Faultless 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

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...

 best known for winning the 1947 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...

. Bred and raced by Calumet Farm

Calumet Farm

Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of Lexington's blue grass country, the finest horse breeding region in...

, his dam, Unerring, was the 1939 American Co-Champion Three-Year-Old Filly. His sire was Calumet's preeminent stallion Bull Lea

Bull Lea

Bull Lea was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is best known as the foundation sire responsible for making Calumet Farm one of the most successful racing stables in American history...

 who was the sire of seven 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...

 inductees.

Trained by the father/son team of Ben

Ben A. Jones

Benjamin Allyn Jones was a thoroughbred horse trainer.Born in Parnell, Missouri, Ben Jones went into the business of breeding and training of thoroughbreds during the first decade of the 20th century, racing his horses on small circuits in the American West and in Mexico...

 and Jimmy Jones

Horace A. Jones

Horace A. "Jimmy" Jones was an American thoroughbred horse trainer.The son of Hall of Fame horse trainer Ben A. Jones, Jimmy Jones was born in Parnell, Missouri...

, Faultless was ridden by Douglas Dodson

Douglas Dodson

Douglas Allan Dodson was a Champion jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.Douglas Dodson was born in Pickardville, Alberta, Canada, the son of James Floyd and Emma Dodson. His family moved to a ranch in Elk River, Idaho when he was still a child and as a small boy he learned to ride horses...

. At age two he did not win a major stakes race

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

 but at age three won three important races leading up to the 1947 U.S. Triple Crown

United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing

In the United States, the "Triple Crown" is usually the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, a series of three Thoroughbred horse races for three-year-old horses run in May and early June of each year consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.While Daily Racing Form...

 series. Despite this, in 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 sent off as the fifth choice by bettors behind heavily favored Phalanx

Phalanx (horse)

Phalanx was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was sired by Pilate, a son of the 1916 Belmont Stakes winner, Friar Rock. His dam was the outstanding runner, Jacola, the American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly of 1937 who beat the great Seabiscuit by two lengths in the 1938 Laurel Stakes....

. Faultless ran third in the Derby behind Phalanx and winner, Jet Pilot

Jet Pilot

Jet Pilot was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Purchased for US$41,000 at the Keeneland Yearling Sale by cosmetics queen Elizabeth Arden, he raced under her Maine Chance Farm colors. He was sired by the English champion and 1930 Epsom Derby winner, Blenheim II, and out of the mare Black Wave by...

. In the ensuing 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...

, Dodson guided the colt to a win over Jet Pilot who finished fourth and Phalanx who finished third. In 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...

, Phalanx bounced back to win the race with Faultless finishing fifth.

Faultless continued racing through age five, then entered 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...

in 1950. As a sire, his offspring met with modest racing success.