Biography

Ta Wee, which means “beautiful girl” in the Sioux language, was the champion sprinter in 1969 and 1970. Known for her extraordinary ability to carry weight, often while defeating males, Ta Wee was named by Hall of Fame trainer John Nerud, who grew up in Nebraska’s Sioux country and was impressed with the filly’s muscular build and raw athleticism.

Bred in Florida, Ta Wee was owned by William L. McKnight and campaigned under his Tartan Stable banner. A half-sister to Dr. Fager, Ta Wee broke her maiden in her second career start on Aug. 13, 1968, at Saratoga.

As a 3-year-old, Ta Wee emerged as a star. She won the Comely, Prioress, Miss Woodford, and Test stakes, as well as the Interborough, Vosburgh, and Fall Highweight handicaps, the handicaps against males. Ta Wee finished with a seasonal record of 8-0-1 from 10 starts and earnings of $170,663. Nerud retired as Tartan’s private trainer halfway through the year and Ta Wee was then placed in the capable care of another future Hall of Fame conditioner, Flint S. “Scotty” Schulhofer.

As a 4-year-old, Ta Wee never carried less than 131 pounds. She won the Correction Handicap under 131 pounds and added victories in the Hempstead Handicap (132 pounds), Regret Handicap (136), Fall Highweight (140), and Interborough (142) to repeat as champion sprinter. In the Interborough, Ta Wee carried 29 more pounds than the runner-up, Hasty Hitter.

Ta Wee was retired with a record of 15-2-1 from 21 starts and earnings of $284,941. She produced five foals, including four stakes winners. Her first foal, Great Above, in turn sired Hall of Famer Holy Bull. Ta Wee died at the age of 14 on Oct. 12, 1980.

Achievements

Champion Sprint Horse — 1969
Champion Sprint Horse — 1970

Notable

Won the Fall Highweight Handicap — 1969, 1970
Won the Interborough Handicap — 1969, 1970
Won the Comely Stakes — 1969
Won the Jasmine Stakes (second division) — 1969
Won the Miss Woodford Stakes — 1969
Won the Prioress Stakes — 1969
Won the Test Stakes — 1969
Won the Vosburgh Handicap — 1969
Won the Correction Handicap — 1970
Won the Hempstead Handicap — 1970
Won the Regret Handicap — 1970

Horse Profile for Ta Wee | Equibase is Your Official Source for Thoroughbred Racing Information

Biography

Bred in New Jersey by F. Wallis Armstrong, Cavalcade raced for Isabel Dodge Sloane’s Brookmeade Stable after being purchased for $1,200 at the 1932 Saratoga yearling sales upon the advice of Hall of Fame trainer Robert A. Smith.

Cavalcade was sired by the English stallion Lancegaye, winner of the Hardwicke Stakes and runner-up in the Epsom Derby. Cavalcade’s dam, Hastily, was sold in foal to Lancegaye at Newmarket in December 1930 and exported to Meadow View Farm in Morristown, New Jersey, where she gave birth the following spring.

Cavalcade showed some promise as a 2-year-old, winning the Hyde Stakes in July 1933 at odds of 90-1. Cavalcade also finished second in the Sanford Stakes and Eastern Shore Handicap that year and compiled a record of 2-3-3 and earnings of $15,730 in 11 starts.

As a 3-year-old, Cavalcade came into his own, winning the Kentucky Derby, American Derby, Arlington Classic, Chesapeake Stakes (setting a stakes record), and Detroit Derby (setting a track record). He also finished second in the Preakness Stakes.

In his Chesapeake, Kentucky Derby, American Derby, and Arlington Classic wins, Cavalcade defeated Hall of Famer Discovery each time. In the Arlington Classic, Cavalcade rallied from last to win by four lengths, prompting Hall of Fame jockey Mack Garner to describe his mount as “the gamest horse I have ever ridden.”

Cavalcade was regarded as Horse of the Year and Champion 3-Year-Old Male in 1934, posting a record of 6-1-0 and earnings of $111,235 from seven starts.

Cavalcade raced twice in both 1935 and 1936 without a win. He became increasingly resistant to training and was retired with a career record of 8-5-3 and earnings of $127,165 from 22 starts. He died in 1940.

Achievements

Horse of the Year — 1934
Champion 3-Year-Old Male — 1934

Triple Crown Highlights

Won the Kentucky Derby — 1934

Biography

The Eclipse Award winner for Champion Older Female in 1988, Personal Ensign went undefeated in 13 career starts from 1986 through 1988.

