Bull Dog (1927–1954) was a French

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 ...

racehorse who became a North American Champion sire and Champion broodmare sire.

Background

Bull Dog was by American Jefferson Davis Cohn at his

Haras du Bois-Roussel Haras may refer to: * Al-Haras or the Haras, a bodyguard unit in service of caliphs during the Umayyad and the Abbasid caliphates * Haras Fyre (born 1953), an American songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist * Oleh Haras (Russian: Ол� ...

in Alençon in France's

Lower Normandy Lower Normandy (french: Basse-Normandie, ; nrf, Basse-Normaundie) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Lower and Upper Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy. Geography The region included three departme ...

region, and raced for him as a homebred. Bull Dog was sired by Teddy, who had been the

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 T ...

in 1923. His dam was

Plucky Liege Plucky Liege (1912–1937) was a British Thoroughbred racemare who produced eleven winners, including an Epsom Derby winner at the age of twenty-three and three British Classic race winners. The performances of these horses led to her becoming ...

, one of the most important broodmares of the 20th century. Bull Dog was a full brother to

Sir Gallahad Sir Gallahad (1920–1949) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and an extremely important sire in the United States. Racing career Racing at age two in France for his British breeder/owner, Jefferson Davis Cohn, Sir Gallahad earned victory in th ...

, who won the

Poule d'Essai des Poulains Molof (Ampas, Poule, Powle-Ma) is a poorly documented Papuan language spoken by about 200 people in Molof village, Senggi District, Keerom Regency. Classification Wurm (1975) placed it as an independent branch of Trans–New Guinea, but Ros ...

and became a leading sire in North America. Plucky Liege also produced two other colts, Bois Roussel and Admiral Drake, who went on to sire classic winners in Europe. Plucky Liege was sired by

Spearmint Spearmint, also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, is a species of mint, ''Mentha spicata'' (, native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. It is nat ...

, a winner of the two most prestigious races in England and France in 1906, The Derby and 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 i ...

. Bull Dog was trained by the highly successful Staffordshire-born trainer, Robert Denman,

Racing career

At age two Bull Dog earned a second-place finish in the important

Prix Robert Papin The Prix Robert Papin is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 1,200 metres (about 6 furlongs), and it is scheduled to tak ...

at Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse. As a three-year-old he won the 1930

Prix Daphnis The Prix Daphnis is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile), and it is scheduled to take place eac ...

and the Prix La Flèche d'Or, but it was his performance off the racetrack for which he is best remembered.

As a sire

Bull Dog's full brother Sir Gallahad was imported to the United States and became an extremely important Champion sire and Champion broodmare sire in North America. Because of his immediate success, American E. Dale Schaffer purchased Bull Dog in late 1930 and brought him to the United States too stand at his Coldstream Stud in Lexington, Kentucky. At

stud Stud may refer to the following terms: Animals * Stud (animal), an animal retained for breeding ** Stud farm, a property where livestock are bred Arts and entertainment * Stud (band), a British progressive rock group * The Stud (bar), a gay ba ...

, Bull Dog became the Leading sire in North America in 1943 and the

Leading broodmare sire in North America The list below shows the leading Thoroughbred sire of broodmares in North America for each year since 1924. This is determined by the amount of prize money won during the year by racehorses which were foaled by a daughter of the sire. The most ...

in 1953, 1954, and 1956. Bull Dog died at Coldstream Stud in 1954 having sired horses that would win 52 stakes races. His most significant son was

Bull Lea A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includ ...

, a very influential sire for Kentucky's renowned Calumet Farm whose sons included the 1948 U.S. Triple Crown champion, Citation.

Pedigree

''Note: b. = Bay, ch. = Chestnut''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bull Dog (Horse) 1927 racehorse births 1954 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in France Racehorses trained in France United States Champion Thoroughbred Sires American Champion Thoroughbred broodmare sires Thoroughbred family 16-a Chefs-de-Race