Graustark (horse)
Encyclopedia
Graustark was an American
Thoroughbred
racehorse
who was a favorite to win the 1966 Kentucky Derby
until an injury prematurely ended his career.
near Lexington, Kentucky
, Graustark was named for the fictional country
used as the setting in several early 20th century novels by George Barr McCutcheon
. He had was chestnut and had a stride that was believed to be at least as long as Man o' War's. Graustark's nickname was "The Big G".
Sired by the great Europe
an champion Ribot
, Graustark was born in the same year as Ogden Phipps'
future Hall of Fame
colt Buckpasser
.
. Buckpasser, who won the award based on his nine wins in eleven races, went into the 1966 racing season as the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby.
Braulio Baeza
, (who was also Buckpasser's jockey), he made his three-year-old debut with another win in the Grenada Purse at Hialeah Park. He then began winning race after race and was soon talked about as being a serious rival to Buckpasser. At the time, Baeza considered Graustark to be the best horse he had ever ridden. He was touted as a superhorse who was likely to win the Triple Crown, thus ending the drought since Citation's win. The anticipated showdown between Buckpasser and Graustark at Churchill Downs
on the first Saturday in May never happened after Buckpasser suffered a quarter crack injury and missed the U.S. Triple Crown
races. Graustark then became the heavy favorite for the Derby. However, after winning seven straight races, he sustained a career-ending coffin bone
break while in the lead in the Blue Grass Stakes
. Racing on a very muddy track, he was in front by six lengths in the back stretch but lost by a nose to Abe's Hope (who nearly beat Buckpasser in the Flamingo Stakes). Prior to the last race, a safety pin was found stuck in Graustark's frog/hoof, but after icing he was declared fit to run. (This also happened to Spectacular Bid
prior to his Belmont Stakes defeat).
. Among his progeny were the 1972 U.S. Champion 3-Year-Old Colt
Key To The Mint
; Avatar
, winner of the 1975 Santa Anita Derby
and Belmont Stakes
; and Jim French
. He was also the damsire of multi-millionaire Bien Bien
.
Graustark's full brother was His Majesty
, who set a track record of 1:46 2/5 for 1 1/8 miles at Hialeah Park Race Track
. His Majesty was also a Leading sire in North America
whose offspring included Pleasant Colony
, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and 1981 - 3 yo Eclipse Award Winner.
Graustark died at age 25 on August 21, 1988, and was buried in the equine cemetery at Darby Dan Farm.
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
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...
who was a favorite to win the 1966 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...
until an injury prematurely ended his career.
Background
Bred by renowned sportsman John W. Galbreath at his Darby Dan FarmDarby Dan Farm
Darby Dan Farm is a produce, livestock, and thoroughbred horse breeding and training farm founded in 1935 near the Darby Creek in Galloway, Ohio by businessman John W. Galbreath. Named for the creek and for Galbreath's son, Daniel M. Galbreath , it was expanded from an original farm into a 4,000...
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...
, Graustark was named for the fictional country
Fictional country
A fictional country is a country that is made up for fictional stories, and does not exist in real life, or one that people believe in without proof....
used as the setting in several early 20th century novels by George Barr McCutcheon
George Barr McCutcheon
George Barr McCutcheon was an American popular novelist and playwright. His best known works include the series of novels set in Graustark, a fictional East European country, Brewster's Millions, a play and several films....
. He had was chestnut and had a stride that was believed to be at least as long as Man o' War's. Graustark's nickname was "The Big G".
Sired by the great Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an champion Ribot
Ribot (horse)
Ribot was an Italian bay Thoroughbred racehorse, considered the strongest horse of all time.Undefeated in 16 races, he won over distances ranging from 5 furlongs to 1m 7f , in three different countries and in all types of track conditions...
, Graustark was born in the same year as Ogden Phipps'
Ogden Phipps
Ogden Phipps was an American stockbroker, court tennis champion and Hall of Fame member, thoroughbred horse racing executive and owner/breeder, and an art collector and philanthropist...
future 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...
colt Buckpasser
Buckpasser
Buckpasser was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won he won nine of his eleven race starts for international record winnings for a two-year-old of $586,090. Buckpasser was leading broodmare sire in 1983, 1984 and 1989....
.
1965:two-year-old season
Racing at age two in 1965, he competed in three races - including the Arch Ward Handicap, which he won by six lengths handily on a very muddy track - but an injury (shin splints) sidelined him for the rest of the year. Although he won all three of his races by wide margins, he did not compete enough to be seriously considered for the Eclipse Award for Outstanding 2-Year-Old Male HorseEclipse 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....
. Buckpasser, who won the award based on his nine wins in eleven races, went into the 1966 racing season as the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby.
