Needles (horse)

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Needles
Sire Ponder
Grandsire Pensive
Dam Noodle Soup
Damsire Jack High
Sex Stallion
Foaled 1953
Country United States
Colour Bay
Breeder W. E. Leach
Owner D & H Stable
Trainer Hugh L. Fontaine
Record 21: 11-3-3
Earnings $600,355
Major wins

Hopeful Stakes (1955)
Sapling Stakes (1955)
Flamingo Stakes (1956)
Florida Derby (1956)
Fort Lauderdale Handicap (1957)

American Classic Race wins:
Kentucky Derby (1956)
Belmont Stakes (1956)
Preakness Stakes 2nd (1956)
Awards
U.S. Champion 2-Yr-Old Colt (1955)
U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1956)
Honours

United States Racing Hall of Fame (2000)
Needles Stakes at Calder Race Course

Needles Court in Napa, California
Horse (Equus ferus caballus)
Last updated on December 9, 2006

Needles (1953–1984) was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred and raced in Florida, the descendant of Blenheim II and a son and grandson of Kentucky Derby winners Ponder and Pensive, Needles was a sickly foal who was given his name because of the numerous veterinary injections he was given to overcome broken ribs and pneumonia.

Fully recovered, Needles had an impressive racing season at age two, winning six of ten starts, including the prestigious Hopeful Stakes. His performances that year earned him the 1955 championship as two-year-old colt.

Ridden by David Erb, Needles was a crowd favorite for his thundering come-from-behind style, sometimes overcoming a 15-length deficit. The betting favorite, Needles impressively won the 1956 Kentucky Derby by coming from 16th place in a field of 17 to make up 24 lengths and win going away with a powerful stretch drive. His victory marked the first time a Florida-bred horse won America's most prestigious horse race. In the Preakness Stakes, the next leg of the U.S. Triple Crown races at Pimlico Race Course, Needles finished second to the Calumet Farm colt Fabius, whom he had beaten in the Derby. Needles then came back in New York to win the grueling 1½-mile Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown races. Career Boy finished second and rival Fabius ran third. Needles earned another championship as three-year-old colt in 1956.

At age four, Needles started three times, finishing 1, 2, and 3. His 1957 racing season ended early following an injury, and he was sent to stand at stud at owner Bonnie Heath's breeding farm in Marion County, Florida. Needles' success in racing sparked a boom in Florida horse breeding which, among others, produced notable runners such as Carry Back and Affirmed.

Needles died in 1984 at the age of 31. His heart and hooves are buried in the Garden of Champions at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company Pavilion. In 2000, he was inducted into the United States National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.


[edit] References

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Legend - ₩ = Triple Crown Winners, ♥ = Filly

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Legend - ₩ = Triple Crown Winners, ♥ = Filly
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