Lexington (horse)
Encyclopedia
Lexington was a United States
Thoroughbred
race horse
who won six of his seven race starts. Perhaps his greatest fame came however as the most successful sire of the second half of the nineteenth century; he was the Leading sire in North America
16 times, and of his many brood mare and racer progeny one was Preakness, the namesake of the famous race at Pimlico.
He was a bay
colt
bred by Dr. Elisha Warfield
at Warfield's stud farm, The Meadows, near Lexington, Kentucky
. Lexington was by the Hall of Fame
inductee, Boston
(by Timoleon
by Sir Archy
) from Alice Carneal by Sarpedon. He was inbred in the third and fourth generations (3m x 4f) to Sir Archy
. Lexington stood 15 hands (63 inches), 3 inches high, and was described as having good conformation plus an excellent disposition.
A syndicate made up of Richard Ten Broeck, General Abe Buford
, Captain Willa Viley and Junius R. Ward, bought the horse for $2,500 between heats (or during the running of his race), so tried claiming the purse money when he won. Failing that, he tried to deduct the purse money from the sale price. But Dr. Warfield held out. His new owners immediately sent Lexington to Natchez, Mississippi
to train under J. B. Pryor
.
Lexington raced at age three and four and although he only competed seven times, many of his races were gruelling four-mile events. Lexington won six of his seven races and finished second once. One of his wins was the Phoenix Hotel Handicap
in 1853. On April 2, 1855, at the Metairie race course in New Orleans, he set a record running four miles in 7 minutes, 19 3/4 seconds. Even with his complex and hard-fought rivalry with the horse Lecomte (also a son of Boston, both born just after Boston died), he was known as the best race horse of his day. His second match with Lecomte on April 24, 1855, was considered one of the greatest matches of the century. But Lexington had to be retired at the end of 1855 as a result of poor eyesight. His sire, Boston, had also gone blind. Conservation work in 2010 revealed that Lexington had had a massive facial infection that resulted in his going blind.
, along with the famous racer and sire, Glencoe. Sold to Robert A. Alexander
for $15,000 in 1858, reportedly the then highest price ever paid for an American horse, Lexington was sent to Alexander's Woodburn Stud
at Spring Station, Kentucky
.
Called "The Blind Hero of Woodburn," Lexington became the Leading sire in North America
sixteen times, from 1861 through 1874, and then again in 1876 and 1878. Lexington was the sire of the undefeated Asteroid
and Norfolk. Nine of the first fifteen Travers Stakes
were won by one of his sons or daughters, a list that included:
His three Preakness Stakes winners equalled the record of another great sire, Broomstick
.
In all Lexington sired 236 winners who won 1,176 races, ran second 348 times and third 42 times for $1,159,321 in prizemoney.
During the American Civil War
, horses were forcibly conscripted from the Kentucky Farms to serve as mounts in the bloody fray. Lexington, 15 years old and blind, had to be hidden away to save him from such a fate.
He died at Woodburn on July 1, 1875, and was buried in a casket in front of the stables. A few years later, in 1878, his owner, through the auspices of Dr. J.M. Toner, donated the horse's bones to the U.S. National Museum (the Smithsonian Institution
). The pioneering taxidermist Henry Augustus Ward
of Ward's Natural Science
in Rochester, New York
, was called in to supervise the disinterment and preparation of the skeleton. For many years the specimen was exhibited in the Osteology Hall of the National Museum of Natural History
. In 1999, Lexington was part of the exhibition "On Time," at the National Museum of American History
, where he helped illustrate the history of the first mass-produced stopwatch that split time into fractions of seconds--which was supposedly developed to document Lexington's feats on the race course. In 2010, Smithsonian conservators prepared the skeleton for loan to the International Museum of the Horse in Lexington, Kentucky, in time for the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, the first time these games had been held outside of Europe.
Lexington's dominance in the pedigrees of American-bred Thoroughbreds, and the fact that the British Thoroughbred breeders considered him not a purebred, was a large factor in the so-called Jersey Act
of 1913, where the British Jockey Club
limited the registration of horses not traced completely to horses in the General Stud Book
.
in 1955. The Belmont Lexington Stakes
runs every year at Belmont Park
in honor of Lexington, as does the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland Race Course.
On Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 the Smithsonian loaned Lexington's skeleton to the International Museum of the Horse at the Kentucky Horse Park, to be exhibited there through August 2013.
Lexington served as the model for the top of the Woodlawn Vase
, given to the winner of the Preakness Stakes
at Pimlico.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
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...
who won six of his seven race starts. Perhaps his greatest fame came however as the most successful sire of the second half of the nineteenth century; he was the Leading sire in North America
Leading sire in North America
The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won by the sire's progeny during the year...
16 times, and of his many brood mare and racer progeny one was Preakness, the namesake of the famous race at Pimlico.
He was a bay
Bay (color)
Bay is a hair coat color of horses, characterized by a reddish brown body color with a black mane, tail, ear edges, and lower legs. Bay is one of the most common coat colors in many horse breeds....
colt
Colt (horse)
A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....
bred by Dr. Elisha Warfield
Elisha Warfield
Elisha Warfield, Jr. was an American physician and a Thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder whom Thoroughbred Heritage calls "one of the most important early figures in Kentucky racing and breeding."...
at Warfield's stud farm, The Meadows, 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...
. Lexington was by 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...
inductee, Boston
Boston (horse)
Boston , was an outstanding chestnut Thoroughbred racehorse and a Leading sire in North America three times from 1851 to 1853. He started in about 45 races, winning 40 of these, including 15 in succession...
(by Timoleon
Timoleon (horse)
For the Greek statesman of this name, see Timoleon.Timoleon , was a good American Thoroughbred racehorse and was later an important sire....
by Sir Archy
Sir Archy
Sir Archy was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.-Early life:Born and bred in Virginia by two Americans, Capt. Archibald Randolph and Col. John Tayloe III, Sir Archy's sire was the Epsom Derby winner Diomed, who had been imported from England as an older horse...
) from Alice Carneal by Sarpedon. He was inbred in the third and fourth generations (3m x 4f) to Sir Archy
Sir Archy
Sir Archy was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.-Early life:Born and bred in Virginia by two Americans, Capt. Archibald Randolph and Col. John Tayloe III, Sir Archy's sire was the Epsom Derby winner Diomed, who had been imported from England as an older horse...
. Lexington stood 15 hands (63 inches), 3 inches high, and was described as having good conformation plus an excellent disposition.
Racing record
Under the name of "Darley" he easily won his first two races for Dr. Warfield and his partner, "Burbridge's Harry," a former slave turned well-known horse trainer. Burbridge, being black, was not allowed to enter "Darley" in races in his own name, so the horse ran in Dr. Warfield's name and colors. He caught the eye of Richard Ten Broeck who asked Dr. Warfield to name his price. "Darley," the son of Boston, was sold in 1853 to Ten Broeck acting on behalf of a syndicate who would rename him Lexington. Affixed to Lexington's pedigree Dr. Warfield wrote: "The colt was bred by me, as was also his dam, which I now and will ever, own...E. Warfield."A syndicate made up of Richard Ten Broeck, General Abe Buford
Abraham Buford II
Brigadier General Abraham "Abe" Buford II was a soldier and Thoroughbred horse breeder. Born in Woodford County, Kentucky, his origins were a Huguenot family named Beaufort who fled persecution in France and settled in England before emigrating to America in 1635.Abraham Buford was the son of...
, Captain Willa Viley and Junius R. Ward, bought the horse for $2,500 between heats (or during the running of his race), so tried claiming the purse money when he won. Failing that, he tried to deduct the purse money from the sale price. But Dr. Warfield held out. His new owners immediately sent Lexington to Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez is the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. With a total population of 18,464 , it is the largest community and the only incorporated municipality within Adams County...
to train under J. B. Pryor
John Benjamin Pryor
John Benjamin Pryor , was a noted Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He was the trainer of Lexington, a top racehorse of the 1850s and whose excellence in competition and as a sire stud continued well into the 20th century earning the horse induction in to the United States' National Museum of Racing...
.
Lexington raced at age three and four and although he only competed seven times, many of his races were gruelling four-mile events. Lexington won six of his seven races and finished second once. One of his wins was the Phoenix Hotel Handicap
Phoenix Stakes (United States)
The Phoenix Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of six furlongs and currently offers a purse of $250,000...
in 1853. On April 2, 1855, at the Metairie race course in New Orleans, he set a record running four miles in 7 minutes, 19 3/4 seconds. Even with his complex and hard-fought rivalry with the horse Lecomte (also a son of Boston, both born just after Boston died), he was known as the best race horse of his day. His second match with Lecomte on April 24, 1855, was considered one of the greatest matches of the century. But Lexington had to be retired at the end of 1855 as a result of poor eyesight. His sire, Boston, had also gone blind. Conservation work in 2010 revealed that Lexington had had a massive facial infection that resulted in his going blind.