Bred and owned by Ogden Phipps, Personal Ensign was trained by Hall of Famer Claude R. “Shug” McGaughey III and ridden by Hall of Famer Randy Romero in all but one of her starts. A bay daughter by Private Account out of the Hoist the Flag mare Grecian Banner, Personal Ensign won both of her starts as a 2-year-old in 1986, including the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes. However, a broken pastern bone kept her off the track until September of the following year.

Upon her return, Personal Ensign won a pair of allowances before taking the Grade 2 Rare Perfume Stakes and then the Grade 1 Beldame Stakes eight days later. All four of her starts in 1987 were at Belmont Park.

Personal Ensign won all seven of her starts as a 4-year-old in 1988 to earn the Eclipse Award for Champion Older Female. She took the Shuvee, Hempstead, Molly Pitcher, and Whitney handicaps before adding the Maskette Stakes, Beldame Stakes, and Breeders’ Cup Distaff. In the Whitney, she defeated champion Gulch, and in both the Beldame and Breeders’ Cup Distaff she beat Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors. Personal Ensign’s Distaff victory was earned by a nose and is regarded as one of the greatest races in the history of the Breeders’ Cup. Six of her seven wins in 1988 were Grade 1s.

Personal Ensign was retired following the Breeders’ Cup without a blemish on her 13-race record. She earned $1,679,880 and was the first champion to be retired with an undefeated record in more than 80 years.

As a broodmare, Personal Ensign produced Breeders’ Cup winner My Flag, as well as Grade 1 winner Miner’s Mark. My Flag went on to produce champion and Breeders’ Cup winner Storm Flag Flying. Another Personal Ensign foal, Our Emblem, later sired Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner War Emblem.

Personal Ensign was pensioned to Claiborne Farm in 2006 at the age of 22. She died peacefully in her pasture there of natural causes on April 8, 2010.

Achievements

Eclipse Award Champion Older Mare — 1988

Breeders' Cup Highlights

Won the Distaff — 1988

Biography

Bred in Kentucky by Arthur B. Hancock, Sr. at Claiborne Farm, Johnstown was a bay son of Jamestown out of the Sir Gallahad III mare La France. Owned by William Woodward, Sr. and campaigned under his Belair Stud banner, Johnstown won both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes during an outstanding sophomore season in 1939.

Trained by Hall of Famer James E. “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons and ridden in all 21 of his career starts by Hall of Famer Jimmy Stout, Johnstown broke his maiden in his second career start in April of 1938 at Jamaica. He produced a record of 7-0-2 from 12 starts and earned $31,420 as a juvenile. Johnstown’s wins that year included the Babylon Handicap, Richard Johnson Stakes, Remsen Handicap,and Breeders’ Futurity. He won at six different tracks as a 2-year-old: Jamaica, Saratoga, Aqueduct, Belmont, Laurel, and Keeneland.

Johnstown began his 3-year-old season with four consecutive victories to extend his win streak to seven. He won the Paumonok Handicap at Jamaica and added an allowance victory there 10 days later. Four days after the allowance win, Johnstown romped by eight lengths in the Wood Memorial, the third consecutive year Fitzsimmons trained the winner of that race.

Following the Wood victory, Johnstown delivered a sensational performance in the Kentucky Derby, defeating eventual Horse of the Year Challedon by eight lengths. Challedon, however, got the best of a muddy track in the Preakness a week later and Johnstown finished a distant fifth. Two weeks after the Preakness disappointment, Johnstown rebounded with a six-length victory in the Withers Stakes. With Challedon not eligible for the Belmont, Johnstown cruised to a five-length victory in the third leg of the Triple Crown series. Johnstown covered the 1½-mile Belmont distance in 2:29⅗, one second off War Admiral’s track record.

After the Belmont, Johnstown returned two weeks later to win the Dwyer Stakes, defeating Sun Lover and Challedon, and tying the track record for 1⅛ miles at 1:48⅖ in the process. In his final career start, Johnstown finished third behind Challedon and Sun Lover in the Classic Stakes at Arlington. Johnstown won seven of nine starts as a sophomore and concluded his career with an overall ledger of 14-0-3 from 21 starts and earnings of $169,315.

