Meridian (horse)
Encyclopedia
Meridian was an American
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 that won the 1911 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...

, setting a new record by running 1 1/4 miles in 2 minutes, 5 seconds. The previous record of 2:06 1/4 had been set by Lieut. Gibson
Lieut. Gibson
Lieutenant Gibson was an American thoroughbred racehorse that was bred in Kentucky and is best remembered for winning the 1900 Kentucky Derby. His winning time of 2:06 1/4 stood as the Derby record for 11 years. Lieut. Gibson also won the Latonia Derby, Clark Stakes and the Flatbush Stakes as a...

 in the 1900 Derby. Meridian was determined to be the historical Champion Three-Year Old and Horse of the Year
Horse of the Year
Horse of the Year is an honor given by various organizations worldwide in harness racing and thoroughbred horse racing.Some of the awards include:* Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year* Breeders' Cup World Championships Poll* European Horse of the Year...

 of 1911.

Pedigree

Meridian was foaled at Charles L. Harrison's farm in Bellevue, Kentucky
Bellevue, Kentucky
Bellevue is a city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 5,955 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Bellevue is located in the extreme northern portion of Kentucky, directly across the Ohio River from the Mount Adams neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio...

 in 1908. Charles Harrison (1856-1912) was a civil engineer by trade and was a designer of the Cincinnati and Eastern Railway
Cincinnati and Eastern Railway
The Cincinnati and Eastern Railway was a railroad that completed its line from a junction with the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway north of Cincinnati east to Portsmouth, Ohio in 1884. It began as the Cincinnati, Batavia and Williamsburg Railroad in January 1876, and was renamed in May of...

. Meridian's dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

 was Sue Smith, winner of the 1905 Astoria Stakes
Astoria Stakes
The Astoria Stakes is a long-lived race for two-year-old Thoroughbred fillies run at Belmont Park during its Spring/Summer season. Originally set at a distance of five furlongs, beginning in the year 1940, it went off at five and a half furlongs on the dirt...

, who was sired
Sire
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...

 by the imported British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 stallion Masetto. Meridian's sire was Broomstick
Broomstick (horse)
Broomstick was a Thoroughbred race horse born and bred at the famous McGrathiana Stud in Kentucky, but more importantly, he was one of the great sires of American racing. Out of another great sire, the Hall of Famer Ben Brush, Broomstick went on after his racing career to produce champion after...

, son of 1896 Kentucky Derby winner Ben Brush, who was then standing at the Senorita Stock Farm 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...

.

Racing career

Meridian won three of his 12 starts as a two-year old, gaining third place in the 1910 Foam Stakes and second place in the Sheepshead Bay Double Event while racing for Harrison in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. Harrison had consigned the Thoroughbred to be sold in a July 1910 sale at the Sheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay Race Track was an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility built on the site of the Coney Island Jockey Club at Sheepshead Bay, New York...

, but withdrew him because the bidding was not high enough. Richard Carman was also at the auction and purchased a horse called The Turk.

Meridian was bought by New Yorker
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 Richard F. Carman as a three-year old and was placed in the Kentucky Derby against a field of seven horses. Meridian started from the fifth post position and was a steady contender for most of the race and was able to outrun a rapidly advancing Governor Gray. Meridian continued to race until he was six years old before being retired from racing to be used as a breeding stallion by Carman.

Stud career

Richard Carman retired Meridian to his stud farm, called Carmandale, in Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...

 in 1915. His most notable offspring for Carman was the colt
Colt (horse)
A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....

 Carmandale (b.1917, out of Daruma) who won the 1919 Whirl Stakes and Wakefield Handicap. Carmandale was a fast runner, but was injured in the Climax Handicap at Havre de Grace Race Track in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 on April 21, 1923 and had to be euthanized.

Carmandale Stud was destroyed by an October 3, 1922 fire in which Carman lost 15 pregnant broodmares and 10 foals, which amounted to $95,000. Meridian, The Turk and three mares survived the fire because they were housed in a separate barn. The fire was suspected to be arson, due to Richard Carman disrupting the activities of local rum runners.

Carman sold Meridian in 1923 to horse trainer William Garth, who owned Inglecrest Farm in Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...

. Paul Jones
Paul Jones (horse)
Paul Jones was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that was the sixth gelding to win the Kentucky Derby. Paul Jones was foaled in the same year as the great Man o' War, winner of the 1920 Preakness and Belmont Stakes and one of the most influential sires of the 20th century...

, the winner of the 1920 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...

, was also owned by Garth and was kept at the farm. During the late 1920s, Meridian sired Glen Wild (b. 1926), who won the Riggs Handicap and North Shore Handicap. Meridian died in 1935.
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