Timber Country
Encyclopedia
Timber Country is an American
Thoroughbred
racehorse
who was the first horse to ever win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile
then go on to win one of the U.S. Triple Crown races for three-year-olds.
Out of the mare Fall Aspen, his sire was Woodman
, a Champion 2-year-old colt in Ireland
who was a son of the very influential Champion sire
Mr. Prospector
. Woodman also sired Preakness
and Belmont Stakes
winner Hansel
, as well as the 1999 Canadian Champion 3-Year-Old Colt
and Queen's Plate
winner, Woodcarver. Timber Country is closely related to the Dubai World Cup
winner, Dubai Millennium
, who was sired by a son of Mr. Prospector out of a daughter of Fall Aspen.
, Robert & Beverly Lewis, Timber Country was trained by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
inductee D. Wayne Lukas
. Racing at age two in California
, the colt won four of his seven starts. At Del Mar Racetrack
, he won the Balboa Stakes and was third in the Del Mar Futurity
. Sent East
, Timber Country won the Grade I
Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park
in Elmont, New York
. His victory made him the betting
favorite for the most important race of the year for his age group, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile
. In that race, Timber Country came from well back to win going away. His 1994 performances earned him U.S. Champion 2-Yr-Old Colt honors.
in Arcadia, California
, three-year-old Timber Country ran third in the San Rafael Stakes
and second in the San Felipe Stakes
. Going into the Kentucky Derby
the colt was winless in all three of his 1995 starts and was up against a field that included strong competition such as Tejano Run
, who had finished third to Timber Country in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile; Thunder Gulch
, who was also trained by D. Wayne Lukas and who had won that spring's Fountain of Youth Stakes
and Florida Derby
; Talkin Man
, the Canadian Two-Year-Old Champion
coming off an impressive win in the Wood Memorial Stakes
; plus the future Hall of Fame filly
Serena's Song
, who was owned by Robert and Beverly Lewis, one of Timber Country's owners.
Drawing the difficult post position seventeen in the Kentucky Derby's nineteen-horse field, Timber Country was among the trailers for most of the race. A horse who liked to come from behind, entering the homestretch he was still only in tenth place and, bunched between a congestion of challengers, lost time when he had to swing to the outside to find some running room. In the stretch drive. jockey Pat Day
and Timber County made a move to get between horses and came on strongly enough to finish third behind runner-up Tejano Run
and winner Thunder Gulch
.
In the Preakness Stakes
, the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series, Timber Country was the parimutuel betting
favorite. The colt won the race after he passed five horses through the turn and homestretch and won by half a length over runner-up Oliver's Twist
and third-place finisher Thunder Gulch. Timber Country's win marked the first time since the establishment of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 1984 that a winner of that race went on to win one of the American Classic races.
Made the heavy favorite to win the third and final leg of the Triple Crown, Timber Country had to be withdrawn from the Belmont Stakes
on the day before the race as a result of a high fever from a virus
that saw his temperature nearing 103 degrees. He never raced again.
Retired to stud
duty, Timber Country was first sent to a breeding operation in Japan
. While there, he was also shuttled to Australia
, where he notably sired Eremein
, a five-time Group One
winner with career earnings in excess of A$4 million. In 2001, Timber Country stood in Dubai
, then was returned to Japan, where he remained until being sent to Australia again to stand at Lee Fleming's Eliza Park Stud in Romsey, Victoria
.
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...
who was the first horse to ever win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile
Breeders' Cup Juvenile
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships....
then go on to win one of the U.S. Triple Crown races for three-year-olds.
Out of the mare Fall Aspen, his sire was Woodman
Woodman (horse)
Woodman was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who raced in Ireland but who is best known as a sire of a number of important racehorses....
, a Champion 2-year-old colt in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
who was a son of the very influential Champion sire
Leading sire in North America
The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won by the sire's progeny during the year...
Mr. Prospector
Mr. Prospector
Mr. Prospector was a thoroughbred racehorse foaled in Kentucky, whose descendants have been dominant in the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. He won half of his 14 career races.-Background:...
