Mongo was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Champion

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...

 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...

.

Background

He was bred and raced by Marion duPont Scott, a member of the prominent Du Pont family

Du Pont family

The Du Pont family is an American family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours . The son of a Paris watchmaker and a member of a Burgundian noble family, he and his sons, Victor Marie du Pont and Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, emigrated to the United States in 1800 and used the resources of...

. His sire was Royal Charger

Royal Charger

Royal Charger was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who was successful in racing but even more so as a sire. He was the son of the very important sire Nearco.-Racing career:As a three-year-old, Royal Charger finished third in the 2000 Guineas...

, a son of Nearco

Nearco

Nearco was an Italian bred Thoroughbred racehorse described by Thoroughbred Heritage as "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century" and "one of the most important sires of the century." He was not only unbeaten, winning 14 races at distances from 5 furlongs to 1 mile 7 furlongs ,...

 whom Thoroughbred Heritage

National Sporting Library

The National Sporting Library & Museum The National Sporting Library and Museum, located in beautiful, historic Middleburg, Virginia, is dedicated to preserving, promoting, and sharing the literature, art, and culture of horse and field sports...

says was "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century". http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/Pharos.html Mongo's dam was Accra, Ms. Du Pont Scott's foundation mare whose sire Annapolis was a son of the great 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 :...

.

Racing career

Frank Bonsal, a former jockey

Jockey

A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

 in steeplechase

Steeplechase

Steeplechase may refer to:* Steeplechase, an event in horse racing* SteepleChase, a Danish jazz label* Steeplechase , a 1975 arcade game released by Atari...

 racing, conditioned Mongo for racing. As a three-year-old in 1962, the colt won important races on turf

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

 under jockey Charlie Burr. He notably won the Lexington Handicap

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....

, the first of two consecutive runnings of both the United Nations Handicap and the Trenton Handicap

Trenton Handicap

The Trenton Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Garden State Park Racetrack in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Open to horses age three and older, the race was contested on dirt at various distances during its tenure:...

. The following year was Mongo's most successful. En route to being voted the 1963 American Champion Male Turf Horse, he defeated the great Kelso

Kelso (horse)

Kelso was an American thoroughbred race horse considered among the best racehorses of the 20th century. In the list of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century by The Blood-Horse magazine Kelso ranks 4th, behind only Man o' War , Secretariat and Citation...

 in winning the most important race of his career, the Washington, D.C. International Stakes.

Mongo was back racing successfully at age five. He defeated Kelso again to win the 1964 Monmouth Handicap, defeated the outstanding runner Gun Bow

Gun Bow

Gun Bow was an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. Owned and bred by cosmetics tycoon Elizabeth Arden at her Maine Chance Farm, Gun Bow was sired by Gun Shot, a son of Hyperion, the 1933 Epsom Derby winner and a six-time leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland. He was out of the mare...

 in capturing the John B. Campbell Handicap

John B. Campbell Handicap

The John B. Campbell Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland. Raced in mid February, it is open to horses age three and older and is contested on dirt over a distance of 1⅛ miles ....

, and set a new Monmouth Park

Monmouth Park Racetrack

Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.Monmouth Park's marquee event...

 track record in winning the Trenton Handicap for the second time.

Stud career

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...

 at Blue Ridge Farm near Upperville, Virginia

Upperville, Virginia

Upperville is an unincorporated community in Fauquier County, Virginia, United States, located along U.S. Route 50 fifty miles from downtown Washington, D.C.. Founded in the 1790s along Pantherskin Creek, it was originally named Carrstown by first settler Josephus Carr...

, Mongo met with modest success. While none of his progeny met with his racing success, Mongo sired good several runners including:

• Mongongo (1969) - multiple stakes winner including the Salvator Mile Handicap
  Salvator Mile Handicap
  The Salvator Mile Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the first week of July at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on dirt at a distance of one mile . A Grade III event, it offers a purse of...
  
  
• Bushongo (1971) - won Flamingo Stakes
  Flamingo Stakes
  The Flamingo Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in March at the Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida. Run over a distance of nine furlongs, the inaugural race took place in 1926 at the Tampa, Florida racetrack...
  
  
• Commadore C. (1976) - Long Branch Stakes
  Long Branch Stakes
  The Long Branch Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. Open to three-year-olds, it is contested on dirt over a distance of 11/16 miles...
  
   winner
• Mongo Queen (b.1976) - won Sorority Stakes
  Sorority Stakes
  The Sorority Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the first week of September at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. Open to two-year-old fillies, it is contested on dirt over a distance of six furlongs....
  
  

Mongo died at age twenty-four on March 21, 1983 at Blue Ridge Farm.