Retired to stud at Claiborne Farm, Johnstown sired only six stakes winners from 227 foals. He did, however, become a notable broodmare sire in the 1950s. In this regard, he is most famously associated with being the damsire of Belair Stud’s legendary Nashua.

Johnstown died in 1950 at the age of 14 and was buried in the Claiborne horse cemetery.

Achievements

Triple Crown Highlights

Won the Kentucky Derby — 1939
Won the Belmont Stakes — 1939

Biography

Bred in Kentucky by Claiborne Farm, Slew o’ Gold was a two-time Eclipse Award winner from the first crop of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew.

Slew o’ Gold broke his maiden in mid-October of 1982 at Aqueduct and won an allowance race there before finishing sixth in the Remsen Stakes to conclude his 2-year-old season.

After finishing second in the Tampa Bay Derby the following spring, Slew o’ Gold won and allowance by nearly eight lengths at Aqueduct on April 13, 1983, before winning a division of the Wood Memorial. He then finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby. After skipping the Preakness, Slew o’ Gold romped by 12 lengths in the Peter Pan, convincing the owners (including primary partners Dr. Jim and Sally Hill and Mickey and Karen Taylor, who had raced Seattle Slew) and trainer Sid Watters to try the Belmont. Sent off as the favorite, Slew o’ Gold finished second to Caveat.

Slew o’ Gold then finished sixth in the Haskell and second in the Travers. He next took on older horses in the Woodward, defeating Bates Motel by a nose. That victory put him in line to win a $1 million bonus if he could capture the Fall Championship Series of the Woodward, Marlboro Cup Invitational, and Jockey Club Gold Cup. He didn’t quite get it done, however, finishing second by a neck to Highland Blade in the Marlboro before winning the Gold Cup by three lengths in his final race of the year (defeating Highland Blade and John Henry).

John O. Hertler took over as Slew o’ Gold’s trainer in 1984 and the 4-year-old didn’t make his first start until July because of foot issues. Upon his return, Slew o’ Gold won an allowance at Belmont by 7½ lengths. He then won the Whitney at Saratoga and proceeded to sweep the Fall Championship Series to take the $1 million bonus.

Slew o’ Gold made one more start, finishing third behind Wild Again and Gate Dancer in the inaugural running of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Gate Dancer was disqualified for bumping Slew o’ Gold. The second-place earnings gave Slew o’ Gold a total of $2,627,944 for the year, establishing a new single-year record.

Slew o’ Gold was retired to Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky with a career record of 12-5-1 from 21 starts and earnings of $3,533,534. He was euthanized on Oct. 14, 2007, at the age of 27. From 17 crops, Slew o’ Gold sired 28 stakes winners, including 12 graded/group winners.

Achievements

Eclipse Award Champion 3-Year-Old Male — 1983
Eclipse Award Champion Older Male — 1984

Biography

Although she was small for a racehorse — weighing in at about 900 pounds — Lady's Secret had an abundance of talent and heart that set her apart from her peers. 

Bred by Robert H. Spreen at Lucas Farm in Oklahoma, Lady’s Secret was purchased for $200,000 by Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Klein and sent to Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas for conditioning. 

A gray daughter of Secretariat out of the Icecapade mare Great Lady M., Lady’s Secret showed some promise as a 2-year-old, winning the Moccasin Stakes, before truly coming into her own as a sophomore in 1985. As a 3-year-old, Lady’s Secret compiled a record of 10-5-0 from 17 starts and earned $994,349. All 10 of her wins were in stakes races, including victories in five consecutive graded events — the Test, Ballerina, Maskette, Ruffian, and Beldame — before finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff to stablemate Life’s Magic.

In 1986, 4-year-old Lady’s Secret won 10 of her 15 starts and earned $1,871,053. All of her victories were in graded stakes, including eight Grade 1 wins: the La Canada, Santa Margarita Invitational, Shuvee, Whitney, Maskette (running a mile in 1:33⅖, setting a record for a filly or mare at Belmont Park), Ruffian (by eight lengths under 129 pounds), Beldame, and Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Lady’s Secret’s eight Grade 1 wins established a record for the most in a single year since the grading of races began in 1973.

During her remarkable 1986 season, Lady’s Secret defeated males four times, including the Whitney Handicap, in which she became the first filly or mare to win the race since Gallorette in 1948. Nicknamed the “Iron Lady,” Lady’s Secret concluded her season with a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita to wrap up the Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year and Champion Older Female.