Stud record
He stood for a time at the Nantura Stock Farm of Uncle John Harper in Midway, KentuckyMidway, Kentucky
Midway is a city in Woodford County, Kentucky, United States. Its population was 1,620 at the 2000 census. It is located midway between Frankfort and Lexington along the single-track railroad between them. It is part of the Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is home to a...
, along with the famous racer and sire, Glencoe. Sold to Robert A. Alexander
Robert A. Alexander
Robert Aitcheson Alexander was an American breeder of Thoroughbred and Standardbred horses. Born on a farm near Midway, Woodford County, Kentucky, he and his siblings inherited the property on his father's death....
for $15,000 in 1858, reportedly the then highest price ever paid for an American horse, Lexington was sent to Alexander's Woodburn Stud
Woodburn Stud
Woodburn Stud was an American horse breeding farm located in Woodford County, Kentucky about ten miles from the city of Lexington. It was established in the 18th century as an original land grant property of General Hugh Mercer to whom it had been granted for his military services during the...
at Spring Station, 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...
.
Called "The Blind Hero of Woodburn," Lexington became the Leading sire in North America
Leading sire in North America
The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won by the sire's progeny during the year...
sixteen times, from 1861 through 1874, and then again in 1876 and 1878. Lexington was the sire of the undefeated Asteroid
Asteroid (horse)
Asteroid was one of the most successful Thoroughbred racehorses in the United States during the 19th century having retired to stud with an undefeated race record.-Pedigree:...
and Norfolk. Nine of the first fifteen 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...
were won by one of his sons or daughters, a list that included:
- Belle Of Nelson (won Kentucky OaksKentucky OaksThe Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers 1⅛ miles at Churchill Downs; the horses carry 121 pounds . The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Friday before the Kentucky Derby each year...
) - CincinnatiCincinnati (horse)Cincinnati was General Ulysses S. Grant's most famous horse during the American Civil War. He was the son of Lexington, the fastest four-mile thoroughbred in the United States and one of the greatest sires. Cincinnati was also the grandson of the great Boston, who sired Lexington.At an early age,...
, General Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
's favorite horse. Cincinnati was depicted in numerous statues of Grant that remain to this day. - Duke of MagentaDuke of Magenta----Duke of Magenta was one of the most successful racehorses in the United States in the 19th century.Foaled in 1875 at the Woodburn Stud near Lexington, Kentucky, he was owned by New York City tobacco tycoon, George L. Lorillard and trained by Hall of Famer R. Wyndham Walden. "Duke of Magenta"...
(won the Travers Stakes in 1878...as well as the Withers StakesWithers StakesThe 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...
, the Preakness StakesPreakness StakesThe 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...
, and the Belmont StakesBelmont StakesThe 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...
) - General DukeGeneral Duke (horse)General Duke was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the second running of the Belmont Stakes in 1868.-Early life:General Duke was sired by Lexington, and out of Lilla, who was by the imported stallion Yorkshire. General Duke was foaled in 1865, and was a chestnut stallion. He was bred by...
(won Belmont Stakes) - Harry Bassett (won Belmont Stakes and 14 consecutive races)
- KentuckyKentucky (horse)Kentucky , was a successful American Thoroughbred racehorse who won 21 of his 23 starts, including 20 consecutive wins....
(owned by William TraversWilliam R. TraversWilliam Riggin Travers was an American lawyer who made a fortune on Wall Street. A well-known cosmopolite and high liver, Travers was a member of 27 private clubs, according to Cleveland Amory in his book Who Killed Society?-Biography:He was born in 1819.Along with John Hunter, in 1863 he founded...
himself), the first Travers Stakes winner in 1864 - KingfisherKingfisher (horse)Kingfisher was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1870 Belmont Stakes.Kingfisher was bred by Robert A. Alexander at his Woodburn Stud in Woodford County, Kentucky, Kingfisher was out of the imported mare Eltham Lass, a daughter of Kingston. Kingfisher's sire was Lexington...
