Ridan (horse)
Encyclopedia
Ridan is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1961 was one of the best 2-year-old colts racing in the United States but lost the 1962 U.S. Champion 3-Year-old
honors by a fraction of a nose.
A full brother to 1965 U.S. Horse of the Year
Moccasin
, Ridan was the grandson of Nasrullah, a son of Nearco
. Trainer Moody Jolley
purchased him from Claiborne Farm
as a yearling. Because the colt reminded Jolley of another Nasrullah colt named Nadir, he named him Ridan, which is Nadir spelled backwards. Ernest Woods and John L. Greer each bought a one-third interest in the horse.
Trained by Jolley's son LeRoy
, and ridden by future U.S. Hall of Fame
jockey
Bill Hartack
, the two-year-old Ridan went unbeaten in seven starts in 1961 that included the important Arlington Futurity and Washington Park Futurity. Soreness in a foreleg cut short his season, and although he had handily beaten another two-year-old star, Crimson Satan
, the 1961 U.S. Juvenile Champion
honors went to Crimson Satan. The choice was hotly debated in racing circles. Hartack said Ridan was the best two-year-old he had ever ridden or seen. A number of expert racing observers agreed, saying that Ridan was the best two-year-old they had ever seen. The following year at age three, Ridan settled the issue, beating Crimson Satan seven more times by an average of eight lengths in each race and retiring without ever losing to him.
In 1962, Ridan won the Hibiscus Stakes in record time, then won the Blue Grass Stakes
and the Florida Derby
. Made the heavy favorite going into the Kentucky Derby
, Ridan wound up third after running wide in a hard-fought race in which he and Roman Line finished a neck behind upset winner Decidedly
. Disappointment followed in the Preakness Stakes
, the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown
. Ridan lost by the then narrowest, and still second narrowest, margin in Preakness history, beaten by a nose by Brandywine Stable longshot Greek Money
.
at the Saratoga Race Course
, Ridan lost by a fraction of a nose in track-record time to the George D. Widener, Jr.
colt Jaipur
. Still written and talked about today, the race is listed in the 2006 book Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments, written by the staff of Blood-Horse Publications
. The race result determined which colt was named the 1962 U.S. Champion 3-Year-Old Horse
.
At age four, Ridan raced only three times but got his revenge when he beat Jaipur, as well as the great Kelso
, in the Palm Beach Handicap at Hialeah Park. An ankle injury brought Ridan's racing career to an end, and he was sent to stand at stud
in Kentucky. Only moderately successful as a sire
, Ridan was eventually sent to a breeding operation in Australia
, where he died in 1977 from a twisted intestine
.
Eclipse Award for Outstanding 2-Year-Old Male Horse
The American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971....
honors by a fraction of a nose.
A full brother to 1965 U.S. Horse of the Year
Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....
Moccasin
Moccasin (horse)
Moccasin was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse and the only two-year-old filly to be voted United States Horse of the Year....
, Ridan was the grandson of Nasrullah, 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 ,...
. Trainer Moody Jolley
Moody Jolley
Moody Jolley was an American thoroughbred horse racing owner, breeder and trainer. He began his professional training career in the mid 1930s and by 1940 had his first Kentucky Derby runner. For several years, he trained for Harry Guggenheim's Cain Hoy Stable. After their partnership ended in...
purchased him from Claiborne Farm
Claiborne Farm
Claiborne Farm is a thoroughbred Horse breeding operation in near Paris, Kentucky. It was established in 1910, by Arthur B. Hancock, owner of Ellerslie Farm in Albemarle County, Virginia, and has been operated by members of his family ever since.-Owners:...
as a yearling. Because the colt reminded Jolley of another Nasrullah colt named Nadir, he named him Ridan, which is Nadir spelled backwards. Ernest Woods and John L. Greer each bought a one-third interest in the horse.
Trained by Jolley's son LeRoy
LeRoy Jolley
LeRoy Jolley is an United States Hall of Fame Thoroughbred horse trainer. The son of horse trainer Moody Jolley, LeRoy Jolley has been around horses all his life at age nineteen received a New York State trainer's license....
, and ridden by future U.S. 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...
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:...