Returning at age 5 in 1987, Lady’s Secret won a pair of allowance races before being retired with a career record of 25-9-3 from 45 starts and earnings of $3,021,325. In 1989, she was sold to Fares Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, as a broodmare. Lady's Secret never produced any runners of particular note. She died in 2003 at the age of 21.

Achievements

Eclipse Award Horse of the Year — 1986
Eclipse Award Champion Older Female — 1986

Breeders' Cup Highlights

Won the Distaff — 1986

Biography

Bred and owned by Christopher T. Chenery, Hill Prince won six of seven starts as a co-champion juvenile before a Horse of the Year campaign as a 3-year-old in 1950 and additional success as an older horse.

Trained by J. H. “Casey” Hayes, Hill Prince won the World’s Playground Stakes at Atlantic City and the Babylon Handicap and Cowdin Stakes at Aqueduct as a 2-year-old to split divisional honors with Oil Capitol.

As a 3-year-old in 1950, Hill Prince posted a record of 8-2-3 from 15 starts and earnings of $314,265. His wins included the Wood Memorial, Preakness Stakes, Withers Stakes, American Derby, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Jerome Handicap, and Sunset Handicap. Hill Prince built a contentious rivalry with Middleground that year, as Middleground won the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, but Hill Prince took the Preakness and three other head-to-head meetings. In the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Hill Prince defeated Hall of Famer Noor, a multiple world-record holder and four-time conqueror of Citation. In the Sunset Handicap, Hill Prince defeated top filly Next Move.

After being named Horse of the Year and Champion 3-Year-Old Male in 1950, Hill Prince returned as a 4-year-old for an abbreviated campaign. A fissure fracture in his right hind cannon bone kept him out of the races until September of 1951. However, when he returned, Hill Prince won the New York Handicap under 128 pounds.

Hill Prince raced twice as a 5-year-old in 1952, winning the San Marcos Handicap. He was retired with a career record of 17-5-4 from 30 starts and earnings of $422,140.

As a stallion, Hill Prince sired 23 stakes winners, including the dams of Hall of Fame members Dark Mirage and Shuvee. He also sired champion filly Bayou. Hill Prince died in 1970 at the age of 23.

Achievements

Champion 2-Year-Old Male (Daily Racing Form) — 1949
Horse of the Year — 1950
Champion 3-Year-Old Male — 1950
Champion Older Male (Daily Racing Form) — 1951

Triple Crown Highlights

Won the Preakness Stakes — 1950

Biography

Described by trainer Neil Drysdale as a “big, strong, plain Amazon of a gray mare,” Princess Rooney was a model of consistent excellence throughout her career, finishing off the board only once in 21 starts. She won an Eclipse Award and eight graded races, including six Grade 1 events.

Purchased for $38,000 by Jim and Paula Tucker at the Fasig-Tipton yearling sale in Kentucky in 1981, Princess Rooney was daughter of Verbatim out of the Drone mare Parrish Princess. Originally trained by Frank Gomez, Princess Rooney began her career at Calder in Florida, winning her first four races by a combined 37 lengths.

In her first significant test, Princess Rooney defeated a pair of solid fillies, Winning Tack and Weekend Surprise, by eight lengths in the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont. Two weeks later, Princess Rooney romped by 11 lengths in the Grade 2 Gardenia Stakes at the Meadowlands. However, she suffered a quarter crack in her right front foot in the race and had to be put away for the season. Although undefeated in six starts, Princess Rooney was beaten out for the Eclipse Award for Champion 2-Year-Old Filly by Landaluce, winner of all five of her starts on the West Coast prior to contracting a bacterial infection and dying in November of 1982.

After beginning her 3-year-old campaign with consecutive allowance victories, Princess Rooney dominated the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland by 9½ lengths and then won the Kentucky Oaks to run her record to a perfect 10-for-10.

Princess Rooney was not as dominant as expected in her Kentucky Oaks victory and seemed off in her subsequent start in the Acorn Stakes. Tasting defeat for the first time as she finished second to Ski Goggle, it was discovered following the race that Princess Rooney had a stress fracture of the left knee. She was sent to her birthplace, Parrish Hill Farm in Kentucky, to rest and heal.

Returning in December of 1983, Princess Rooney won an allowance race to close out the year before making her 4-year-old debut at Hialeah on the turf in the Bel Harbor Stakes. The grass did not suit Princess Rooney well, as she finished fourth, the lone time in her career she was out of the money.

