Longfellow (horse)
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
's first great 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...
racehorses and the sire of great racehorses. A legend in his own time, he was out of the first crop of the outstanding imported English stallion Leamington
Leamington (horse)
Leamington was a Thoroughbred racehorse, and an influential sire in the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century. He was not only a fast horse, but also showed great staying ability....
.
Longfellow was owned, bred, and trained by Uncle John Harper of Nantura Stock Farm in Midway, Kentucky
Midway, 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...
. Uncle John was worth perhaps a million dollars (a very great sum in the 1850s), yet he lived in a simple cottage on his 1,000 acres (4 km²) adjacent to Robert A. Alexander's
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....
famed 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...
in Woodford County
Woodford County, Kentucky
Woodford County is a county located in the heart of the Bluegrass region of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 23,208. Its county seat is Versailles. The county is named for General William Woodford, who was with General George Washington at Valley Forge...
, Kentucky. In 1856, Uncle John stood both Lexington
Lexington (horse)
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...
and Glencoe, two of the country's greatest stallions. Combined, they led America's sire lists for 24 years.
Longfellow was sired by Leamington
Leamington (horse)
Leamington was a Thoroughbred racehorse, and an influential sire in the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century. He was not only a fast horse, but also showed great staying ability....
, the successor of Lexington, as noted: America's leading sire for 14 years. One of Leamington's best runners (out of John Harper's foundation mare Nantura by Brawner's Eclipse), Uncle John believed Longfellow was the very best horse he'd ever bred. A brown colt with a white stripe, a white near hind sock, and white on his off hind coronet, Longfellow was foaled in 1867. When people asked Harper, born in 1800, if he had named his colt for the noted poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
, Uncle John replied, "Never heared much of that feller but that colt of mine's got the longest legs of any feller I ever seen." At maturity, Longfellow stood 17 hands tall and was said to have a 26-foot stride.
Longfellow was unraced at two while he matured into his size. Harper tried him out in the spring of his third year, entering him in the Phoenix Hotel Stakes—but he was still too green. He lost to another son of Leamington called Enquirer, who was enjoying an undefeated season.
Murder Most Foul
In 1871, Longfellow was entered into a match race at Lexington, KentuckyLexington, 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...
against a horse called Pilgrim. Due to the chicanery of the times, Uncle John was taking no chances. On the night before the race, he slept at Longfellow's head in a barn at the old Kentucky Association
Kentucky Association
The Kentucky Association was formed on July 23, 1826 to promote the breeding and racing of Thoroughbred horses in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky. It was founded by a group of prominent locals which included Henry Clay, Jesse Bledsoe, Dr. Elisha Warfield, and Thomas F. Marshall...
track. In the middle of the night, Uncle John was awakened by a stealthy rattling at the locked barn door. "Who's there!" demanded John Harper. The answer came in a disguised voice, "I've come to see Longfellow." "You can't come in here," replied Uncle John. "Go away!" Whoever it was tried the door once more but when it wouldn't budge, mounted a horse and rode away. Early the next morning came the news that Uncle John's sister Betsy and his brother Jacob, also both elderly, had been murdered in John's small cottage at Nantura. Both had been hacked to death with the bloody hatchet left on a pillow. All three were childless. If John had been home that night (which he normally would have been), and therefore no doubt killed along with his brother and sister, the estate would have been divided equally among several nephews. The nephew most likely to have done the deed, the one in debt and certainly the one possessed of a questionable character, was Adam Harper, who placed blame on the servants, perhaps going so far as hiring men to try to lynch them for the murders. Certainly someone persuaded a lynch gang to string up Uncle John's hired folk. Wallace Harper, another nephew, openly accused Adam of the crimes of both murder and attempted lynching. Even though considerable evidence mounted against Adam Harper, he was never charged. Upon his death, Uncle John (who'd had Adam investigated privately, but never revealed the results) left everything to another nephew, Frank Harper.
King of the Turf
Longfellow's real racing career began in autumn of 1871. After that, his ability went unquestioned. In sixteen starts, he won thirteen times, including the Monmouth Cup (beating Helmbold and Preakness), and the Saratoga Cup in 1871. In the Saratoga, he frightened off all rivals but one, 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...
. In his next race he was beaten by Helmbold, the horse he'd easily outclassed in the Monmouth Cup. Longfellow's great size proved a disadvantage at 4 miles in deep mud. He took the Wooley Stakes and again won the Monmouth in 1872 and placed in the Saratoga Cup in 1872.
Called "King of the Turf," Longfellow was America's most popular horse in the decade after 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...
. His final season was noted for his rivalry with the eastern champion Harry Bassett, the undefeated cream of the three-year-olds and winner of the 1871 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...
in Saratoga, New York
Saratoga, New York
Saratoga is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,141 at the 2000 census. It is also the commonly used, but not official, name for the neighboring and much more populous city, Saratoga Springs. The major village in the town of Saratoga is Schuylerville which is...
. Colonel McDaniel, Harry Bassett's owner, challenged Longfellow to a match race. John Harper replied that anyone wishing to test Longfellow's mettle could do so in the Monmouth Cup of 1872. McDaniel entered his horse. Longfellow headed east in a special car on which a sign was hung that read: "Longfellow on his way to Long Branch to meet his friend Harry Bassett." Since all ten of the other entered horses had withdrawn from the race, it became a match. Longfellow beat Harry by over 100 yards. Harry Bassett went into a deep sulk and stopped racing after a mile and a half. Longfellow cantered in alone.
