Sunfire 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...

. Bred and raced by the co-owner and president of 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...

, Richard T. Wilson, Jr.

Richard Thornton Wilson, Jr.

Richard Thornton Wilson, Jr. was an American banker and businessman who was a prominent figure in Thoroughbred horse racing in the early decades of the 20th Century....

, he was sired by Wilson's Olambala

Olambala

Olambala was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred in Tennessee by John G. Greener, his British-born sire Ornus, a son of Bend Or, a two-time leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland, was imported to stand at stud in the United States...

, a multiple winner of important races including the Latonia Derby

Latonia Derby

The Latonia Derby was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually from 1883 through 1937 at Latonia Race Track in Latonia, Kentucky. Open to three-year-old horses, for its first 52 years the Latonia Derby was contested at a mile and a half; in 1935, the race was shortened to a mile and a...

 and 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....

 and sire of several top runners including the 1916 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt Campfire

Campfire (horse)

Campfire was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. Bred and raced by the co-owner and president of Saratoga Race Course, Richard T...

, and Belmont

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 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...

 winner Pillory

Pillory (horse)

Pillory was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred and raced by the co-owner and president of Saratoga Race Course, Richard T. Wilson, Jr., his damsire was Disguise, who raced for James R. Keene in England and was a son of the great Domino...

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Sunfire was 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

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

 T. J. Healey

T. J. Healey

Thomas J. Healey was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer.Regularly referred to as "T. J." by both his associates and the media, Healey was born near the site of Fordham University in Fordham, New York. Growing up he worked on his father's dairy farm but rather than cows, his...

. In 1928, he won the Toronto Cup Handicap

Toronto Cup Stakes

The Toronto Cup Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually on turf at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Run in early July, the race is open to Three-year-olds and is run over a distance of 1⅛ miles on turf....

 at Old Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and the Ohio Derby

Ohio Derby

The Ohio Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early June at Thistledown in North Randall, Ohio.The Grade III Stakes race for three-year-olds is run on dirt over a distance of 1 and 1/16 miles....

, held at Bainbridge Park Race Track near Cleveland Ohio. In winning the Ohio Derby under 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:...

 Roger Leonard, Sunfire set a new Bainbridge Park Race Track course record of 1:52 1/5 for a mile and a furlong. He raced again at age four, and back in Toronto won his second straight Toronto Cup Handicap and ran second to 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...

 runner-up Sir Harry in the 1929 King Edward Gold Cup Handicap

King Edward Stakes

The King Edward Breeders' Cup Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. The Grade II turf race is open to horses aged three and older and is raced over a distance of one mile...

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Sunfire was not successful at 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...

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