Tompion 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...

 race horse owned by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney was an American businessman, film producer, writer, and government official, as well as the owner of a leading stable of thoroughbred racehorses....

. Immaculately bred, Tompion was the son of the 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...

 horse Tom Fool

Tom Fool

Tom Fool was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, a winner of the American Horse of the Year award and a Hall of Fame inductee. He sired the outstanding racehorses Buckpasser and Tim Tam....

. His damsire was Count Fleet

Count Fleet

Count Fleet was born and died at Stoner Creek Stud farm in Paris, Kentucky, United States. He was a Thoroughbred racehorse and Triple Crown champion in 1943....

, the 1943 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...

 champion.

Trained by Robert L. Wheeler, as a two-year-old, Tompion won the Hopeful Stakes

Hopeful Stakes (USA)

The Hopeful Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Open to two-year-old horses, the Hopeful is the first Grade I stakes for two-year-olds each season and historically has been a showcase for some of the top East Coast horses...

, and placed in the Champagne Stakes

Champagne Stakes (USA)

The Champagne Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old horses. The race is run at a distance of one mile on the dirt at Belmont Park in October each year. It is nested exclusively by colts....

, the Hollywood Juvenile Championship Stakes

Hollywood Juvenile Championship Stakes

The Hollywood Juvenile Championship Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early July at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. Open to two-year-old horses, the Grade III event is contested on synthetic over a distance of six furlongs...

, the Saratoga Special Stakes

Saratoga Special Stakes

The Saratoga Special Stakes is an American grade II thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid-August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The race is for two-year-olds willing to race six and a half furlongs on the dirt....

 and the Sanford Stakes

Sanford Stakes

The Sanford Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the third week of July at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. A six furlong sprint race, the Grade II event is open to two-year-old horses....

. He came third in the Garden State Stakes and the Haggin Stakes.

Ridden by Willie Shoemaker

Willie Shoemaker

William Lee Shoemaker was an American jockey.Referred to as "Bill", "Willie," and "The Shoe", William Lee Shoemaker was born in the town of Fabens, Texas. At 2.5 pounds , Shoemaker was so small at birth that he was not expected to survive the night...

, at age three Tompion won the 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 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....

. The favorite going into the 1960 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...

, the colt threw a shoe

Horseshoe

A horseshoe, is a fabricated product, normally made of metal, although sometimes made partially or wholly of modern synthetic materials, designed to protect a horse's hoof from wear and tear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall...

 and finished fourth behind winner Venetian Way

Venetian Way

Venetian Way was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1960 Kentucky Derby. Bred in Kentucky by John W. Greathouse, he was purchased by Chicago, Illinois businessman Isaac Blumberg who raced him under the nom de course of Sunny Blue Farm.Venetian Way was trained by Victor...

 and runners-up Bally Ache

Bally Ache

Bally Ache was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won one of the American Classics in 1960 but died shortly afterwards. In her book American Classic Pedigrees , author Avalyn Hunter wrote that Bally Ache was "a crowd favorite" who "won hearts by his sheer determination."Bally Ache was bred by...

 and Victoria Park

Victoria Park (horse)

Victoria Park was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. A grandson of American Triple Crown champion Gallant Fox, he was the first Canadian-bred horse to place in an American Triple Crown race...

. After losing the shoe, Tompion's hoof was injured by one of the nails and as a result he missed the 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...

 but still went into 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...

 as the betting favorite. After a head-to-head duel with Derby winner Venetian Way, he tired in the longer 1½ mile race and finished fourth to winner Celtic Ash

Celtic Ash

Celtic Ash was an English-bred Thoroughbred racehorse raised in Ireland who is best known for winning an American Classic Race. Bred by Lord Harrington, he was out of the mare Ash Plant and sired by Sicambre, the Leading sire in France in 1966. On the advice of Irish-born trainer Tom Barry, Celtic...

. That year Tompion went on to win 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...

, Bernard Baruch Handicap

Bernard Baruch Handicap

The Bernard Baruch Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early to mid August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The race is for three year olds and up willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the turf and carries a purse of $200,000...

 and Malibu Stakes

Malibu Stakes

The Malibu Stakes is a race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses of either gender held each December at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California...

. He placed in the Jersey Derby

Jersey Derby

The Jersey Derby is a $100,000 American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in late July/early August at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. Since 1993 it has been raced on grass at a distance of 1 1/16 miles....

, the 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 the Leonard Richards Stakes. In the San Miguel Stakes

San Miguel Stakes

The San Miguel Stakes is a race for thoroughbred horses held at Santa Anita Park, located in Arcadia, California. As of 2009, the running of the San Miguel Stakes was shifted from the beginning of January to the end of March. The race is open to three year olds willing to sprint six furlongs on...

 he came home third.

Racing at age four, Tompion won the Aqueduct Handicap

Aqueduct Handicap

The race is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. It was called the Aqueduct Handicap, but beginning in 2009, the name was changed to the Evening Attire Stakes in honor of the great grey gelding Evening Attire. He raced until he was 10 years...

, placed in the United Nations Handicap

United Nations Handicap

The United Nations Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in July at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey. The race is open to horses, age three and up, going one and three-eighths miles on the turf. A Grade I event, it currently offers a purse of $750,000...

, and the San Fernando Stakes

San Fernando Breeders' Cup Stakes

The San Fernando Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in mid January at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Open to four-year-old horses, it is contested on at a distance of 11/16 miles on Pro-Ride synthetic dirt...

. He took third place in the Saratoga Handicap

Saratoga Handicap

The Saratoga Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It was open to horses three years old and upward and raced at a distance of 1¼ miles on dirt.- Selected winners :...

 and the Fayette Handicap.

Tompion was sent to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 to stand at 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...

, and then at the age of 18, went to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. He was the sire of eleven stakes winners.