Gallant Fox was a United States

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...

 horseracing champion.

Foaled at Claiborne Farm

Claiborne Farm

Claiborne Farm is a thoroughbred Horse breeding operation in near Paris, Kentucky. It was established in 1910, by Arthur B. Hancock, owner of Ellerslie Farm in Albemarle County, Virginia, and has been operated by members of his family ever since.-Owners:...

 in Paris, Kentucky

Paris, Kentucky

As of the census of 2000, there were 9,183 people, 3,857 households, and 2,487 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 4,222 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 84.23% White, 12.71% African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.16%...

 by Sir Gallahad III

Sir Gallahad III

Sir Gallahad III was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and a very important Sire in the United States.Racing at age two in France for his British breeder/owner, Jefferson Davis Cohn, Sir Gallahad earned victory in three of his five starts but was overshadowed by the 1922 Champion colt, Epinard...

 out of the mare Marguerite

Marguerite

Marguerite is the French form of a female given name which derives from the Greek Μαργαρίτης meaning "pearl")...

, Gallant Fox was a bay colt who became the second horse to win 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...

.

Owned by the Belair Stud

Belair Stud

Belair Stud was an American thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm founded by Provincial Governor of Maryland, Samuel Ogle in 1747 in Collington, Prince Georges County, Maryland in Colonial America.-Colonial Period:...

 of Collington, Maryland

Collington, Maryland

Collington, Maryland is a now defunct settlement in Prince George's County, Maryland dating from colonial times. Collington has been subsumed by the city of Bowie, Maryland.-Geography:...

, Gallant Fox was ridden by Earl Sande

Earl Sande

Earl H. Sande was an American Hall of Fame jockey and thoroughbred horse trainer.Born in Groton, South Dakota, Earl Sande started out as a bronco buster in the early 1900s but then became a successful American quarter horse rider before switching to thoroughbred horse racing in 1918...

 and trained by Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons

Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons

James Edward Fitzsimmons was a thoroughbred racehorse trainer.Born in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, New York, Fitzsimmons began his career in 1885 working at a racetrack as a stable boy. After nearly ten less-than-successful years as a thoroughbred jockey, he became too heavy for that job and took...

. After a mediocre campaign as a two-year-old, he was a winner at three in 9 out of 10 races; among them the 1930 Lawrence Realization Stakes

Lawrence Realization Stakes

The Lawrence Realization Stakes was an American horse race first run on the turf in 1889. The race, for three-year-old Thoroughbred colts, geldings and fillies, was last run in 2005.-History:...

, the Wood Memorial Stakes

Wood Memorial Stakes

The Wood Memorial Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Jamaica, New York. It is currently a Grade I race run over a distance of 9 furlongs on dirt....

 and the Triple Crown races: 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...

, 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...

, and 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...

. He also won the Jockey Club Gold Cup

Jockey Club Gold Cup

The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers Stakes is of the...

. His only loss that year was to a 100 to 1 shot, Jim Dandy, in the Travers Stakes

Travers Stakes

The Travers Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.First held in 1864, it was named for William R. Travers, the president of the old Saratoga Racing Association. His horse, Kentucky, won the first running of the Travers...

.

Gallant Fox was retired to stud

Horse breeding

Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...

 after the 1930 racing season and stood at stud for 22 years. Among his progeny were 1935 Triple Crown winner Omaha

Omaha (horse)

Omaha was a United States thoroughbred horse racing champion.Foaled at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, he was the son of 1930 U.S. Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox and the mare Flambino. Omaha was the third horse to win the Triple Crown having won as a three-year-old in 1935.Omaha was an...

 and Granville

Granville (horse)

Granville was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. Owned and bred by prominent horseman William Woodward, Sr. at his Belair Stud in Bowie, Maryland, Granville was sired by U.S...

, 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....

. He also sired Flares

Flares (horse)

Flares was a British Thoroughbred racehorse owned, bred, and raced by the preeminent horseman in the United States, William Woodward, Sr. Flares was out of the racing mare, Flambino, winner of the 1927 Gazelle Handicap. His sire was the great Gallant Fox, the 1930 U.S. Triple Crown winner and a U.S...

, who in 1938 became only the second American-bred to ever win England's

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...

 Ascot Gold Cup

Ascot Gold Cup

The Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 2 miles and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June....

.

Gallant Fox was first US Triple Crown winner to sire a second generation Triple Crown champion when his foal Omaha

Omaha (horse)

Omaha was a United States thoroughbred horse racing champion.Foaled at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, he was the son of 1930 U.S. Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox and the mare Flambino. Omaha was the third horse to win the Triple Crown having won as a three-year-old in 1935.Omaha was an...

 won the US Triple Crown in 1935. Fifty eight years later, in 1993, Affirmed

Affirmed

Affirmed was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the eleventh and most recent winner of the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing...

 became the second when one of Affirmed's foals, Peteski

Peteski

Peteski was a Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Canadian Triple Crown in 1993. He was sired by the U.S. Triple Crown winner Affirmed, and was out of the mare Vive, a daughter of Nureyev....

, won the Canadian Triple Crown.

Gallant Fox died on November 13, 1953, and was buried at Claiborne Farm. In 1957, 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...

. The The Blood-Horse magazine

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 listed Gallant Fox at #28.

Breeding