Alphabet Soup (March 31, 1991 – January 28, 2022) was an American Thoroughbred

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

best known for setting a track record for 1¼ miles at Woodbine Racetrack when he won the 1996 Breeders' Cup Classic, defeating both the great

Cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...

and Preakness Stakes winner Louis Quatorze. Upon the death of A.P. Indy on February 21, 2020, Alphabet Soup became the oldest living winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic. He was bred by Southeast Associates, a group led by Roy S. Lerman, and purchased by Californian

Georgia B. Ridder Georgia Ridder (December 5, 1914 – June 14, 2002) was an American thoroughbred racehorse owner and a member of the board of directors of the Oak Tree Racing Association. Biography Born Georgia Buck in Baltimore, Maryland, she attended Ethel Wa ...

. He was a descendant of Nearco, and his damsire was U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Arts and Letters. Purchased privately as a two-year-old by Georgia B. Ridder, Alphabet Soup was late in developing. Mrs. Ridder raced the colt in California, where he began to come into his own at the age of four, winning the 1995 Native Diver and

Del Mar Breeders' Cup Handicap The Del Mar Mile Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years and older run over a distance of one mile on the turf held annually in August at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The event currently ...

s. In 1996, en route to his triumph in that year's Breeders' Cup Classic, he won three important graded stakes races: the

San Antonio Handicap The San Antonio Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Raced on the dirt, it is for horses age three and older. In 2017, the distance was shortened from miles to miles. The race was origin ...

, the

Pat O'Brien Handicap The Pat O'Brien Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and older over a distance of seven furlongs on the dirt track scheduled annually in August at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The event currently c ...

, and the

San Pasqual Handicap The San Pasqual Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during February at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The Grade II event is open to horses, age four and up, willing to race one and one-eighth miles (9 furlongs) o ...

, in which he defeated

Best Pal Best Pal (February 12, 1988 – November 24, 1998) was an American Hall of Fame champion racehorse, who retired as the all time record for purses of any California-bred earning (since surpassed) for his owners, the Golden Eagle Farm, US$5.6 milli ...

. He also crossed the wire first in the

Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap The Awesome Again Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old or older over the distance of one and one-eighth miles on the dirt scheduled annually in September at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. T ...

but was disqualified and set back to third. Alphabet Soup raced in 1997 at age six, his best effort coming in defense of the San Antonio Handicap when he finished second to

Gentlemen A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...

. He was

euthanized Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditio ...

due to chronic kidney disease, at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement in Georgetown, Kentucky, on January 28, 2022, at the age of 30.

Stud career

Alphabet Soup retired to stud duty, he stood at

Adena Springs Adena Springs is a Thoroughbred horse breeding operation owned by Frank Stronach and his family. The main farm is located in Paris, Kentucky, with satellite locations in Florida and Ontario, Canada. Adena Springs has won the Eclipse Award for Ou ...

Midway, Kentucky Midway is a home rule-class city in Woodford County, Kentucky, in the United States. Its population was 1,641 at the time of the year 2010 U.S. census. It is part of the Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town sits just off ...

. Alphabet Soup descendants include: ''c =

colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: * Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People *Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places * Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United State ...

, f =

filly A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

References

External links

Alphabet Soup's win in the 1996 Breeders Cup Classic

Pedigree and partial racing stats
* Susan Orlean,
An Unlikely Champion Racehorse Who Charmed Everyone
— '' The New Yorker'' {{Breeders' Cup Classic Winners 1991 racehorse births 2022 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Pennsylvania Racehorses trained in the United States Horse racing track record setters Breeders' Cup Classic winners Thoroughbred family 1-n Old Friends Equine Retirement