Grey Lag
Encyclopedia
Grey Lag was a thoroughbred
race horse born in Kentucky
and bred by John E. Madden
. At his Hamburg Place near Lexington, Kentucky
, Maddon had a good stallion called Star Shoot which he bred to all his mares. Out of a failed racemare called Miss Minnie who had produced no previous winners, he got Grey Lag. In his later days, Maddon said Grey Lag was the best horse he ever bred.
and Beeswing, out of Miss Minnie (by Meddler), Grey Lag wasn't grey. He was a chestnut
with a few small grey patches on his belly, hidden when he was saddled. With three white feet and a large white blaze, Grey Lag was a minimal Sabino. (A Sabino is inherited and can be as dominant as pinto markings, or as minimal as a white spot on the chin, a small sock with jagged edges, or a few belly spots. Sabinos are capable of producing wildly colored off-spring.)
) stood 16 and a half hands tall when he was sold as a yearling to Hall of Fame
trainer, Max Hirsch
. Grey Lag remained a maiden until his fifth start. Hirsch raced him until he won the Champagne Stakes
for two-year-olds, then sold him on to Harry F. Sinclair
of Sinclair Oil
(famous for his close connection to the 29th President of the United States
, Warren G. Harding
and very involved in the infamous Teapot Dome scandal). Sinclair took enormous pleasure in his recently purchased no-expense-spared Rancocas Stable
in New Jersey
while buying every horse that took his fancy. The trainer, Hall of Famer
Sam Hildreth
, not as well-heeled as Sinclair, nor as happy about the horse—a superstitious man, he hated the grey patches—nevertheless remained in the partnership. They paid $60,000 for the two-year-old once he'd won the Champagne. (Hirsch added $20,000 to his price because Hildreth had earlier snubbed Grey Lag and his grey patch.)
Grey Lag raced the remainder of his two-year-old season in Hildreth's name, but after that he was a Rancocas Stable entry every time. He wasn't an outstanding youngster, even with his win in the Champagne, the Remsen Stakes
, the Autumn Days Stakes, and the Islip Handicap, but at three he came into his own.
with Earl Sande
up (this was the year after Man o' War
's win and two years after Sir Barton
's), the Dwyer Stakes
, the Empire Derby, the Knickerbocker Handicap, the Devonshire International Handicap, and the Mount Kisco Stakes. He placed in the Lawrence Realization Stakes
, the Brooklyn Handicap
, the Queens County Handicap
, the Empire City Handicap, the Saratoga Handicap, the Kings County Handicap, the Excelsior Handicap, the Metropolitan Handicap
, the Suburban Handicap
, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup
. He came home third in the Withers Stakes
.
At three, he matched the American
record for 1 and 1/8 mile, and beginning with the Belmont, he won eight straight stakes races, six of them in July. During this streak he beat Exterminator
as well as other older horses, and set a Canadian
record. (Later he won the Brooklyn, and then in a further running, Exterminator would reverse the form to beat Grey Lag.)
For all this, he was unofficially named not only Champion Three Year Old Colt of 1921, but Horse of the Year.
, for one), Grey Lag suffered with bad feet. After losing a few races at ages 4 and 5, he retired to stud
. Like several other notable horses before and after him (Black Gold
for example), he had fertility problems at stud, and so was returned to the track at 9 and 10 years of age. He won his two starts at 9, and one of his starts at 10, and was then once again retired. This time he was given to a veterinarian as a riding horse, but the vet died soon afterwards, and Grey Lag was sold at the estate auction.
Grey Leg changed ownership quite a few times until he ended up competing in $1,000 claiming races in Canada. He seldom won one and he wasn't claimed. The last purse money ever recorded for a son of Star Shoot was the $40 Grey Lag earned in one of those races—he'd finished third. Harry F. Sinclair, who'd gone to prison for his role in the Teapot Dome oilfield scandal, was not anxious for more bad publicity. There was an outcry, however and Sinclair bought him back.