1966:three-year-old season
In early 1966, Graustark came back from his injury after five months of recuperation. Ridden by jockeyJockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...
Braulio Baeza
Braulio Baeza
Braulio Baeza is an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey. He began racing in 1955 and in 1960, at the urging of agent Camilo Marin, moved to compete in the United States where at the Keeneland Race Course he won the very first he competed in.Braulio Baeza's success in America was...
, (who was also Buckpasser's jockey), he made his three-year-old debut with another win in the Grenada Purse at Hialeah Park. He then began winning race after race and was soon talked about as being a serious rival to Buckpasser. At the time, Baeza considered Graustark to be the best horse he had ever ridden. He was touted as a superhorse who was likely to win the Triple Crown, thus ending the drought since Citation's win. The anticipated showdown between Buckpasser and Graustark at 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...
on the first Saturday in May never happened after Buckpasser suffered a quarter crack injury and missed the U.S. Triple Crown
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
races. Graustark then became the heavy favorite for the Derby. However, after winning seven straight races, he sustained a career-ending coffin bone
Equine forelimb anatomy
The equine forelimb of the horse is attached to the trunk of the animal by purely muscular connections...
break while in the lead in the Blue Grass Stakes
Blue Grass Stakes
The Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, currently sponsored by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is an American Grade 1 horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in mid April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky....
. Racing on a very muddy track, he was in front by six lengths in the back stretch but lost by a nose to Abe's Hope (who nearly beat Buckpasser in the Flamingo Stakes). Prior to the last race, a safety pin was found stuck in Graustark's frog/hoof, but after icing he was declared fit to run. (This also happened to Spectacular Bid
Spectacular Bid
Spectacular Bid was an American Thoroughbred race horse. "The Bid" as he was known was one of the most dominant gallopers of his time...
prior to his Belmont Stakes defeat).
Stud career
Despite his short racing career, horse experts agreed that Graustark was an exceptional talent and, with his pedigree, he was syndicated for a record $2.4 million, an enormous amount at the time. Standing at stud at Darby Dan Farm, Graustark proved reasonably successful as a sireSire
Sire may refer to:* Father, the counterpart of a dam, particularly in animal breeding. See also stallion* James W. Sire, author on worldviews* Sire Records, a record label* Sire Advertising, an advertising agency...
. Among his progeny were the 1972 U.S. Champion 3-Year-Old Colt
Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Male Horse
The American Champion Three-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....
Key To The Mint
Key to the Mint
Key to the Mint was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.-Background:Bred by Paul Mellon and raced under his Rokeby Stable colors, Key to the Mint was trained by future Hall of Fame inductee, Elliott Burch.-Racing Career:...
; Avatar
Avatar (horse)
Avatar was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1975 Belmont Stakes. He was bred and raced by San Antonio, Texas businessman Arthur A. Seeligson, Jr. and trained by Tommy Doyle.-Pedigree:...
, winner of the 1975 Santa Anita Derby
Santa Anita Derby
The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California and carries a purse of $1 million. Inaugurated in 1935, it is considered the most important West Coast stepping-stone to the Kentucky Derby...
and 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...
; and Jim French
Jim French (horse)
Jim French , was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred by Ralph Wilson, owner of the National Football League Buffalo Bills. He was by Graustark and out of Dinner Partner. Despite his first-rate pedigree, Jim French was small and dull brown.Trained by John P...
. He was also the damsire of multi-millionaire Bien Bien
Bien Bien
Bien Bien was an American Thoroughbred racehorse bred by William S. Farish III & William S. Kilroy and raced by Trudy McCaffery and John Toffan....
.
Graustark's full brother was His Majesty
His Majesty (horse)
His Majesty was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and Champion sire. He was bred by John W. Galbreath and raced under the colors of his Darby Dan Farm. A full brother to Graustark, His Majesty was a son of the undefeated superstar European runner and three-time Leading sire in Great Britain and...
, who set a track record of 1:46 2/5 for 1 1/8 miles at Hialeah Park Race Track
Hialeah Park Race Track
The Hialeah Park Race Track is a historic site in Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenue, and from East 22nd Street on the south to East 32nd Street on the north. On March 5, 1979, it was added to the U.S...
. His Majesty was also a Leading sire in North America
Leading sire in North America
The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won by the sire's progeny during the year...
whose offspring included Pleasant Colony
Pleasant Colony
Pleasant Colony was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the first two legs of the 1981 U.S. Triple Crown series....
, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and 1981 - 3 yo Eclipse Award Winner.
Graustark died at age 25 on August 21, 1988, and was buried in the equine cemetery at Darby Dan Farm.