(Belmont Stakes) - Neecy Hale (Kentucky Oaks)
- Shirley Preakness Stakes (1876)
- Tom OchiltreeTom OchiltreeTom Ochiltree , was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, one of the last by the great foundation stallion, blind Lexington, still standing at what by then was A. J. Alexander's Woodburn Stud in Kentucky. Tom Ochiltree was an enormous colt, eventually reaching 16 hands 2½ inches high with a girth of...
Preakness Stakes (1875)
His three Preakness Stakes winners equalled the record of another great sire, Broomstick
Broomstick (horse)
Broomstick was a Thoroughbred race horse born and bred at the famous McGrathiana Stud in Kentucky, but more importantly, he was one of the great sires of American racing. Out of another great sire, the Hall of Famer Ben Brush, Broomstick went on after his racing career to produce champion after...
.
In all Lexington sired 236 winners who won 1,176 races, ran second 348 times and third 42 times for $1,159,321 in prizemoney.
During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, horses were forcibly conscripted from the Kentucky Farms to serve as mounts in the bloody fray. Lexington, 15 years old and blind, had to be hidden away to save him from such a fate.
He died at Woodburn on July 1, 1875, and was buried in a casket in front of the stables. A few years later, in 1878, his owner, through the auspices of Dr. J.M. Toner, donated the horse's bones to the U.S. National Museum (the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
). The pioneering taxidermist Henry Augustus Ward
Henry Augustus Ward
Henry Augustus Ward was an American naturalist and geologist, born in Rochester, New York.After attending Williams College and the Lawrence Scientific School, Harvard, where he was an assistant of Louis Agassiz, he traveled in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine, and studied at the Jardin des Plantes,...
of Ward's Natural Science
Ward's Natural Science
Ward's Natural Science is a supplier of science education materials for high school and college-level studies in Rochester, New York. It was founded by Henry Augustus Ward in 1862....
in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, was called in to supervise the disinterment and preparation of the skeleton. For many years the specimen was exhibited in the Osteology Hall of the National Museum of Natural History
National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. Admission is free and the museum is open 364 days a year....
. In 1999, Lexington was part of the exhibition "On Time," at the National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History
The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific and military history. Among the items on display are the original Star-Spangled Banner and Archie Bunker's...
, where he helped illustrate the history of the first mass-produced stopwatch that split time into fractions of seconds--which was supposedly developed to document Lexington's feats on the race course. In 2010, Smithsonian conservators prepared the skeleton for loan to the International Museum of the Horse in Lexington, Kentucky, in time for the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, the first time these games had been held outside of Europe.
Lexington's dominance in the pedigrees of American-bred Thoroughbreds, and the fact that the British Thoroughbred breeders considered him not a purebred, was a large factor in the so-called Jersey Act
Jersey Act
The Jersey Act was introduced to prevent the registration of most American-bred Thoroughbred horses in the British General Stud Book. It had its roots in the desire of the British to halt the influx of American-bred racehorses of possibly impure bloodlines during the early 20th century...
of 1913, where the British Jockey Club
Jockey Club
The Jockey Club is the largest commercial organisation in British horseracing. Although no longer responsible for the governance and regulation of the sport, it owns 14 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham and Newmarket, amongst other concerns such as the National Stud and...
limited the registration of horses not traced completely to horses in the General Stud Book
General Stud Book
The General Stud Book was the original breed registry of the United Kingdom for horses. It specifically was used to document the breeding of Thoroughbreds and related foundation bloodstock such as the Arabian horse....
.
Honors
Lexington was part of the first group of horses inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of FameNational 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 1955. The Belmont Lexington Stakes
Belmont Lexington Stakes
The Belmont Lexington is a Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run over a distance of one and one eighth miles on the inner turf course at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York....
runs every year at Belmont Park
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...
in honor of Lexington, as does the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland Race Course.
On Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 the Smithsonian loaned Lexington's skeleton to the International Museum of the Horse at the Kentucky Horse Park, to be exhibited there through August 2013.
Lexington served as the model for the top of the Woodlawn Vase
Woodlawn Vase
The Woodlawn Vase is an American trophy given annually to the winning owner of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.- Overview of the trophy :...
, given to the winner of 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...
at Pimlico.