Phalanx was an American Champion 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...

. He was sired by Pilate, a son of the 1916 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...

 winner, Friar Rock

Friar Rock

Friar Rock was a Champion American Thoroughbred racehorse. His most important win came in the 1916 Belmont Stakes.-Background:...

. His dam was the outstanding runner, Jacola

Jacola

Jacola was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by Arthur B. Hancock, she was sired by the British import Jacopo, a son of the 1924 Epsom Derby winner, Sansovino. Jacola was out of the mare La France, a daughter of Sir Gallahad, who was the leading sire in North America in 1930, 1933,...

, the American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly of 1937 who beat the great Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse in the United States. From an inauspicious start, Seabiscuit became an unlikely champion and a symbol of hope to many Americans during the Great Depression...

 by two lengths in the 1938 Laurel Stakes. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30F15FA3955157A93C4A8178BD95F4C8385F9

Conditioned for racing by 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...

 trainer Syl Veitch

Sylvester Veitch

Sylvester E. Veitch was a Hall of Fame thoroughbred horse trainer.Veitch began his career in racing as a jockey and trainer in Steeplechase racing. In 1939 he moved to flat racing when he began employment as a trainer with Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney in Kentucky...

, at age two Phalanx notably won the Remsen Handicap

Remsen Stakes

The Remsen Stakes is an American Grade II race for Thoroughbred horse race run annually near the end of November at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York...

. At age three, after winning the Wood Memorial Stakes

Wood Memorial Stakes

The Wood Memorial Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Jamaica, New York. It is currently a Grade I race run over a distance of 9 furlongs on dirt....

, Phalanx was the betting favorite going into the 1947 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...

 but ran second to Jet Pilot

Jet Pilot

Jet Pilot was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Purchased for US$41,000 at the Keeneland Yearling Sale by cosmetics queen Elizabeth Arden, he raced under her Maine Chance Farm colors. He was sired by the English champion and 1930 Epsom Derby winner, Blenheim II, and out of the mare Black Wave by...

 http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=psEKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1k4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=1703,96462&dq=phalanx+second and third to Faultless

Faultless

Faultless was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1947 Preakness Stakes. Bred and raced by Calumet Farm, his dam, Unerring, was the 1939 American Co-Champion Three-Year-Old Filly. His sire was Calumet's preeminent stallion Bull Lea who was the sire of seven U.S...

 in 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...

. In the final leg of U.S. Triple Crown

United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing

In the United States, the "Triple Crown" is usually the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, a series of three Thoroughbred horse races for three-year-old horses run in May and early June of each year consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.While Daily Racing Form...

 series Phalanx won the 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...

 by five lengths. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60C10F7385A147B93C3A9178DD85F438485F9 He went on to win the Dwyer Stakes

Dwyer Stakes

The Dwyer Stakes is an American Grade II stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred racehorses held annually at Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, Long Island, New York. Run in early July, it is open to three-year-old horses and is raced over a distance of 1 1/16-miles on dirt...

, the Empire City Handicap

Empire City Handicap

The Empire City Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race inaugurated on October 22, 1900, as part of the opening day racecard at Empire City Race Track in Yonkers, New York...

 and in the fall, the two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup

Jockey Club Gold Cup

The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers Stakes is of the...

.

Racing in 1948, Phalanx notably finished second to the great Citation

Citation (horse)

Citation was the eighth American Triple Crown winner, and one of three major North American Thoroughbreds to win at least 16 consecutive races in major stakes race competition...

 in both the Jockey Club Gold Cup

Jockey Club Gold Cup

The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers Stakes is of the...

 and in the Empire City International Gold Cup. He did not get his first win of the year until November 6th when he captured the Daingerfield Handicap at Jamaica Racetrack

Jamaica Racetrack

Jamaica Race Course was an American thoroughbred horse racing facility operated by the Metropolitan Jockey Club in Jamaica, New York. The track opened on April 27, 1903, a day which featured the inaugural running of the Excelsior Handicap. Eugene D. Wood, one of the founders and largest...

 carrying top weight of 129 pounds.http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZLEKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LE4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=1322,2871144&dq=phalanx

Retired to owner Sonny Whitney's

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney was an American businessman, film producer, writer, and government official, as well as the owner of a leading stable of thoroughbred racehorses....

 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...

 farm in 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...

, Phalanx notably sired Career Boy

Career Boy

Career Boy was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred and raced by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, a member of the prominent horse-racing Whitney family...

, the 1956 American Champion Turf Horse, and Fisherman

Fisherman (horse)

Fisherman was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred and raced by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, a member of the prominent horse-racing Whitney family. He was out of the mare Crawfish and sired by Whitney's Phalanx, the winner of the 1947 Belmont Stakes voted American Champion...

, a multiple top level performer whose wins included the 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...

 and Washington, D.C. International Stakes.