Bill Hartack
Bill Hartack
William John Hartack Jr. was a Hall of Fame jockey. He was born in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania.Referred to by the media as both "Bill" and "Willie" during his racing career, Hartack grew up on his widowed father's farm in the Blacklick...
, the two-year-old Ridan went unbeaten in seven starts in 1961 that included the important Arlington Futurity and Washington Park Futurity. Soreness in a foreleg cut short his season, and although he had handily beaten another two-year-old star, Crimson Satan
Crimson Satan
Crimson Satan was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse bred and raced by Peter W. Salmen Sr.'s Crimson King Farm at Lexington, Kentucky. His dam was Salmen's Argentine-bred mare Papila, and his sire was Charles Fisher's good runner Spy Song...
, the 1961 U.S. Juvenile Champion
Eclipse Award for Outstanding 2-Year-Old Male Horse
The American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971....
honors went to Crimson Satan. The choice was hotly debated in racing circles. Hartack said Ridan was the best two-year-old he had ever ridden or seen. A number of expert racing observers agreed, saying that Ridan was the best two-year-old they had ever seen. The following year at age three, Ridan settled the issue, beating Crimson Satan seven more times by an average of eight lengths in each race and retiring without ever losing to him.
In 1962, Ridan won the Hibiscus Stakes in record time, then won the Blue Grass Stakes
Blue Grass Stakes
The Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, currently sponsored by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is an American Grade 1 horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in mid April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky....
and the Florida Derby
Florida Derby
The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida on the Saturday closest to the end of March or the first of April. Added to the racing schedule in 1952, the Grade 1 race is run at 1⅛ miles on the dirt...
. Made the heavy favorite going into 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...
, Ridan wound up third after running wide in a hard-fought race in which he and Roman Line finished a neck behind upset winner Decidedly
Decidedly
Decidedly was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is best known for winning the 1962 Kentucky Derby.Ridden by Bill Hartack, Decidedly set a new Churchill Downs track record for 1¼ miles in winning the 1962 Derby. In the second leg and third legs of the U.S...
. Disappointment followed 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...
, the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
. Ridan lost by the then narrowest, and still second narrowest, margin in Preakness history, beaten by a nose by Brandywine Stable longshot Greek Money
Greek Money
Greek Money was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series, the Preakness Stakes. Out of the English mare, Lucy Lufton, he was sired by Greek Song whose wins included the 1950 Arlington Classic...
.
One of American Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments
In the 1962 Travers StakesTravers 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...
at the Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It opened on August 3, 1863, and is the oldest organized sporting venue of any kind in the United States. It is typically open for racing from late July through early September.-History:John...
, Ridan lost by a fraction of a nose in track-record time to the George D. Widener, Jr.
George D. Widener, Jr.
George Dunton Widener, Jr. was an American businessman and thoroughbred racehorse owner; one of only five people ever designated "Exemplars of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.-Biography:...
colt Jaipur
Jaipur (horse)
Jaipur was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1962 Belmont Stakes and was voted that year's U.S. Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Male Horse....
. Still written and talked about today, the race is listed in the 2006 book Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments, written by the staff of Blood-Horse Publications
Blood-Horse Publications
Blood-Horse Publications is an American multimedia publishing house focused on horse-related magazines.Blood-Horse Publications is located in Lexington, Kentucky. Their book-publishing arm is Eclipse Press...
. The race result determined which colt was named the 1962 U.S. Champion 3-Year-Old Horse
Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Male Horse
The American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971....
.
At age four, Ridan raced only three times but got his revenge when he beat Jaipur, as well as 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 the Palm Beach Handicap at Hialeah Park. An ankle injury brought Ridan's racing career to an end, and he was sent to stand at stud
Horse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...
in Kentucky. Only moderately successful as a sire
Father
A father, Pop, Dad, or Papa, is defined as a male parent of any type of offspring. The adjective "paternal" refers to father, parallel to "maternal" for mother...
, Ridan was eventually sent to a breeding operation in 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...
, where he died in 1977 from a twisted intestine
Intestine
In human anatomy, the intestine is the segment of the alimentary canal extending from the pyloric sphincter of the stomach to the anus and, in humans and other mammals, consists of two segments, the small intestine and the large intestine...
.