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He was always destined to be a champion. Royally bred, with English
and American classic winners in his pedigree, Sir Barton shone from
birth, dubbed the "king of them all." But after a winless
two-year-old season and a near-fatal illness, uncertainty clouded
the start of Sir Barton's three-year-old season. Then his surprise
victory in America's signature race, the Kentucky Derby, started
him on the road to history, where he would go on to dominate the
Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, completing America's first Triple
Crown. His wins inspired the ultimate chase for greatness in
American horse racing and established an elite group that would
grow to include legends like Citation, Secretariat, and American
Pharoah. After a series of dynamic wins in 1920, popular opinion
tapped Sir Barton as the best challenger for the wonder horse Man
o' War, and demanded a match race to settle once and for all which
horse was the greatest. That duel would cement the reputation of
one horse for all time and diminish the reputation of the other for
the next century - until now. Sir Barton and the Making of the
Triple Crown is the first book to focus on Sir Barton, his career,
and his historic impact on horse racing. Author Jennifer S. Kelly
uses extensive research and historical sources to examine this
champion's life and achievements. Kelly charts how Sir Barton broke
track records, scored victories over other champions, and sparked
the yearly pursuit of Triple Crown glory. This book reveals the
legacy of Sir Barton and his seminal contributions to Thoroughbred
racing one hundred years after his pioneering achievement.
Calumet, Claiborne, King Ranch - these iconic names are among the
owners and breeders revered by Thoroughbred industry professionals
and racing fans around the world. As campaigners of many of the
20th century's top racehorses, their prestige has been confirmed by
decades of competition in the Triple Crown, the most esteemed
series in American Thoroughbred racing. Even with these substantial
legacies, their success is measured against the benchmark set by
one of racing's earliest dynasties, the historic Belair Stud. The
story of this legendary operation began with William Woodward's
childhood memories of grand days at the racetrack, inspiring dreams
of breeding a champion or two of his own. During a year working for
the American Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Woodward frequented
English racetracks, rekindling that childhood dream of breeding and
owning champion Thoroughbreds. Woodward turned those dreams into
reality, building Belair Stud on his family's Maryland estate,
launching what would become the preeminent Thoroughbred breeding
and racing empire in America and chasing racing's biggest prizes in
both the United States and England. The defining moment for Belair
came when Woodward bred the imported stallion Sir Gallahad III to
his mare Marguerite. Their colt, Gallant Fox, became only the
second horse in history to win the Preakness Stakes, the Kentucky
Derby, and the Belmont Stakes in the same year. In 1935, the farm
cemented the Triple Crown as the gold standard for three-year-olds
when Gallant Fox's son, Omaha, duplicated his sire's trio of
victories, a sweep that sealed the farm's legacy and carved its
name in the annals of racing history. In The Foxes of Belair:
Gallant Fox, Omaha, and the Quest for the Triple Crown, Jennifer
Kelly examines the racing legacies of Gallant Fox and Omaha and how
William Woodward's service to racing during the 20th century
forever changed the landscape of the American Thoroughbred
industry.
He was always destined to be a champion. Royally bred, with English
and American classic winners in his pedigree, Sir Barton shone from
birth, dubbed the "king of them all." But after a winless
two-year-old season and a near-fatal illness, uncertainty clouded
the start of Sir Barton's three-year-old season. Then his surprise
victory in America's signature race, the Kentucky Derby, started
him on the road to history, where he would go on to dominate the
Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, completing America's first Triple
Crown. His wins inspired the ultimate chase for greatness in
American horse racing and established an elite group that would
grow to include legends like Citation, Secretariat, and American
Pharoah. After a series of dynamic wins in 1920, popular opinion
tapped Sir Barton as the best challenger for the wonder horse Man
o' War, and demanded a match race to settle once and for all which
horse was the greatest. That duel would cement the reputation of
one horse for all time and diminish the reputation of the other for
the next century -- until now. Sir Barton and the Making of the
Triple Crown is the first book to focus on Sir Barton, his career,
and his historic impact on horse racing. Author Jennifer S. Kelly
uses extensive research and historical sources to examine this
champion's life and achievements. Kelly charts how Sir Barton broke
track records, scored victories over other champions, and sparked
the yearly pursuit of Triple Crown glory. This book reveals the
legacy of Sir Barton and his seminal contributions to Thoroughbred
racing one hundred years after his pioneering achievement.
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