Twilight Tear was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 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...

 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...

 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....

 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...

. At age two, she won four of her six starts, finishing second and third in her other two starts. Her performances earned her a share of 2-year-old filly honors

Eclipse Award for Outstanding 2-Year-Old Filly

The American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a female horse in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971....

.

At three, Twilight Tear won fourteen out of seventeen races including eleven straight, beating both fillies and colts. In the prestigious Pimlico Special

Pimlico Special

The Pimlico Special is an American thoroughbred horse race held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland in mid May. It is raced on dirt over a distance of 1³/16 miles . The race is currently open to horses age three and older and offers a purse of $250,000.The Pimlico Special was first run in...

 she defeated Devil Diver

Devil Diver

Devil Diver was an American Thoroughbred racehorse foaled at Mrs. Payne Whitney's Greentree Stable in Lexington, Kentucky. A bay colt by Sir Germans, he was out of Dabchick, and a member of the same foal crop as Shut Out...

 and 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...

 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 Pensive

Pensive

Pensive was a bright chestnut thoroughbred racehorse who in 1944 came closer than any other horse at the time to winning the U.S. Triple Crown...

 in a time that matched the record set by 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...

 in the 1938 race. Her dominating performance in 1944 earned her 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....

 honors, the first filly to do so since Regret

Regret (horse)

Regret was a famous American thoroughbred racehorse and the first of three fillies to ever win the Kentucky Derby.-Background:She was foaled at Harry Payne Whitney's Brookdale Farm in Lincroft, New Jersey...

 in 1915.

In her first race at age four, Twilight Tear suffered respiratory tract problems and was retired to stand as a broodmare at Calumet Farm

Calumet Farm

Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of Lexington's blue grass country, the finest horse breeding region in...

.

In a poll among members of the American Trainers Association, conducted in 1955 by Delaware Park

Delaware Park (race track)

Delaware Park is an American horse racing track, casino, and golf course in Stanton, Delaware. It is located just outside the city of Wilmington, and about thirty miles from Philadelphia.-Thoroughbred racing:...

, she was voted the second greatest filly in American racing history. (Gallorette

Gallorette

Gallorette was a Maryland-bred chestnut thoroughbred filly who became a Hall of Fame race horse. Sired by Challenger II, out of Gallette, Gallorette's damsire was Sir Gallahad III. Even so, her dam, Gallette, had once exchanged hands for $250 and was used as a hack. -Breeding:Trainer Preston M...

was voted first.)