Gallorette
Encyclopedia
Gallorette was a Maryland
-bred chestnut
thoroughbred
filly
who became a Hall of Fame
race horse
. Sired by Challenger II, out of Gallette, Gallorette's damsire was Sir Gallahad III
. Even so, her dam, Gallette, had once exchanged hands for $250 and was used as a hack.
bought Gallette because of her highly successful sire, Sir Gallahad III
, but once he owned her he was faced with a problem. If he entered Gallette in claiming races, someone was bound to snatch her away because of those same bloodlines. Racing her in higher-class races, he knew she could not win...so he retired her. Again because of her sire, the advertising executive William L. Brann, who co-owned a stallion called Challenger II, entered into an agreement with Burch that they would send Gallette to his stallion (who'd sired the Preakness
winner Challedon
) and then each would own her foals, first one for Brann and then one for Burch and so on. Gallette's first foal went to Brann. He named her Gallorette.
, a member of a noted family of Maryland
horsemen. Gallorette grew into a big, rangy filly. Too gawky to start too young, she didn't make her first start until late in her second year. For her two-year-old season, beginning in September, she started in 8 races and won three. She was never out of the money.
, the colt that went on to win that year's Kentucky Derby
. She then took on the colts again in the Wood Memorial Stakes
, coming in second to Jeep. "The Great Ones," a Blood-Horse book, says of her: "She was a big mare; as big as most of the colts she raced against, tougher than some of them, faster than almost all of them."
Gallorette was running when races for fillies beyond the age of three were limited, and as a result, most of her important races were against male horses. In truth, there were races to run in, but being for females, they carried much smaller purses. (The first $100,000 race for fillies and mares only was the New Castle Handicap (the forerunner of the Delaware Handicap
), and was inaugurated long after Gallorette had retired.) Against females, she took the Acorn Stakes
, the Pimlico Oaks
, and the Delaware Oaks
. Back to racing colts, she carried the same weight and competed in the Dwyer Stakes
, losing by a nose to Wildlife. But she won the Empire City Handicap
, beating the Belmont Stakes
winner, Pavot. Gallorette then lost six races in a row.
from Sirde and First Fiddle, won the Nimba Handicap with ease, but was then assigned very high weights. This took its toll on her. But she was still in the money. In the Brooklyn Handicap
, she was up against the brilliant Stymie
. Both of them followed the pace for an entire mile and made their moves at the same time, Stymie coming from a bit further back. At some point Stymie got his head in front, but Gallorette fought back and won.
The rest of the year she won or was in the money in the Bay Shore Handicap, the Beldame Stakes
, the Butler Stakes, the Wilson Stakes, the Edgemere Handicap, the Sysonby
Purse, and the Mass Cap
. She won the Queens County Handicap
when she was five in 1947.
. Gallorette won the Carter Handicap
and the 1948 Whitney Stakes before she was retired.
During her five years of racing—between 1944 and 1948—she won or placed in 54 of her 72 starts. She competed against future Hall of Famers Armed
and Stymie, as well as the U.S. Triple Crown
champion Assault
. Blood-Horse magazine describes the years during which Gallorette ran as one of the deepest handicap divisions ever seen in American
thoroughbred racing. http://bc.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=30207
for 1946. In a poll among members of the American Trainers Association, conducted in 1955 by Delaware Park Racetrack, she was voted the greatest filly in American racing history. In 1962, she was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
where her portrait by Richard Stone Reeves
is part of the Museum's collection. In The Blood-Horse
ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Gallorette is ranked #45. That rank of #45 is all the more impressive when you consider that she is ranked as the third highest female horse in the century. The highest ranked female is at #35, and that filly was the amazing Ruffian
.
Pimlico Race Course
named a Graded stakes race
in her honor. The Gallorette Handicap
is run annually on the same card as the Preakness Stakes
.
, and among her descendants was the 2005 U.S. Horse of the Year
Saint Liam
.
Gallorette died at the age of 17 at Moore's Virginia farm in 1959. In her career, she'd earned $445,535.
Eddie "Cocky" Simms, who broke Gallorette and worked with her for her trainer Ed Christmas, told Blood-Horse, "She's not only the greatest mare, but the greatest Maryland-bred of any sex...She had a long, tough, career as a race mare, but if the jocks would have ridden her as instructed, she would have won a million instead of half a million."