The Tuckers then decided Princess Rooney needed a change of venue and took aim at the California races. Gomez had no desire to pick up and leave his stable in Florida, so Princess Rooney was transferred to Drysdale.

Princess Rooney won her first start for Drysdale in the Susan’s Girl Stakes. She then finished third in the Hawthorne Handicap and second in the Milady Handicap, each won by Adored. Princess Rooney seemed more fit when she returned in the Vanity Handicap. A few strides from the wire, Princess Rooney dug in and slipped past Adored for the win. Her time of 1:46⅕ for the mile was two-fifths of a second off Spectacular Bid’s track record.

Following the Vanity win, Princess Rooney won the Chula Vista Handicap, an allowance race, and the Spinster Stakes before contesting the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Hollywood Park. In the best form of her career, Princess Rooney delivered her best effort, winning by seven lengths against a talented group that included Adored, Life’s Magic, and Miss Oceana.   

Princess Rooney was an easy selection for the Eclipse Award for Champion Older Female. The Breeders’ Cup Distaff was the final race in a career that produced a record of 17-2-1 from 21 starts and earnings of $1,343,339. Princess Rooney was sold to George Aubin for $5.5 million, at the time the third-highest price ever paid for a broodmare.

Princess Rooney died at Gentry Brothers Farm near Lexington, Kentucky., on Oct. 7, 2008, at the age of 28.

Achievements

Eclipse Award Champion Older Female — 1984

Breeders' Cup Highlights

Won the Distaff — 1984

Biography

A diminutive filly who stood barely 15 hands and weighed only about 900 pounds during her racing days, Black Helen was proof good things can come in small packages.

Foaled in 1932 at owner E. R. Bradley’s Idle Hour Stock Farm in Kentucky, Black Helen was sired by Black Toney out of La Troienne, making her a full sister to the great Hall of Famer Bimelech. Trained by Bill Hurley, Black Helen arrived at the races in 1934 and won her first seven starts as a 2-year-old before suffering back-to-back defeats to close her juvenile campaign.

As a 3-year-old in 1935, Black Helen won her first four starts, including a five-length victory in the Florida Derby (later renamed the Flamingo Stakes) at Hialeah Park. Later that year, Black Helen won the Coaching Club American Oaks, American Derby (only the second filly to do so), and Maryland Handicap.

Black Helen finished her career with a record of 15-0-2 from 22 starts and earnings of $61,800.

After her racing career, Black Helen failed to produce a stakes winner among her 12 named foals, but one of her daughters, Be Like Mom, produced Hall of Fame steeplechaser Oedipus and standout filly But Why Not. When Bradley died in 1946, Black Helen passed into the ownership of Ogden Phipps. She died Aug. 17, 1957, at Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky, at the age of 25.

Biography

Bred by Blue Bear Stud in Kentucky, Zaccio’s pedigree suggested he would be a good one. His sire, Lorenzaccio, was one of two horses to beat the great Nijinsky II, doing so in the 1970 Champion Stakes in England. Zaccio's dam, Delray Dancer, was by Hall of Famer Chateaugay, while her second dam was champion Parlo, the granddam of 1969 Horse of the Year and Hall of Fame member Arts and Letters.

Trained by Hall of Famer W. Burling “Burley” Cocks for owner Mrs. Lewis C. Murdock, Zaccio won 22 of 42 races and earned $288,124. He started his jumping career early, winning four steeplechases as a 3-year-old in 1979 before going on a three-year tear during which time he won 14 jump races — and three Eclipse awards — from 1980 to 1982.

“His greatest strength was his heart, determination, and his will to win,” said former jockey Gregg Morris. “He was a real street fighter who loved to duke it out with another horse; that was when he was at his best. I don’t think he ever lost when he got in a fight.”

Zaccio twice won the Colonial Cup and New York Turf Writers Cup, carrying 160 pounds or more in three of those runnings.

Zaccio retired as steeplechasing’s all-time leading earner, surpassing the legendary Neji, whose mark had stood for more than two decades. Zaccio joined his trainer and Neji in the Hall of Fame in 1990.

Following his retirement, Zaccio lived at the Murdocks’ farm in Peapack, New Jersey. He died there at the age of 31 in 2007.

Achievements

Eclipse Award Champion Steeplechase Horse — 1980
Eclipse Award Champion Steeplechase Horse — 1981
Eclipse Award Champion Steeplechase Horse — 1982