a match race between the two horses. Somehow, Man o' War's owner, Samuel Riddle, although seeming to agree, never managed to have that happen.
As a gelding, Exterminator went on to compete in 99 races, winning 50, finishing second and third, 17 times each. His lifetime earnings amounted to $252,996. Beaten in the Brooklyn Handicap
Brooklyn Handicap
The Brooklyn Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on Long Island. It currently is a Grade II event open to three-year-olds and up willing to race one and one-half miles on dirt....
by Grey Lag
Grey Lag
Grey Lag was a thoroughbred race horse born in Kentucky and bred by John E. Madden. At his Hamburg Place near Lexington, Kentucky, Maddon had a good stallion called Star Shoot which he bred to all his mares. Out of a failed racemare called Miss Minnie who had produced no previous winners, he got...
, Exterminator got better as he got older and later defeated Gray Lag in the same race. The Daily Racing Form
Daily Racing Form
The Daily Racing Form is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of race horses as a statistical service for bettors on horse racing in the United States....
named Exterminator unofficial U.S. Champion Older Male Horse
Eclipse Award for Outstanding Older Male Horse
The title of American Champion Older Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a stallion or gelding, four years old and up. Prior to 1971, this award was referred to as "Champion Handicap Male Horse", and was open to any horse, three years old and up...
three straight times from 1920 through 1922.
100 race start myth
Found frequently and in long time error is the assertion that Exterminator started in 100 races. Per the research and subsequent book (Exterminator - #18 in the Thoroughbred Legends series) author Eva Jolene Boyd reviewed all records of his starts and the record keeping by the Daily Racing FormDaily Racing Form
The Daily Racing Form is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of race horses as a statistical service for bettors on horse racing in the United States....
and found evidence that he only had 99 official racing starts.
Additionally the local Binghamton, New York paper (where he spent his final years) noted upon his death in their front page coverage that he had only 99-lifetime starts
The 100th "start" was an exhibition run by himself alone at 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...
in Cicero, Illinois
Cicero, Illinois
Cicero is an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 83,891 at the 2010 census. Cicero is named for the town of Cicero, New York, which in turn was named for Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman statesman and orator....
September 1922. It was not for purse money and of his win, place or show finishes none are uplifted by this walkover effort in a public workout.
Post Racing
Racing until the age of 9, a relatively old age for a horse, Exterminator was called by his many fans "Old Bones," or "The Galloping Hatrack," (amongst the stable lads, he was "Old Shang"). He was retired in 1924 to a life of grass and leisure, with a succession of companion ponies, all named Peanuts, at his side.Exterminator lived in his private barn at Court Manor
Court Manor
Court Manor is an early Greek Revival manor house and estate in Rockingham County, Virginia, located south of the town of New Market. With its stately manor house and prime location in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, Court Manor has long been regarded as "one of the finest estates in the...
in Virginia until Kilmer's death in 1940, after which he was moved to Binghamton, New York. He died at the age of thirty on September 26, 1945 in his stall at Sun Briar Court, which has since been razed. At the time of his death it was reported that he was buried beside several of the companion ponies (all named "Peanuts") although no markers exist today reflecting their grave. Exterminator's grave stone is in former La France Pet Cemetery now renamed Whispering Pines Pet Cemetery, Binghamton, New York
Binghamton, New York
Binghamton is a city in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. It is near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers...
and is shared with fellow Kilmer owned and raced horses: Sun Briar
Sun Briar
Sun Briar was a Thoroughbred racehorse voted the American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt of 1917 and the American Champion Older Male Horse of 1919. He was a son of Sundridge, the 1911 Champion sire in Great Britain who also sired Epsom Derby winner, Sunstar. Sun Briar was out of the mare Sweet...
(b. 1915 - d.1943) and the mare Suntica (b. 1929 - d. 1947).
Modern Recognition
In 1957, Exterminator was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and 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...
The Blood-Horse
The Blood-Horse magazine
The Blood-Horse is an international weekly news magazine about Thoroughbred horses, horse breeding, and horseracing. It was founded in 1916, the oldest continually published North American Thoroughbred magazine. The magazine is based in Lexington, Kentucky, the Horse Capital of the World...
ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, put him at #29.
His career record of 33 stakes wins has never been broken by any thoroughbred raced in North America.
A children's book was written about him: Old Bones, the Wonder Horse written by Mildred Mastin Pace and published by McGraw-Hill in 1955 with illustrations by Wesley Dennis. It was reissued in 1983 as a paperback by the Scholastic Book Services.