. Woodman also sired Preakness
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...
and 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 Hansel
Hansel (horse)
Hansel is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the final two legs of the U.S. Triple Crown races in 1991 and was voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Male Horse. Out of the mare Count on Bonnie, his sire was Woodman, a Champion 2-year-old colt in Ireland who was a son of the...
, as well as the 1999 Canadian Champion 3-Year-Old Colt
Sovereign Award for Champion 3-Year-Old Male Horse
The Canadian Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing honor. Created in 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada, it is part of the Sovereign Awards program and is awarded annually to the top 3-Year-Old male Thoroughbred horse competing in Canada.Past winners:...
and Queen's Plate
Queen's Plate
The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...
winner, Woodcarver. Timber Country is closely related to the Dubai World Cup
Dubai World Cup
The Dubai World Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 and from 2010 at the Meydan Racecourse in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates...
winner, Dubai Millennium
Dubai Millennium
Dubai Millennium was a Thoroughbred racehorse and sire, bred in the United States but trained in the United Kingdom and Dubai during his racing career which ran from 1998 and 2000. He is notable for winning a series of major races in 1999 and 2000 including the Dubai World Cup...
, who was sired by a son of Mr. Prospector out of a daughter of Fall Aspen.
At age two
Bought as a yearling for $500,000 by a partnership between Overbrook Farm, Gainesway StableGainesway Farm
Gainesway Farm is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding business in Lexington, Kentucky. It was originally called Greentree Farms.The 1,500 acre property has been home to sires such as Youth and Exceller and numerous others who are buried on the property...
, Robert & Beverly Lewis, Timber Country was trained 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...
inductee D. Wayne Lukas
D. Wayne Lukas
Darrell Wayne Lukas is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S...
. Racing at age two in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, the colt won four of his seven starts. At Del Mar Racetrack
Del Mar Racetrack
Del Mar Racetrack is an American Thoroughbred horse racing track at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in the seaside city of Del Mar, California, 20 miles north of San Diego. Operated by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, it is known for the slogan: "Where The Turf Meets The Surf." It was built by a partnership...
, he won the Balboa Stakes and was third in the Del Mar Futurity
Del Mar Futurity
The Del Mar Futurity is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. A Grade I event since 2007, the race is open to horses, age two, willing to race seven furlongs on Polytrack synthetic dirt and offers a purse of $250,000.The race is currently...
. Sent East
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
, Timber Country won the Grade I
Graded stakes race
A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...
Champagne 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...
in Elmont, New York
Elmont, New York
Elmont is an unincorporated census-designated place located in the northwest corner of the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, along its border with the borough of Queens in New York City...
. His victory made him the betting
Parimutuel betting
Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vig" is removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets...
favorite for the most important race of the year for his age group, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile
Breeders' Cup Juvenile
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships....
. In that race, Timber Country came from well back to win going away. His 1994 performances earned him U.S. Champion 2-Yr-Old Colt honors.
At age three
In the spring of 1995 at Santa Anita ParkSanta Anita Park
Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring. With its backdrop of the purple San Gabriel Mountains, it is considered by many as the world's most beautiful race...
in Arcadia, California
Arcadia, California
Arcadia is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and located approximately northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains....
, three-year-old Timber Country ran third in the San Rafael Stakes
San Rafael Stakes
The San Rafael Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run at Santa Anita Park, located in Arcadia, California. The race is a Grade III event with a purse of $150,000 and is open to three-year-olds willing to race one mile on the facility's Cushion Track synthetic dirt race track.Prior to...
and second in the San Felipe Stakes
San Felipe Stakes
The San Felipe Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The San Felipe is a Grade II event open to three-year-old horses. Normally held in mid-March, it is raced at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on dirt and currently...
. 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...
the colt was winless in all three of his 1995 starts and was up against a field that included strong competition such as Tejano Run
Tejano Run
Tejano Run is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by Catesby W.Clay at his Runnymede Farm , he was purchased and raced by Roy K. Monroe and his wife, Joyce....
