Calvin was an American 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, winner of the 1875 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...

.

Background

Calvin was foaled in 1872, and was a brown

Seal brown (horse)

Seal brown is a hair coat color of horses characterized by a near-black body color; with black points, the mane, tail and legs; but also reddish or tan areas around the eyes, muzzle, behind the elbow and in front of the stifle...

 stallion

Stallion

A Stallion is a male horse.Stallion may also refer to:* Stallion , an American pop rock group* Stallion , a figure in the Gobot toyline* Stallion , a character in the console role-playing game series...

 sired by Tipperary. He was bred by Price McGrath. Tipperary was sired by Ringgold and his dam was Roxana by the imported stallion Chesterfield. Calvin's dam was Lucy Fowler, who was sired by imported Albion. Lucy's dam was an unnamed mare sired by imported Leviathan. Calvin was a full brother to the stakes winner Aaron Pennington, who was foaled in 1871. Lucy was also the dam of the stakes winning Tom Bowling, who was sired by Lexington

Lexington (horse)

Lexington was a United States Thoroughbred race horse who won six of his seven race starts. Perhaps his greatest fame came however as the most successful sire of the second half of the nineteenth century; he was the Leading sire in North America 16 times, and of his many brood mare and racer...

 and was foaled in 1870.

Racing Career

As a two-year-old, Calvin won the 1874 Joly Stakes.

Calvin won the ninth running of the Belmont Stakes in 1875 at Jerome Park Racetrack

Jerome Park Racetrack

Jerome Park Racetrack was an American thoroughbred horse racing facility.-History:It opened in 1866 in the northwest part of Fordham, Westchester County , New York....

 in a time of 2 minutes 40 seconds. He carried 110 pounds (49.9 kg) pounds in the race, and won $4,450 (approximately $ as of ) for his owner. The race was run on June 12 over a distance of miles (12 furlongs (2,414 m)) on a fast track. Calvin won by two lengths from the second placed finisher Aristides; the third place went to Milner. Both Calvin and Aristides were owned by Price McGarth. Calvin's trainer was A. Williams. The winning jockey was R. Swim.

Besides his win in the Belmont, Calvin also won the 1875 Jersey Derby.

Death

Calvin contracted tetanus

Tetanus

Tetanus is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, rod-shaped, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani...

in April 1879 from a nail penetrating his hoof and had to be euthanized to alleviate his suffering.

Calvin sired no stakes winners.