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Omar Khayyam (horse)
Encyclopedia
Omar Khayyam was a British-born Thoroughbred
racehorse
who was sold as a yearling to an American racing partnership and who became the first foreign-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby
. He was named for the famous Persian
mathematician
, Omar Khayyam
.
Lisma, daughter of the champion sire
Persimmon
; his success on the track included wins in the Epsom Derby
, St. Leger Stakes
and Ascot Gold Cup
. He was sired by Marco, a leading three-year-old in England in 1895 and great-grandson of the first English Triple Crown Champion, West Australian
.
in the Hopeful Stakes. In his three-year-old season, no U.S. Triple Crown series had yet been formalized; the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes
were held on the same day. Choosing to run in the Derby, Omar Khayyam was unplaced in the Derby Trial. As a result, he was sent off at 13–1 odds in the Kentucky Derby. Ridden by jockey Charles Borel
, Omar Khayyam unleashed a powerful stretch run to come from tenth place to win over the favorite, a colt named Ticket.
Three weeks after his Derby win, Omar Khayyam was sold as part of his owner's multi-horse dispersal auction held on the grounds of New York's Belmont Park
. He was purchased by Canadian biscuit manufacturer Wilfrid Viau. For his new owner, the colt went on to win the Prospect Handicap at Jamaica Racetrack
; the Brooklyn Derby
at the old Aqueduct Racetrack
; and (at the Saratoga Race Course
) the Kenner Stakes
, the Saratoga Cup
and the Travers Stakes
. In Maryland Omar Khayyam won the Havre de Grace Handicap
and – despite a 30-pound handicap – set a new Pimlico Race Course
track record in winning the Pimlico Autumn Handicap.
After the other entrants were scratched, the October 18, 1917 John R. McLean Memorial Championship at Laurel Park Racecourse turned into a match race
between Omar Khayyam and August Belmont, Jr.'s
Belmont Stakes
winner, Hourless
. Earlier that year, Omar Khayyam had beaten Hourless in the 1½ mile Lawrence Realization Stakes
and in the Brooklyn Derby
. This time, however, Hourless won by a length. Despite Omar Khayyam's earlier wins over Hourless and the fact that he had earned $20,000 more than Hourless in purses that year (in more starts with greater consistency), Omar Khayyam shared American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse honors with Hourless.
As a four-year-old in 1918, Omar Khayyam's chances of winning were limited due to his high weight assignments; however, he won the Marines' Liberty Bond Handicap. The following year, at five, he won the Rennert Handicap at Pimlico under Clarence Kummer
before being retired to stand at Claiborne Farm
in Paris, Kentucky for the 1920 season.
, an iron horse who won 32 races out of 185 career starts. Another son, Mr. Khayyam, won the 1933 Wood Memorial Stakes
and the 1934 Metropolitan Handicap
. Yet another, Balko, won the 1930 Toboggan
and Baltimore Handicaps.
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 sold as a yearling to an American racing partnership and who became the first foreign-bred horse to win 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...
. He was named for the famous Persian
Greater Iran
Greater Iran refers to the regions that have significant Iranian cultural influence. It roughly corresponds to the territory on the Iranian plateau and its bordering plains, stretching from Iraq, the Caucasus, and Turkey in the west to the Indus River in the east...
mathematician
Islamic mathematics
In the history of mathematics, mathematics in medieval Islam, often termed Islamic mathematics or Arabic mathematics, covers the body of mathematics preserved and developed under the Islamic civilization between circa 622 and 1600...
, Omar Khayyam
Omar Khayyám
Omar Khayyám was aPersian polymath: philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet. He also wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, mineralogy, music, climatology and theology....
.
Bloodlines
Omar Khayyam was out of the mareMare (horse)
A mare is an adult female horse or other equine.In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse age three and younger. However, in Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old; in harness racing a mare is a...
Lisma, daughter of the champion sire
Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland
The list below shows the leading sire of racehorses in Great Britain and Ireland for each year since 1751. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the season.----- References :* -See also:...
Persimmon
Persimmon (horse)
Persimmon was an outstanding British-bred and British-trained Thoroughbred race horse and sire who won the Epsom Derby in 1896. This was the first horse race ever filmed, by Robert W. Paul and Birt Acres....
; his success on the track included wins in the Epsom Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
, St. Leger Stakes
St. Leger Stakes
The St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...
and 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....
. He was sired by Marco, a leading three-year-old in England in 1895 and great-grandson of the first English Triple Crown Champion, West Australian
West Australian (horse)
West Australian was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won the first Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing and the Ascot Gold Cup....
.
Racing career
Trained by Charles Patterson, Omar Khayyam was sent to the track in 1916 as a two-year-old. His most important result that year was a second to CampfireCampfire (horse)
Campfire was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. Bred and raced by the co-owner and president of Saratoga Race Course, Richard T...
in the Hopeful Stakes. In his three-year-old season, no U.S. Triple Crown series had yet been formalized; the Kentucky Derby and 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...
were held on the same day. Choosing to run in the Derby, Omar Khayyam was unplaced in the Derby Trial. As a result, he was sent off at 13–1 odds in the Kentucky Derby. Ridden by jockey Charles Borel
Charles B. Borel
Charles B. Borel was an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey best known for winning the 1917 Kentucky Derby....
, Omar Khayyam unleashed a powerful stretch run to come from tenth place to win over the favorite, a colt named Ticket.