, who had finished third to Timber Country in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile; Thunder Gulch
Thunder Gulch
Thunder Gulch is a Champion American thoroughbred racehorse who left the starting gate at 25-1 odds in 1995 and went on to win the Kentucky Derby in 2:01.2 from post 16. He was ridden by jockey Gary Stevens. D...
, who was also trained by D. Wayne Lukas and who had won that spring's Fountain of Youth Stakes
Fountain of Youth Stakes
The Fountain of Youth Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida at the beginning of March. A Grade II event open to three-year-olds willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt, it offers a purse of $400,000...
and 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...
; Talkin Man
Talkin Man
Talkin Man is a Thoroughbred racehorse bred in Ontario by two of that country's leading owner/breeders, Arthur and Helen Stollery's Angus Glen Farm and Bud Willmot's Kinghaven Farms....
, the Canadian Two-Year-Old Champion
Sovereign Award for Champion 2-Year-Old Male Horse
The Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Coltis a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing honor. Created in 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada, it is part of the Sovereign Awards program and is awarded annually to the top 2-Year-Old male Thoroughbred horse competing in Canada.Past winners: -References:*...
coming off an impressive win in 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....
; plus the future Hall of Fame 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....
Serena's Song
Serena's Song
Serena’s Song is an American Thoroughbred race horse. She won 17 graded stakes races, including 11 Grade I , in three seasons for $3,286,388 in earnings....
, who was owned by Robert and Beverly Lewis, one of Timber Country's owners.
Drawing the difficult post position seventeen in the Kentucky Derby's nineteen-horse field, Timber Country was among the trailers for most of the race. A horse who liked to come from behind, entering the homestretch he was still only in tenth place and, bunched between a congestion of challengers, lost time when he had to swing to the outside to find some running room. In the stretch drive. jockey Pat Day
Pat Day
Patrick Alan "Pat" Day is an American jockey. He is a four-time winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1991...
and Timber County made a move to get between horses and came on strongly enough to finish third behind runner-up Tejano Run
Tejano Run
Tejano Run is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by Catesby W.Clay at his Runnymede Farm , he was purchased and raced by Roy K. Monroe and his wife, Joyce....
and winner Thunder Gulch
Thunder Gulch
Thunder Gulch is a Champion American thoroughbred racehorse who left the starting gate at 25-1 odds in 1995 and went on to win the Kentucky Derby in 2:01.2 from post 16. He was ridden by jockey Gary Stevens. D...
.
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 series, Timber Country was the parimutuel betting
Parimutuel betting
Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vig" is removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets...
favorite. The colt won the race after he passed five horses through the turn and homestretch and won by half a length over runner-up Oliver's Twist
Oliver's Twist (horse)
Oliver's Twist was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. A descendant of Star de Naskra, he was sired by Horatius by breeder Country Life Farm...
and third-place finisher Thunder Gulch. Timber Country's win marked the first time since the establishment of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 1984 that a winner of that race went on to win one of the American Classic races.
Made the heavy favorite to win the third and final leg of the Triple Crown, Timber Country had to be withdrawn from 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...
on the day before the race as a result of a high fever from a virus
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
that saw his temperature nearing 103 degrees. He never raced again.
Retired to 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...
duty, Timber Country was first sent to a breeding operation in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. While there, he was also shuttled to 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 notably sired Eremein
Eremein
Eremein was a notable Australian Thoroughbred racehorse. He was a chestnut gelding foaled in 2001 and bred by Bhima Stud in New South Wales. Eremein was by Timber Country from Marrego by Marscay....
, a five-time Group One
Group One
Group One or Group 1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. Group One races may be run under handicap conditions in Australia but in Europe weight-for-age conditions always apply. Races may be also restricted to age groups or a...
winner with career earnings in excess of A$4 million. In 2001, Timber Country stood in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, then was returned to Japan, where he remained until being sent to Australia again to stand at Lee Fleming's Eliza Park Stud in Romsey, Victoria
Romsey, Victoria
Romsey is a town in the Local Government Area of the Shire of Macedon Ranges in the state of Victoria, Australia. The town is located north of Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Romsey had a population of 4490.-History:...
.