King James (horse)
Encyclopedia
King James was an American Thoroughbred
racehorse
. Bred by one of America's most important breeders, John E. Madden
, King James was the son of 1898 Kentucky Derby
winner, Plaudit
. Although burdened by a bad stride that limited his racing ability, King James still raced for five years, won a number of top events, and is acknowledged as the historical American Champion Older Male Horse of 1909.
Trained by John Madden, in 1907 King James faced stiff competition from future Hall of Fame
inductee Colin
. However, King James won the important Tremont Stakes
and at age three was a top contender in New York
racing. While his only significant win in 1908 came in the Annual Champion Stakes at the Sheepshead Bay Race Track
, in other major events he ran second in the Travers Stakes
, the Brooklyn Derby, and the Suburban Handicap
plus earned thirds in the pre-Triple Crown
Belmont Stakes
, Withers Stakes
and Brooklyn Handicap
.
In 1909, John Madden sold King James to Sam Hildreth
who began the year racing the four-year-old in California
where he won three important Handicap races. Returning to the New York racing circuit, King James won the Brooklyn Handicap
and the Metropolitan Handicap
and in Toronto
, Canada
, the first of his two consecutive Toronto Cup Handicaps
. Of his twelve starts that year, King James had ten wins and two seconds which earned him a historical Championship
as the Top Handicap Male Horse in the United States.
At age five, King James won the 1910 Sheepshead Bay Handicap
and continued to race through age seven with reasonable success, retiring with earnings in excess of $1000,000. He was sent to stud
duty at Henry T. Oxnard's Blue Ridge Farm in Virginia
where he sired ten stakes race winners. His offspring includes Travers
and Withers Stakes
winner, Spur
(b. 1909), and the filly My Dear
(b. 1917) who raced successfully in Canada and the United States and was the 1921 American Champion Older Female Horse. King James was the damsire of Dark Secret
, and full sisters Mona Bell
and Iribelle, the latter a foundation mare for E. P. Taylor's
, The National Stud of Canada
.
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...
. Bred by one of America's most important breeders, 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...
, King James was the son of 1898 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...
winner, Plaudit
Plaudit
Plaudit was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. A descendant of English Triple Crown champion, West Australian, Plaudit is best known for winning the 1898 Kentucky Derby....
. Although burdened by a bad stride that limited his racing ability, King James still raced for five years, won a number of top events, and is acknowledged as the historical American Champion Older Male Horse of 1909.
Trained by John Madden, in 1907 King James faced stiff competition from future 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...
inductee Colin
Colin (horse)
Colin was one of America's greatest Thoroughbred racehorses. He retired undefeated after 15 starts and as a sire appears in the pedigree of the champion racehorse, Alsab.-Pedigree:...
. However, King James won the important Tremont Stakes
Tremont Stakes
The Tremont Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually for 2-year-olds at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.Due to the troubled economy in 2008, the Tremont was canceled by the NYRA as they adjusted races to meet the new Grade I standard purse of $300,000. The Tremont Stakes was...
and at age three was a top contender in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
racing. While his only significant win in 1908 came in the Annual Champion Stakes at the Sheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay Race Track was an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility built on the site of the Coney Island Jockey Club at Sheepshead Bay, New York...
, in other major events he ran second in the Travers Stakes
Travers Stakes
The Travers Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.First held in 1864, it was named for William R. Travers, the president of the old Saratoga Racing Association. His horse, Kentucky, won the first running of the Travers...
, the Brooklyn Derby, and 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....
plus earned thirds in the pre-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...
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...
, 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...
and 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....
.
In 1909, John Madden sold King James to 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...
who began the year racing the four-year-old in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
where he won three important Handicap races. Returning to the New York racing circuit, King James won 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....
and 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...
and in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
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...
, the first of his two consecutive Toronto Cup Handicaps
Toronto Cup Stakes
The Toronto Cup Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually on turf at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Run in early July, the race is open to Three-year-olds and is run over a distance of 1⅛ miles on turf....
. Of his twelve starts that year, King James had ten wins and two seconds which earned him a historical Championship
Eclipse 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...
as the Top Handicap Male Horse in the United States.
At age five, King James won the 1910 Sheepshead Bay Handicap
Sheepshead Bay Handicap
Sheepshead Bay Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at the end of May at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. A Grade II event contested on turf at a distance of 1 3/8 miles , it is open to fillies and mares, three-years-old and up...
and continued to race through age seven with reasonable success, retiring with earnings in excess of $1000,000. He was sent to 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...
duty at Henry T. Oxnard's Blue Ridge Farm in Virginia
Virginia
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...
where he sired ten stakes race winners. His offspring includes Travers
Travers Stakes
The Travers Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.First held in 1864, it was named for William R. Travers, the president of the old Saratoga Racing Association. His horse, Kentucky, won the first running of the Travers...
and 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...
winner, Spur
Spur (horse)
Spur was an American thoroughbred racehorse. In 1916, he won eight major races and finished second in the Belmont Stakes. At age four, he equaled the Empire City track record for a mile and a sixteenth on the dirt in winning his second straight Yonkers Handicap.As a sire, standing at James...
(b. 1909), and the filly My Dear
My Dear III
My Dear was an American Thoroughbred Champion Filly racehorse.Bred by H. Rozier Dulany of Upperville, Virginia, she was out of the mare Bettie Landon and sired by King James, the 1909 retrospective American Champion Older Male Horse. My Dear was a full sister to Admiral Cary T...
(b. 1917) who raced successfully in Canada and the United States and was the 1921 American Champion Older Female Horse. King James was the damsire of Dark Secret
Dark Secret (horse)
Dark Secret was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred and raced by Wheatley Stable, a partnership between Gladys Mills Phipps and her brother, Ogden Mills, the United States Secretary of the Treasury....
, and full sisters Mona Bell
Mona Bell
Mona Bell was an American rodeo rider, newspaper reporter, and the mistress of entrepreneur Samuel Hill.Born in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, she went for one year to the University of North Dakota across the state line in Grand Forks, North Dakota; she apparently stood out there for her skills at...
and Iribelle, the latter a foundation mare for E. P. Taylor's
E. P. Taylor
Edward Plunket Taylor was a Canadian business tycoon and famous breeder of thoroughbred race horses. Known to his friends as "Eddie", he is universally recorded as "E. P...
, The National Stud of Canada
Windfields Farm
Windfields Farm is a six square kilometre thoroughbred horse breeding farm founded by businessman E. P. Taylor in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The first stable and breeding operation of E. P. Taylor originated with a property near the city of Toronto known as Parkwood Stable when it was owned by...
.