Black Maria (1923–1932) was an American

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. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racing

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 ...

who earned national

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...

honors three times.

Background

Bred in Kentucky by William R. Coe, she was sired by

Black Toney Black Toney (1911–1938) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire, owned and raced by Edward R. Bradley Background Black Toney was bred by James R. Keene's Castleton Lyons Farm. Keene, whose health was failing (he died in 1913), so ...

, the great foundation

stallion A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" nec ...

Idle Hour Stock Farm Idle Hour Stock Farm was a 400-acre (1.6 km2) thoroughbred horse breeding and training farm near Lexington, Kentucky, United States established in 1906 by Colonel Edward R. Bradley. Beginning with the sire, Black Toney, and a roster of qualit ...

. Her dam was Bird Loose, a daughter of the French stallion

Sardanapale ''Sardanapalo'' or ''Sardanapale'' (Italian or French for '' Sardanapalus''), S.687, is an unfinished opera by Franz Liszt based on the 1821 verse play '' Sardanapalus'' by Lord Byron. Liszt was ambitious for his project, and planned to doveta ...

, a two-time

Leading sire in France The list below shows the leading Thoroughbred sire of racehorses in France for each year since 1887. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the season. Due to the huge prize money of the Prix de l'Arc de Tri ...

who won the 1914

Prix du Jockey Club The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a ...

and, at the time France's most important race, the

Grand Prix de Paris The Grand Prix de Paris is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it ...

Racing career

Black Maria raced as a two-year-old and won but did not claim victory in any of the top races for her age group. A filly who regularly raced against male horses, after winning the

Kentucky Oaks The Kentucky Oaks is a Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred Filly, fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers at Churchill Downs; the horses carry . The Kentucky O ...

for fillies, she defeated males in the Saratoga Sales Stakes and the

Aqueduct Handicap The race is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. It was called the Aqueduct Handicap, but beginning in 2009, the name was changed to the Evening Attire Stakes in honor of the great grey geldi ...

. Her performances at age three earned her

American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly The American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a female horse in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971. The award originated in 1936 when both ...

honors. Black Maria was voted the 1927 and 1928

American Champion Older Female Horse The Eclipse Award for Champion Older Dirt Female Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a filly or mare, four years old and up, for performances on dirt and main track racing surfaces. In 1971, it became part of the ...

, highlighted by her defeat of males in the preeminent race on the

U.S. East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard ...

for milers, the

Metropolitan Handicap The Metropolitan Handicap, frequently called the "Met Mile", is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of one mile (8 furl ...

in a performance that made ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' call her "a great race mare."New York Times, May 31, 1927
/ref> At age five, she beat her male counterparts again to win the

Whitney Handicap The Whitney Stakes (run as the Whitney Handicap through 2013 and still sometimes referred to as such) is an American Grade 1 stakes race for Thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and older run at a distance of miles. The current purse is $1 ...

. In 1932, Black Maria suffered a broken leg as a result of a

paddock A paddock is a small enclosure for horses. In the United Kingdom, this term also applies to a field for a general automobile racing competition, particularly Formula 1. Description In Canada and the United States of America, a paddock is a small ...

accident and was humanely destroyed.

Name

She was named after an earlier world-famous black racehorse, the second element of whose name was pronounced /məˈraɪə/ (ma-rye-ah) in accordance with the

traditional English pronunciation of Latin The traditional English pronunciation of Latin, and Classical Greek words borrowed through Latin, is the way the Latin language was traditionally pronounced by speakers of English until the early 20th century. In the Middle Ages speakers of Eng ...

and Latin-based names always used at that time. The first Black Maria was foaled in

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

in 1826. She won so many races her purse winnings alone amounted to nearly $15,000, a very large sum for the period. Her most famous exploit occurred on 13 October 1832 when she won the race for the Jockey Club purse of $600 at the Union Course. In 1870, an article about her in

Harper's New Monthly Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

said: "The track was heavy, and yet, to achieve a victory, twenty miles had to be run. We wonder if there is a horse on the turf to-day that could stand up under such a performance as this?." Her speed was implied in the nickname given to horse-drawn black (or dark blue) police prisoner vans of the period, swiftly whisking felons away from the scene of a crime. This name for a police van was adopted in Britain and even France where a similar term was already in use.

Pedigree

References

{{reflist 1923 racehorse births 1932 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States American Champion racehorses Kentucky Oaks winners Thoroughbred family 14-a