Nellie Morse was an American

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...

 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...

 best known as the fourth filly

Filly

A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....

 to win 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...

. Her sire was Luke McLuke

Luke McLuke

Luke McLuke was a bay Thoroughbred stallion born in the United States who won the 1914 Belmont Stakes as well as the Carlton Stakes, Kentucky Handicap, and Grainger Memorial Handicap among his four wins from six starts. After his racing career was over, he became a breeding stallion, where he...

, who won the 1914 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...

 and who was a son of the important but unraced Ultimus who had been sired by Commando

Commando (horse)

Commando was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred at Castleton Stud by owner James R. Keene, Commando raced at age two, winning five of his six starts and finishing second in the other as a result of jockey error. At age three, Commando raced only three times, winning the...

. From the mare

Mare (horse)

A mare is an adult female horse or other equine.In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse age three and younger. However, in Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old; in harness racing a mare is a...

 La Venganza, Nellie Morse's damsire was the Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n multi-race winner, Abercorn.

Owned by the prominent American cartoonist

Cartoonist

A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...

, Bud Fisher

Bud Fisher

Harry Conway "Bud" Fisher was an American cartoonist who created Mutt and Jeff, the first successful daily comic strip in the United States....

, Nellie Morse was trained for racing by Albert B. Gordon. Sent to the track at age two, the filly won the five 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....

 Fashion Stakes 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...

 and was second in the Spinaway Stakes

Spinaway Stakes

The Spinaway Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Open to two-year-old fillies, it is a Grade I event contested at a distance of seven furlongs on dirt...

. In the Matron Stakes

Matron Stakes (USA)

The Matron Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race once held annually during the second week of September at Belmont Park in Elmont, Long Island, New York, but is now a Spring/Summer event along with the Futurity Stakes. Open to two-year-old fillies, it is contested on dirt at a distance at...

 she finished ahead of future U.S. Racing 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 Princess Doreen

Princess Doreen

Princess Doreen was a Thoroughbred racehorse best known for being the top American female money-winner.Bred by John E. Madden at his stud farm, Hamburg Place, in Kentucky....

 but was second to Greentree Stables' winning filly, Tree Top.

In 1924, She was at Pimlico Race Course

Pimlico Race Course

Pimlico Race Course is a horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Olde Ben Pimlico's Tavern in London...

 in Baltimore, Maryland where she won the 1⅛ mile Pimlico Oaks

Black-Eyed Susan Stakes

The Black-Eyed Susan Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The race is open to three-year-old fillies willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt and currently offers a purse of $250,000...

 and, racing against 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....

s, on May 12, 1924 won the second of what became the American Classic Races, 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...

. She was just the fourth filly to win the Preakness since its inception fifty-one years earlier in 1873, and was the last filly to have ever won the race until Rachel Alexandra

Rachel Alexandra

Rachel Alexandra is a retired American Thoroughbred filly racehorse and the 2009 Horse of the Year. She is renowned as the May 16, 2009 Preakness Stakes winner, the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the first filly to win the race in 85 years history...

 won it in 2009

2009 Preakness Stakes

The 2009 Preakness Stakes was the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown. The value of the race was $1,100,000 in stakes. The race was sponsored by BlackBerry and hence officially was called Blackberry Preakness Stakes. The race took place on May 16,...

. Nellie Morse then finished third - placed second via disqualification of the apparent winner Glide - to Princess Doreen in the 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...

 at Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs, located in Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, is a Thoroughbred racetrack most famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby annually. It officially opened in 1875, and held the first Kentucky Derby and the first Kentucky Oaks in the same year. Churchill Downs...

.

Retired from racing to serve as a broodmare, Nellie Morse was notably mated to Reigh Count

Reigh Count

Reigh Count was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1928 Kentucky Derby and the 1929 Coronation Cup in England....

, producing Count Morse, winner of the 1937 Ben Ali Stakes

Ben Ali Stakes

The Ben Ali Stakes is an American race for thoroughbred horses run in the Spring of each year at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. For 4-year-olds and up, it is a Grade III event set at a distance of one mile and one eighth mile on the dirt...

 and Clark Handicap

Clark Handicap

The Clark Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late November/early December at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Among the oldest races in the United States, it was first run in 1875, the year the racetrack opened for business...

. As well, her mating to American Flag

American Flag (horse)

American Flag was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred and raced by Samuel D. Riddle, who owned his sire, Man o' War, he was out of the dam Lady Comfey....

 produced the filly Nellie Flag

Nellie Flag

Nellie Flag was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was voted the American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly of 1934. She was the first horse bred by Warren Wright's Calumet Farm to win a stakes race....

 who was the 1934 American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.

Nellie Morse died in 1941 at age twenty.