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
-bred chestnut
Chestnut (color)
Chestnut, also known as Indian red, is a color, a medium brownish shade of red, and is named after the nut of the chestnut tree.As Indian red, it is named after the red laterite soil found in India. It is thus an earth tone as well as a red. It is composed of naturally occurring iron oxides. Other...
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...
filly
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
who became a 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...
race horse
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...
. Sired by Challenger II, out of Gallette, Gallorette's damsire was Sir Gallahad III
Sir Gallahad III
Sir Gallahad III was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and a very important Sire in the United States.Racing at age two in France for his British breeder/owner, Jefferson Davis Cohn, Sir Gallahad earned victory in three of his five starts but was overshadowed by the 1922 Champion colt, Epinard...
. Even so, her dam, Gallette, had once exchanged hands for $250 and was used as a hack.
Breeding
Trainer Preston M. BurchPreston M. Burch
Preston Morris Burch was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer, breeder, and owner. -Biography:...
bought Gallette because of her highly successful sire, Sir Gallahad III
Sir Gallahad III
Sir Gallahad III was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and a very important Sire in the United States.Racing at age two in France for his British breeder/owner, Jefferson Davis Cohn, Sir Gallahad earned victory in three of his five starts but was overshadowed by the 1922 Champion colt, Epinard...
, but once he owned her he was faced with a problem. If he entered Gallette in claiming races, someone was bound to snatch her away because of those same bloodlines. Racing her in higher-class races, he knew she could not win...so he retired her. Again because of her sire, the advertising executive William L. Brann, who co-owned a stallion called Challenger II, entered into an agreement with Burch that they would send Gallette to his stallion (who'd sired the Preakness
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...
winner Challedon
Challedon
Challedon was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred in Maryland by William L. Brann and Robert S. Castle, he raced under the colors of their Branncastle Farm....
) and then each would own her foals, first one for Brann and then one for Burch and so on. Gallette's first foal went to Brann. He named her Gallorette.
Two-year-old season
Brann sent the young horse to the trainer Edward A. ChristmasEdward A. Christmas
Edward A. Christmas was an American Thoroughbred horse racing trainer. Born in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, he is best known for training Gallorette, the 1946 American Champion Older Female Horse and U. S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee.In the U.S. Triple Crown series, Edward Christmas earned a third...
, a member of a noted family of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
horsemen. Gallorette grew into a big, rangy filly. Too gawky to start too young, she didn't make her first start until late in her second year. For her two-year-old season, beginning in September, she started in 8 races and won three. She was never out of the money.
Three-year-old season
As a three-year-old in 1945, she stood 16 hands 1 inch. Her first race was a victory over Hoop Jr.Hoop Jr.
Hoop Jr. , was an American Thoroughbred racehorse sired by the European stakes winning stallion Sir Gallahad...
, the colt that went on to win that year's 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...
. She then took on the colts again in the Wood Memorial Stakes
Wood Memorial Stakes
The Wood Memorial Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Jamaica, New York. It is currently a Grade I race run over a distance of 9 furlongs on dirt....
, coming in second to Jeep. "The Great Ones," a Blood-Horse book, says of her: "She was a big mare; as big as most of the colts she raced against, tougher than some of them, faster than almost all of them."
Gallorette was running when races for fillies beyond the age of three were limited, and as a result, most of her important races were against male horses. In truth, there were races to run in, but being for females, they carried much smaller purses. (The first $100,000 race for fillies and mares only was the New Castle Handicap (the forerunner of the Delaware Handicap
Delaware Handicap
The Delaware Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid July at Delaware Park Racetrack in Wilmington, Delaware. The Grade II race is open to filles and mares, age three and up, willing to race one and one-quarter miles on the dirt....
), and was inaugurated long after Gallorette had retired.) Against females, she took the Acorn Stakes
Acorn Stakes
The Acorn Stakes is an American Grade I race at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies. It is raced on dirt over a distance of one mile with a current purse of $250,000. It is the first leg of the US Triple Tiara and is followed by the Coaching Club American Oaks...
, the Pimlico Oaks
Pimlico Oaks
The Pimlico Oaks was a listed Thoroughbred horse race at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. Run at the beginning of April at a distance of 1 1/16 miles on dirt, its purse was $200,000....