, he was still a wealthy man and Grey Lag remained protected. He died 11 years later in 1942. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame
in 1957.
In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Grey Lag is #54.
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 born in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and bred by John E. Madden
John E. Madden
John Edward Madden was a prominent AmericanThoroughbred and Standardbred owner, breeder and trainer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He owned Hamburg Place Stud in Lexington, Kentucky and bred five Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winners.He was inducted into the National...
. At his Hamburg Place near Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
, Maddon had a good stallion called Star Shoot which he bred to all his mares. Out of a failed racemare called Miss Minnie who had produced no previous winners, he got Grey Lag. In his later days, Maddon said Grey Lag was the best horse he ever bred.
Color
Sired by Star Shoot (going back to StockwellStockwell (horse)
Stockwell was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and a Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland seven times; he was second on the sires' list a further four times during a 14-year period.-Breeding:...
and Beeswing, out of Miss Minnie (by Meddler), Grey Lag wasn't grey. He was a 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...
with a few small grey patches on his belly, hidden when he was saddled. With three white feet and a large white blaze, Grey Lag was a minimal Sabino. (A Sabino is inherited and can be as dominant as pinto markings, or as minimal as a white spot on the chin, a small sock with jagged edges, or a few belly spots. Sabinos are capable of producing wildly colored off-spring.)
1920: two-year-old season
Grey Lag (whose name came from a type of wild European gooseGreylag Goose
The Greylag Goose , Anser anser, is a bird with a wide range in the Old World. It is the type species of the genus Anser....
) stood 16 and a half hands tall when he was sold as a yearling to 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...
trainer, Max Hirsch
Max Hirsch
Maximilian J. "Max" Hirsch was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer.Born in Fredericksburg, Texas, Hirsch became one of the most successful trainers in Thoroughbred horse racing history. He spent part of his formative years working as a groom and jockey at Morris Ranch in...
. Grey Lag remained a maiden until his fifth start. Hirsch raced him until he won 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....
for two-year-olds, then sold him on to Harry F. Sinclair
Harry F. Sinclair
Harry Ford Sinclair was an American oil industrialist.-Early life:Harry Sinclair was born in Benwood, West Virginia, now a suburb of the city of Wheeling. Sinclair grew up in Independence, Kansas. The son of a pharmacist, after finishing high school, he entered the pharmacy department of the...
of Sinclair Oil
Sinclair Oil
Sinclair Oil Corporation is an American petroleum corporation, founded by Harry F. Sinclair on May 1, 1916 as the Sinclair Oil & Refining Corporation by combining the assets of 11 small petroleum companies. Originally a New York corporation, Sinclair Oil reincorporated in Wyoming in 1976...
(famous for his close connection to the 29th President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
and very involved in the infamous Teapot Dome scandal). Sinclair took enormous pleasure in his recently purchased no-expense-spared Rancocas Stable
Rancocas Stable
Rancocas Farm was an American thoroughbred horse racing stud farm and racing stable located on Monmouth Road in Springfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, Jobstown, New Jersey....
in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
while buying every horse that took his fancy. The trainer, Hall of Famer
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...
Sam Hildreth
Sam Hildreth
Samuel Clay Hildreth was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer and owner.Born in Independence, Missouri, Sam Hildreth began his training career in 1887, competing at racetracks in the Midwestern United States with such horses as the good racemare Hurley Burley, the dam of...
, not as well-heeled as Sinclair, nor as happy about the horse—a superstitious man, he hated the grey patches—nevertheless remained in the partnership. They paid $60,000 for the two-year-old once he'd won the Champagne. (Hirsch added $20,000 to his price because Hildreth had earlier snubbed Grey Lag and his grey patch.)
Grey Lag raced the remainder of his two-year-old season in Hildreth's name, but after that he was a Rancocas Stable entry every time. He wasn't an outstanding youngster, even with his win in the Champagne, the Remsen Stakes
Remsen Stakes
The Remsen Stakes is an American Grade II race for Thoroughbred horse race run annually near the end of November at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York...
