Sailor 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

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...

. Bred and raced by heiress Isabel Dodge Sloane's

Isabel Dodge Sloane

Isabel Cleves Dodge Sloane was an American heiress and socialite who owned a major Thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm....

 Brookmeade Stable

Brookmeade Stable

Brookmeade Stable was a successful thoroughbred horse racing stable owned by heiress and socialite Isabel Dodge Sloane. Sloane first won using the name Brookmeade Stable at the Manly Memorial Steeplechase at Pimlico in 1924....

, he was out of the Brookmeade mare Flota and sired by U.S. Racing 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...

 inductee, Eight Thirty

Eight Thirty

Eight Thirty was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. He was owned by George D. Widener, Jr. and bred by his Erdenheim Farm. Widener is one of only five people ever named an Exemplar of Racing. Eight Thirty was a descendant of Fair Play, who had been purchased from the estate of...

.

Sailor was conditioned for racing by Hall of Fame trainer, Preston Burch

Preston M. Burch

Preston Morris Burch was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer, breeder, and owner. -Biography:...

. As a three-year-old in 1955, the colt did not run in any of the U.S. Triple Crown races. However, under regular rider Hedley Woodhouse

Hedley Woodhouse

Hedley John Woodhouse was a Canadian jockey who won the New York state riding championship in 1953. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he began his racing career there in 1937 at the Lansdowne Park racetrack as an apprentice with A.C.T. Stock Farm owned by industrialist Austin C. Taylor...

 he won four major races that year including the prestigious Pimlico Special

Pimlico Special

The Pimlico Special is an American thoroughbred horse race held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland in mid May. It is raced on dirt over a distance of 1³/16 miles . The race is currently open to horses age three and older and offers a purse of $250,000.The Pimlico Special was first run in...

 at 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...

 in Baltimore. At age four he began the year competing in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 where he won the Gulfstream Park Handicap

Gulfstream Park Handicap

The Gulfstream Park Handicap is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Gulfstream Park each year. The race is open to horses age four and up, willing to race one mile on the dirt...

 then back at Pimlico Race Course he captured the John B. Campbell Handicap

John B. Campbell Handicap

The John B. Campbell Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland. Raced in mid February, it is open to horses age three and older and is contested on dirt over a distance of 1⅛ miles ....

, at the time a race of national importance.

As a sire

Retired to stud

Stud (animal)

A stud animal is a registered animal retained for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species usually imply that the animal is entire—that is, not castrated—and therefore capable of siring offspring...

 duty at Darby Dan Farm

Darby 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...

 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...

, sailor sired a number of stakes winners, notably the outstanding Hall of Fame filly, Bowl of Flowers

Bowl of Flowers

Bowl of Flowers was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred Champion racehorse.Bowl of Flowers was the product of two horses owned by Isabel Dodge Sloane...

, 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...

 winner, Crewman, and 1964 American Champion Sprint Horse, Ahoy.