Vanlandingham was an American Champion

Eclipse Award

The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...

 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 bred and raced by the Loblolly Stable

Loblolly Stable

Loblolly Stable was a Thoroughbred horse breeding and racing stable in Lake Hamilton, Arkansas owned by businessman John Ed Anthony and his former wife Mary Lynn. The stable's first top runner was Cox's Ridge who won important races in 1977 and 1978 and went on to become an excellent sire...

, owned by Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

 businessman John Ed Anthony.

Vanlandingham 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 Shug McGaughey, who told Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...

in an October 14, 1985, article that the colt suffered from tender feet that stung him. Nonetheless, racing at age three, Vanlandingham broke the Oaklawn Park track record in winning the March 1984 Rebel Handicap

Rebel Stakes

The Rebel Stakes is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race held annually in March at Oaklawn Park racetrack in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Open to three-year-old horses, it is raced on dirt over a distance of 11/16 miles...

. Sent to 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 fractured a pastern

Pastern

The pastern is a part of the leg of a horse between the fetlock and the top of the hoof. It incorporates the long pastern bone and the short pastern bone , which are held together by two sets of paired ligaments to form the pastern joint...

 in his right foreleg during the race and finished sixteenth. The injury kept him out of racing for the next thirteen months.

Championship year

1985 was Vanlandingham's best year in racing when he won 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...

 races on both dirt and turf

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

. After he defeated some of the best horses in the United States in winning the 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 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...

, his owner supplemented him for a fee of $360,000 to the November 2 Breeders' Cup Classic

Breeders' Cup Classic

The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 year olds and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships...

. Running at Aqueduct Racetrack

Aqueduct Racetrack

Aqueduct Racetrack is a thoroughbred horse-racing facility and racino in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Its racing meets usually are from late October/early November through April.-History:...

 that year, Vanlandingham finished seventh in the eight-horse field. Fourteen days later, the horse made his first start on grass at Laurel Park Racecourse and, with jockey Don MacBeth

Don MacBeth

Donald MacBeth was a Canadian jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing.Born in Red Deer, Alberta, Macbeth rode horses at Alberta racetracks before going to race in the United States. Among horses of note, he rode Deputy Minister, winner of the 1981 Sovereign and Eclipse awards for Outstanding...

 aboard, won the prestigious Washington, D.C. International Stakes over a field of American and international turf stars. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tw4VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0QIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6902,3775416&dq=vanlandingham Vanlandingham's 1985 performances earned him the Eclipse Award

Eclipse Award

The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...

 as American Champion Older Male Horse, plus he finished third in the balloting behind Proud Truth

Proud Truth

Proud Truth was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred by Dorothy Galbreath, wife of prominent horseman John W. Galbreath, at their Darby Dan Farm in Lexington, Kentucky....

 and winner Spend A Buck

Spend A Buck

Spend A Buck was an American thoroughbred race horse.-Background:Spend A Buck was sired by Buckaroo out of the dam Belle de Jour...

 for American Horse of the Year honors.

Retuning to racing in 1986 at age five, in his first start of the year Vanlandingham equaled the Gulfstream Park

Gulfstream Park

Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino is a racetrack and county-approved racino in Hallandale Beach, Florida, in the United States. During its annual meet, which spans December through April, it is one of the most important venues for horse racing in America....

 track record while winning the Canadian Turf Handicap

Canadian Turf Handicap

The Canadian Turf Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in February at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. The Grade III race is open to horses four-year-old and up and is run at a distance of 11/16 miles on turf....

. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=19ATAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MAYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5596,114075&dq=vanlandingham After finishing off the board in the March 2 Santa Anita Handicap

Santa Anita Handicap

The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up , and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during the winter racing season...

, Vanlandingham sustained a career-ending injury to his left front pastern while competing in the April 6 Razorback Handicap

Razorback Handicap

The Razorback Handicap is a race for Thoroughbred horses run at Oaklawn Park each year. The race is open to four-year-olds and up willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt...

 at Oaklawn Park. http://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/06/sports/vanlandingham-hurt-career-probably-over.html

As a sire

Retired to 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...

 duty, Vanlandingham met with modest success as the sire of 151 winners of 508 races. After standing in the United States, he was sent to Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

in 1996.