, the Autumn Days Stakes, and the Islip Handicap, but at three he came into his own.
1921: three-year-old season
In 1921, he won the Belmont StakesBelmont 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...
with Earl Sande
Earl Sande
Earl H. Sande was an American Hall of Fame jockey and thoroughbred horse trainer.Born in Groton, South Dakota, Earl Sande started out as a bronco buster in the early 1900s but then became a successful American quarter horse rider before switching to thoroughbred horse racing in 1918...
up (this was the year after Man o' War
Man O' War (horse)
Man o' War, is considered one of the greatest Thoroughbred racehorses of all time. During his career just after World War I, he won 20 of 21 races and $249,465 in purses....
's win and two years after Sir Barton
Sir Barton
Sir Barton, , was a chestnut thoroughbred colt who in 1919 became the first winner of the American Triple Crown.He was sired by leading stud Star Shoot out of the Hanover mare Lady Sterling. His grandsire was the 1893 English Triple Crown champion, Isinglass.Sir Barton was bred in Kentucky by...
's), 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...
, the Empire Derby, the Knickerbocker Handicap, the Devonshire International Handicap, and the Mount Kisco Stakes. He placed in 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:...
, 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....
, 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...
, the Empire City Handicap, the Saratoga Handicap, the Kings County Handicap, the Excelsior Handicap, the Metropolitan Handicap
Metropolitan 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...
, the Suburban Handicap
Suburban Handicap
The Suburban Handicap is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is run at the classic one-and-one-quarter mile distance on dirt for a $400,000 purse....
, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup
Jockey Club Gold Cup
The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers Stakes is of the...
. He came home third in the Withers Stakes
Withers Stakes
The Withers Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds willing to compete one mile on the dirt. Held at Aqueduct Racetrack every year at the end of April , it is a Grade III event, and offers a purse of $150,000...
.
At three, he matched the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
record for 1 and 1/8 mile, and beginning with the Belmont, he won eight straight stakes races, six of them in July. During this streak he beat Exterminator
Exterminator (horse)
Exterminator was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and the winner of the 1918 Kentucky Derby, and in 1922 won Horse of the Year honors....
as well as other older horses, and set a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
record. (Later he won the Brooklyn, and then in a further running, Exterminator would reverse the form to beat Grey Lag.)
For all this, he was unofficially named not only Champion Three Year Old Colt of 1921, but Horse of the Year.
Later career
Like many horses (Sir BartonSir Barton
Sir Barton, , was a chestnut thoroughbred colt who in 1919 became the first winner of the American Triple Crown.He was sired by leading stud Star Shoot out of the Hanover mare Lady Sterling. His grandsire was the 1893 English Triple Crown champion, Isinglass.Sir Barton was bred in Kentucky by...
, for one), Grey Lag suffered with bad feet. After losing a few races at ages 4 and 5, he retired to 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...
. Like several other notable horses before and after him (Black Gold
Black Gold (horse)
Black Gold was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 50th running of the Kentucky Derby in 1924....
for example), he had fertility problems at stud, and so was returned to the track at 9 and 10 years of age. He won his two starts at 9, and one of his starts at 10, and was then once again retired. This time he was given to a veterinarian as a riding horse, but the vet died soon afterwards, and Grey Lag was sold at the estate auction.
Grey Leg changed ownership quite a few times until he ended up competing in $1,000 claiming races in Canada. He seldom won one and he wasn't claimed. The last purse money ever recorded for a son of Star Shoot was the $40 Grey Lag earned in one of those races—he'd finished third. Harry F. Sinclair, who'd gone to prison for his role in the Teapot Dome oilfield scandal, was not anxious for more bad publicity. There was an outcry, however and Sinclair bought him back.
Retirement
At 13, Grey Lag found a home at Rancocas. When Sinclair sold the farm, as well as his mansion in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, he was still a wealthy man and Grey Lag remained protected. He died 11 years later in 1942. He was inducted into 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...
in 1957.
In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Grey Lag is #54.