Battleship (horse)
| Battleship | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Sire | Man o' War |
| Grandsire | Fair Play |
| Dam | Quarantine |
| Damsire | Sea Sick |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1927 |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Chestnut |
| Breeder | Walter J. Salmon, Sr. |
| Owner | Walter J. Salmon, Sr. Marion duPont Scott (from end of 1931) |
| Trainer | Jack Pryce 1929-1931 (U.S. flat racing) Reg Hobbs from 1932 steeplechase racing |
| Record | 55: 24-6-4 |
| Earnings | $71,641 |
| Major wins | |
| American Grand National (1934) English Grand National (1938) |
|
| Honours | |
| United States' Racing Hall of Fame (1969) | |
| Horse (Equus ferus caballus) | |
| Last updated on 20 January 2011 | |
Battleship (1927–1958) was an American Thoroughbred Racehorse who was the only horse in history to win both the American Grand National and the English Grand National steeplechase races.
Contents |
[edit] Breeding
He was bred by owner Walter J. Salmon, Sr. at his Mereworth Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. Battleship was by the great Man o' War, and his dam, Quarantine, was by Sea Sick. He was a muscular but very small horse who stood just 15 hands 1 inch (1.55 m) high, leading him to be nicknamed the American Pony.[1]
[edit] Racing record
Battleship was initially trained for flat racing. Competing for his owner through age four, he won ten of his twenty-two starts. An injury kept him out of competition for a year, and at the end of 1931 Walter Salmon sold Battleship to Marion duPont Scott for $12,000. She was a steeplechase horse racing enthusiast who had earlier purchased a Salmon-owned half brother to Battleship. A member of the prominent and wealthy Du Pont family of chemical manufacturing, Ms duPont had begun developing her Montpelier estate near Orange, Virginia, into what became one of the leading horse-training centers in the United States.
Ms duPont had Battleship trained for steeplechase racing and entered his first competition in 1933. The horse showed promise, winning three of his four races that season. Then, in 1934, he won the American Grand National, the most prestigious steeplechase race in the US.
In 1935, Ms duPont shipped Battleship to England, where he was treated for a bowed tendon. Reginald Hobbs became his new trainer, but he was not raced there until 1936, when he won one of five starts. In 1937, he improved enough to win five of his thirteen races. In 1938, the 11-year-old became the first American-bred horse to ever win England's most prestigious steeplechase event, the Grand National. He remains the smallest horse ever to win the Grand National and the last entire horse to win it. He was ridden by the youngest Grand National winning-jockey, Bruce Hobbs, a 6 ft 3in (1.9 m), 17-year-old son of the trainer. [1]
[edit] Stud record
Retired to stand at stud at duPont's Montpelier estate, Battleship sired only 58 foals. Notably, he sired War Battle and Shipboard, steeplechase champions in 1947 and 1956 respectively, plus Sea Legs, winner of the 1952 American Grand National. He also sired the stakes winners Cap-A-Pie, Eolus, Floating Isle, Mighty Mo, Navigate, Navy Gun, Tide Rips, and Westport Point.[2]
Battleship died in 1958 at the age of 31. In 1969, he was inducted into the United States' Racing Hall of Fame.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Churchill, Peter, The Sporting Horse - The history, the riders & the rules of popular equestrian sport, Arco Publishing Company, Inc, London, 1976, ISBN 0856851396
- ^ Battleship Retrieved 2011-1-20
[edit] External links
- 1927 racehorse births
- 1958 racehorse deaths
- American steeplechase racehorses
- Grand National winners
- National Hunt racehorses
- Racehorses bred in Kentucky
- Racehorses trained in the United States
- Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom
- Thoroughbred racehorses
- United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees
- Du Pont family
