Coaltown (1945–1965) was an American Hall of Fame

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racehorse of whom ''

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'' said "was probably the most underrated Thoroughbred of the 20th Century." Coaltown was nicknamed "The Goose" by the stable employees at Calumet Farm for his way of outstretching his long, thin neck when he ran. Racing at age three in 1948, he was overshadowed by stablemate Citation, finishing second to him in the Kentucky Derby. Citation became the 8th U.S. Triple Crown Champion. Coaltown, meanwhile, won eight of his thirteen starts. He won the

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in track record time and at the end of the year was voted 1948's U.S. Champion Sprint Horse. In 1949, injuries kept Citation from racing, allowing Coaltown to show how good he really was. He won twelve of his fifteen races, and set or matched several U.S. and world records including: # A new world record for the mile at

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in the

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. # Equaled the world record and set a new track record for 1 miles at

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# Equaled the world record and set a new track record for 1 miles at

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# Set a new track record for 1 miles at

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# Equaled the track record for six furlongs at

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In his final race of 1949, Coaltown was a badly beaten 2nd to 1949 arch-rival Capot in the

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. Nonetheless, his performances that year earned him Handicap Horse of the Year honors. He was voted United States Horse of the Year in a nationwide poll in which he defeated Capot by 102 votes to 71. Capot had earlier been named Horse of the Year by the

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. After mediocre performances in 1950 and '51, Coaltown was retired to

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at Calumet Farm, where he had only limited success as a sire. In 1955, he was sold to Haras de Jardy in

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where he died at the age of 20 in 1965. Coaltown was inducted into the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1983.

References

{{reflist
Coaltowns' pedigree and racing stats

Coaltown at the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
1945 racehorse births 1965 racehorse deaths Thoroughbred family 7-e Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Horse racing track record setters Eclipse Award winners American Thoroughbred Horse of the Year United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees