Ladkin 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...

 bred and raced by August Belmont, Jr.

August Belmont, Jr.

August Belmont, Jr. was an American financier, the builder of New York's Belmont Park racetrack, and a major owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses.-Early life:...

 Out of the dam, Lading, he was sired by Fair Play

Fair Play (horse)

Fair Play was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who was successful on the track, but even more so as a sire.His grandsire was Spendthrift, whose grandsire was the English Triple Crown champion West Australian....

 who also sired Man o' War

Man O' War

Man O' War, man o' war or manowar may refer to:* Man-of-war, a warship* Man of war for uses with this spelling - Places :...

.

Ladkin is best remembered in racing for his win over the European star Epinard

Épinard

Épinard was a French Thoroughbred racehorse who was given the French name for spinach. He is considered a racing legend by French racing authority France Galop....

 in the 1924 International Special No.2

International Special

The International Specials of 1924 were a series of three Thoroughbred horse races held in September and October at three different race tracks in the United States...

 at Aqueduct Racetrack

Aqueduct Racetrack

Aqueduct Racetrack is a thoroughbred horse-racing facility and racino in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Its racing meets usually are from late October/early November through April.-History:...

 in Queens

Queens

Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....

, 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...

.

Following the death of August Belmont, Ladkin was purchased by the racing partnership prominent businessmen, W. Averell Harriman

W. Averell Harriman

William Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...

 and George Herbert Walker

George Herbert Walker

George Herbert Walker was a wealthy American banker and businessman. His daughter Dorothy married Prescott Bush, making him a grandfather of former President George H. W. Bush and a great-grandfather of former President George W. Bush.-Life and career:Born in St...

 who raced in him in 1925 under the nom de course, Log Cabin Stable

Log Cabin Stable

Log Cabin Stable was a Thoroughbred horse racing partnership founded in 1923 by New York City financiers W. Averell Harriman and Bert Walker who raced under orange and white silks....

. Injured the previous October, in 1925 Ladkin met with little racing success and in October was retired 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 the Nursery Stud 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...

.http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40A15F7355C17738DDDA90994D8415B858EF1D3 As a sire, Ladkin's progeny met with modest success in racing. However, his son, Ladder was purchased for breeding by 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...

 Frank J. Selke

Frank J. Selke

Francis Joseph Aloysius Selke was a Canadian hockey manager in the National Hockey League. He was a nine-time Stanley Cup champion with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens and a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee....

 and stood at stud in Canada where he sired Bunty Lawless

Bunty Lawless

Bunty Lawless was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1951 was voted Canada's "Horse of the Half-Century".Racing during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Bunty Lawless competed for purse money that was very small. At age two, Bunty Lawless finished first or second in all but one of his ten...

 (1935-1956), a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame

Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 at the Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario to honor those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and thoroughbred horse racing in Canada....

inductee who was voted "Canadian Horse of the Half [20th] Century."