Three weeks after his Derby win, Omar Khayyam was sold as part of his owner's multi-horse dispersal auction held on the grounds of New York's Belmont Park
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...
. He was purchased by Canadian biscuit manufacturer Wilfrid Viau. For his new owner, the colt went on to win the Prospect Handicap at Jamaica Racetrack
Jamaica Racetrack
Jamaica Race Course was an American thoroughbred horse racing facility operated by the Metropolitan Jockey Club in Jamaica, New York. The track opened on April 27, 1903, a day which featured the inaugural running of the Excelsior Handicap. Eugene D. Wood, one of the founders and largest...
; the Brooklyn Derby
Dwyer Stakes
The Dwyer Stakes is an American Grade II stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred racehorses held annually at Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, Long Island, New York. Run in early July, it is open to three-year-old horses and is raced over a distance of 1 1/16-miles on dirt...
at the old Aqueduct Racetrack
Aqueduct Racetrack
Aqueduct Racetrack is a thoroughbred horse-racing facility and racino in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Its racing meets usually are from late October/early November through April.-History:...
; and (at the Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It opened on August 3, 1863, and is the oldest organized sporting venue of any kind in the United States. It is typically open for racing from late July through early September.-History:John...
) the Kenner Stakes
Kenner Stakes
The Kenner Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run from 1870 through 1942 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Open to three-year-old horses, it was last contested at a distance of a mile and three sixteenths on dirt. It was run as the Miller Stakes from 1920 through...
, the Saratoga Cup
Saratoga Breeders' Cup Handicap
The Saratoga Breeders’ Cup Handicap was, until it was discontinued in 2005, a Thoroughbred race for horses three-years-old and up run at Saratoga Race Course...
and 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...
. In Maryland Omar Khayyam won the Havre de Grace Handicap
Havre de Grace Handicap
The Havre de Grace Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at the Havre de Grace Racetrack in Havre de Grace, Maryland. The inaugural race was run in the first year the track opened in 1912. It was open to horses three years old and upward and raced at a distance of 1 1/8...
and – despite a 30-pound handicap – set a new Pimlico Race Course
Pimlico Race Course
Pimlico Race Course is a horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Olde Ben Pimlico's Tavern in London...
track record in winning the Pimlico Autumn Handicap.
After the other entrants were scratched, the October 18, 1917 John R. McLean Memorial Championship at Laurel Park Racecourse turned into a match race
Match race
A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.The term may be best known as a race between two sailing boats racing around a course...
between Omar Khayyam and August Belmont, Jr.'s
August Belmont, Jr.
August Belmont, Jr. was an American financier, the builder of New York's Belmont Park racetrack, and a major owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses.-Early life:...
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...
winner, Hourless
Hourless
Hourless was a British-born Thoroughbred racehorse who raced in the United States where he won the 1917 Belmont Stakes.-Background:Bred at August Belmont, Jr.'s Haras de Villers in Foucarmont in Upper Normandy, France, he was foaled in England...
. Earlier that year, Omar Khayyam had beaten Hourless in the 1½ mile 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:...
and in the Brooklyn Derby
Dwyer Stakes
The Dwyer Stakes is an American Grade II stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred racehorses held annually at Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, Long Island, New York. Run in early July, it is open to three-year-old horses and is raced over a distance of 1 1/16-miles on dirt...
. This time, however, Hourless won by a length. Despite Omar Khayyam's earlier wins over Hourless and the fact that he had earned $20,000 more than Hourless in purses that year (in more starts with greater consistency), Omar Khayyam shared American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse honors with Hourless.
As a four-year-old in 1918, Omar Khayyam's chances of winning were limited due to his high weight assignments; however, he won the Marines' Liberty Bond Handicap. The following year, at five, he won the Rennert Handicap at Pimlico under Clarence Kummer
Clarence Kummer
Clarence Kummer was a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey who won four American Classic Races.In early 1920, Kummer rode the 1919 Triple Crown Champion Sir Barton to a new Saratoga track record in winning the Saratoga Handicap. In May 1920 he was given the opportunity to ride Man o' War after Johnny...
before being retired to stand 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 for the 1920 season.
Progeny
In 1929 Omar Khayyam was moved to the J. P. Jones stud in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he remained until his death in 1938. Among his offspring was MaliciousMalicious (horse)
Malicious was a Thoroughbred race horse sired by the winner of the 1917 Kentucky Derby, Omar Khayyam out of Ridicule . He began racing at the age of two—and didn't stop until he was thirteen years old. During that time he made 185 starts on virtually every race track in California as well...
, an iron horse who won 32 races out of 185 career starts. Another son, Mr. Khayyam, won the 1933 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 1934 Metropolitan Handicap
Metropolitan Handicap
The Metropolitan Handicap, frequently called the "Met Mile," is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the last week of May at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of one mile .The Met Mile was first...
. Yet another, Balko, won the 1930 Toboggan
Toboggan Handicap
The Toboggan Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the first week of March at Aqueduct Race Track in Queens, New York. Open to horses aged three and older, the Grade III event is contested over at a distance of six furlongs on the dirt and offers a purse of $100,000 ...
and Baltimore Handicaps.
External links
- Omar Khayyam's pedigree and partial racing stats
- May 13, 1917 New York Times article on Omar Khayyam's victory in the Kentucky Derby
- New York Times article on the 1917 John R. McLean Memorial Championship
- Thoroughbred Heritage profile of Omar Khayyam
- Omar Khayyam's offspring at the Classic Runners database