, and the Delaware Oaks
Delaware Oaks
The Delaware Oaks Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid July at Delaware Park Racetrack in Stanton near Wilmington, Delaware....
. Back to racing colts, she carried the same weight and competed in the Dwyer Stakes
Dwyer Stakes
The Dwyer Stakes is an American Grade II stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred racehorses held annually at Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, Long Island, New York. Run in early July, it is open to three-year-old horses and is raced over a distance of 1 1/16-miles on dirt...
, losing by a nose to Wildlife. But she won the Empire City Handicap
Empire City Handicap
The Empire City Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race inaugurated on October 22, 1900, as part of the opening day racecard at Empire City Race Track in Yonkers, New York...
, beating 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...
winner, Pavot. Gallorette then lost six races in a row.
Four-year-old season
In her four-year-old season, she started out slowly, and then really revved up. She took the Metropolitan HandicapMetropolitan Handicap
The Metropolitan Handicap, frequently called the "Met Mile," is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the last week of May at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of one mile .The Met Mile was first...
from Sirde and First Fiddle, won the Nimba Handicap with ease, but was then assigned very high weights. This took its toll on her. But she was still in the money. In the Brooklyn Handicap
Brooklyn Handicap
The Brooklyn Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on Long Island. It currently is a Grade II event open to three-year-olds and up willing to race one and one-half miles on dirt....
, she was up against the brilliant Stymie
Stymie (horse)
Stymie was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Stymie was bred by Max Hirsch, and was born on King Ranch, in Texas.As a young horse, Stymie possessed so terrible a disposition that his ability to race was hampered; his trainer did not see much in him...
. Both of them followed the pace for an entire mile and made their moves at the same time, Stymie coming from a bit further back. At some point Stymie got his head in front, but Gallorette fought back and won.
The rest of the year she won or was in the money in the Bay Shore Handicap, the Beldame Stakes
Beldame Stakes
The Beldame Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares three-years-old and up. Inaugurated in 1939, it was run as a handicap prior to 1960...
, the Butler Stakes, the Wilson Stakes, the Edgemere Handicap, the Sysonby
Sysonby
Sysonby was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He won every start easily, except one, at distances from one mile to two and a quarter miles...
Purse, and the Mass Cap
Massachusetts Handicap
The Massachusetts Handicap, frequently referred to as the "MassCap", is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and up held annually at Suffolk Downs in Boston, Massachusetts. It is currently an Ungraded stakes race run over a distance of 9 furlongs on dirt. The race received...
. She won the Queens County Handicap
Queens County Handicap
The Queens County Handicap is an American Grade III Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the second week of December at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York...
when she was five in 1947.
Later years
At six, she was sold for $125,000 to Mrs. Marie A. Moore of VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. Gallorette won the Carter Handicap
Carter Handicap
The Carter Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early April at Aqueduct Racetrack. Open to horses three-years-old and up, it is raced over a distance of seven furlongs....
and the 1948 Whitney Stakes before she was retired.
During her five years of racing—between 1944 and 1948—she won or placed in 54 of her 72 starts. She competed against future Hall of Famers Armed
Armed
Armed was an American Thoroughbred gelding race horse. He was sired by the great stakes winner Bull Lea, which made him a half-brother to Citation...
and Stymie, as well as the 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 Assault
Assault (horse)
Assault was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse who won the U.S. Triple Crown in 1946.-Early life:...
. Blood-Horse magazine describes the years during which Gallorette ran as one of the deepest handicap divisions ever seen in American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
thoroughbred racing. http://bc.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=30207
Honors
Gallorette was voted Champion female horseEclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...
for 1946. In a poll among members of the American Trainers Association, conducted in 1955 by Delaware Park Racetrack, she was voted the greatest filly in American racing history. In 1962, she was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and 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...
where her portrait by Richard Stone Reeves
Richard Stone Reeves
Richard Stone Reeves was an American equine painter whom Blood-Horse magazine described as perhaps the greatest modern-day horse painter....
is part of the Museum's collection. In The Blood-Horse
The Blood-Horse magazine
The Blood-Horse is an international weekly news magazine about Thoroughbred horses, horse breeding, and horseracing. It was founded in 1916, the oldest continually published North American Thoroughbred magazine. The magazine is based in Lexington, Kentucky, the Horse Capital of the World...
ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Gallorette is ranked #45. That rank of #45 is all the more impressive when you consider that she is ranked as the third highest female horse in the century. The highest ranked female is at #35, and that filly was the amazing Ruffian
Ruffian
A ruffian is a scoundrel, rascal or unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person.As a proper noun, Ruffian may refer to:*Ruffian , a famous thoroughbred filly racehorse*Ruffian , 2007 television movie about the racehorse...
.
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...
named a Graded 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...
in her honor. The Gallorette Handicap
Gallorette Handicap
The Gallorette Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run on Preakness Day at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland as a stakes feature of the undercard. It's set at a distance of one and one sixteenth miles on the turf....
is run annually on the same card as 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...
.
The Complete ATA Poll
- 1. Gallorette -- (1942) -- 72:21-20-13 --- $445,000
- 2. Twilight TearTwilight TearTwilight Tear was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred filly racehorse. At age two, she won four of her six starts, finishing second and third in her other two starts. Her performances earned her a share of 2-year-old filly honors....
-- (1941) -- 24:18-2-2 --- $202,165 - 3. RegretRegret (horse)Regret was a famous American thoroughbred racehorse and the first of three fillies to ever win the Kentucky Derby.-Background:She was foaled at Harry Payne Whitney's Brookdale Farm in Lincroft, New Jersey...
-- (1912) -- 11:9-1-0 --- $335,093 - 4. Top FlightTop FlightTop Flight was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred filly racehorse. Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry Payne Whitney, she was a daughter of the French stakes winner Dis Donc, a son of the French Champion Sire Sardanapale. She was out of the mare Flyatit, a daughter of U.S...
-- (1929) -- 16:12-0-0 --- $275,900 - 5. Miss Woodford -- (1880) -- 48:37-7-2 --- $118,270
- 6. BusherBusher (horse)Busher was a thoroughbred racing filly. She was sired by War Admiral, the winner of the Triple Crown in 1937, and the great son of a great legend, Man o' War. She was out of Baby League by Bubbling Over, the colt who won the 1926 Kentucky Derby...
-- (1942) -- 21:15-3-1 --- $334.035 - 7. BeldameBeldameBeldame was one of the great racing fillies of Twentieth century American breeding.-A horse to lease:The chestnut was foaled near Lexington, Kentucky in 1901 by Octagon, out of the English bred Bella Donna...
-- (1901) -- 31:17-6-4 --- $102,570 - 8. Princess DoreenPrincess DoreenPrincess Doreen was a Thoroughbred racehorse best known for being the top American female money-winner.Bred by John E. Madden at his stud farm, Hamburg Place, in Kentucky....
-- (1921) -- 94:34-15-17 --- $174,745 - 9. BewitchBewitch (horse)Bewitch was a Thoroughbred race horse born in 1945 at Calumet Farm, Kentucky, United States in the same crop in which the stallion Bull Lea produced Citation and Coaltown. Each of these exceptional Bull Lea foals were, in time, inaugurated into the Thoroughbred Hall of Fame...
- - (1945) -- 55:20-10-11 --- $462,605* - 10. ImpImp (horse)Imp was a pure black Thoroughbred racing filly with a white diamond shaped star between her eyes. She was sired by Wagner out of Foundling and was foaled on March 5, 1894. Owned and bred by Daniel R. Harness of Chillicothe, Ohio, and trained by both Charles E. Brossman and Peter Wimmer , Imp's...
-- 1894) -- 171:62-35-29 --- $70,119
- surpassed Gallorette's earnings
Broodmare
Gallorette retired after the 1948 season as the all-time leading money winner among females. Although not one of the great broodmares, she did produce two stakes-winning filliesFilly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
, and among her descendants was the 2005 U.S. Horse of the Year
Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....
Saint Liam
Saint Liam
Saint Liam was an American thoroughbred racehorse who was voted 2005 Eclipse Award Horse of the Year honors....
.
Gallorette died at the age of 17 at Moore's Virginia farm in 1959. In her career, she'd earned $445,535.
Eddie "Cocky" Simms, who broke Gallorette and worked with her for her trainer Ed Christmas, told Blood-Horse, "She's not only the greatest mare, but the greatest Maryland-bred of any sex...She had a long, tough, career as a race mare, but if the jocks would have ridden her as instructed, she would have won a million instead of half a million."