Their second meeting was in the two and a quarter mile Saratoga Cup. Approaching the start, Longfellow struck his left fore foot and twisted his racing plate. Coming round the first turn, it was obvious something was wrong with him...even so, his rider stood up in his stirrups and went for his whip, the first the four year old colt had ever felt. Responding with a powerful surge, for 18 furlong
Furlong
A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to 220 yards, 660 feet, 40 rods, or 10 chains. The exact value of the furlong varies slightly among English-speaking countries....
s, Longfellow relentlessly closed the distance—and with great courage, lost to Harry Bassett (who'd broken the track record by 2 and a half seconds) by only one length, leaving the track limping on three legs. His left front foot had been mutilated; the shoe had bent double during the race and embedded itself into the frog of his foot. This was Longfellow's last race.
Longfellow's Legacy
A leading sire in 1891, his progeny includes the great racemare Thora, champion three-year-old female in 1881 and herself dam of Yorkville Belle (born in Tennessee in 1889, who made 37 starts, and came in the money 30 times, 21 of them firsts). Thora won the Alabama StakesAlabama Stakes
The Alabama Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race open to three-year-old fillies. Inaugurated in 1872, the Grade I race is run over a distance of one and one-quarter miles on the dirt track at Saratoga Race Course. Held in mid August, it currently offers a purse of $500,000...
, the Monmouth Oaks, and the Saratoga Cup. Longfellow also sired the 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 Leonatus
Leonatus
Leonatus was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.Leonatus was the son of Uncle John Harper's great racer and sire, Longfellow, himself the son of the imported English stud, the great Leamington...
. Leonatus was the champion three-year-old male in 1883, losing only one race as a juvenile and never again beaten. As a three-year-old, and within a period of 49 days, Leonatus won ten stakes races, all in Kentucky and Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Longfellow also sired The Bard
The Bard (horse)
The Bard was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was the most popular horse of his day and one who raced and beat all the top horses. Bred by Charles Reed, owner of the Fairview Stud Farm in Gallatin, Tennessee, his dam was Bradamante and his sire was the U.S...
, the champion three-year-old male of 1886 and winner of 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...
. Later, his get included American Derby
American Derby
The American Derby is a Thoroughbred horse race in the United States run annually at Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois. The inaugural American Derby was held at the city's old Washington Park race track and raced there until 1905 when the facility was closed and the track demolished....
winner Pink Coat, 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....
winner Tillo, 1889 Travers
Travers
-Surname:* Allan Travers* Angela Travers, fictional character* Ben Travers* Bill Travers , English actor, screenwriter, director and animal rights activist* Bill Travers , former Major League Baseball pitcher...
winner Long Dance, Longstreet, who was the 1891 American Horse of the Year, and the very good mares Peg Woffington and Lady Longfellow.
Longfellow sired two Kentucky Derby winners: the aforementioned Leonatus in the ninth running in 1883 (who distinguished himself by eating his blanket of roses), and Riley in the sixteenth running in 1890. Among his fillies, he sired two Kentucky Oaks
Kentucky Oaks
The 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...
winners: Longitude in 1880, and Florimore in 1887.
A Long Life
Longfellow died on November 5, 1893 at the age of twenty-six. His grave marker is one of the first two ever erected for a racehorse in Kentucky. (The first was for Hall of FamerNational 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...
Ten Broeck
Ten Broeck
Ten Broeck was an American U.S. Racing Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse whose 1878 match race win in Louisville against the great California mare, Mollie McCarty was immortalized in the Kentucky folk song commonly called Molly and Tenbrooks.Bred by John Harper at his farm near Midway,...
). On Longfellow's marker are engraved the words: "King of Racers & King of Stallions."
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...
's Monmouth Park runs the $60,000 five and 1/2 furlong Longfellow Stakes
Longfellow Stakes
The Longfellow Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run each year in early June at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. A six furlong sprint for either gender aged three and up, the ungraded Longfellow offers a purse of $70,000 and a trophy.The race, inaugurated in 1952,...
for three-year-olds and up each year in June.
Longfellow 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...
in Saratoga Springs, 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...
in 1971.
Footnotes
- Out of the Irish stallion Faugh-a-BallaghFaugh-a-BallaghFaugh-a-Ballagh was a Thoroughbred racehorse. A brother to Birdcatcher, Faugh-a-Ballagh was sold to E. J. Erwin in 1842. He ran once as a two-year-old at the Doncaster's Champagne Stakes, finishing third to The Cure and Sorella. He then began his three-year-old season as the first Irish-bred horse...
, LeamingtonLeamington (horse)Leamington was a Thoroughbred racehorse, and an influential sire in the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century. He was not only a fast horse, but also showed great staying ability....
sired AristidesAristides (racehorse)Aristides was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the first Kentucky Derby in 1875.In 1875 the Derby was raced at a mile and a half, the distance it would remain until 1896 when it was changed to its present mile and a quarter...
, first winner of the Kentucky Derby, and IroquoisPierre Lorillard IVPierre Lorillard IV was an American tobacco manufacturer and thoroughbred race horse owner.-Biography:...
, the first American-bred winner of the Epsom DerbyEpsom DerbyThe Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
. - Uncle John Harper named his farm after her.