Cudgel (1914–1941) was an American two-time

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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. Trained by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee H. Guy Bedwell, Cudgel is probably best remembered for his win in the 1919

Havre de Grace Handicap The Havre de Grace Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race first run on the August 26, 1912 opening day of the new Havre de Grace Racetrack in Havre de Grace, Maryland. Although most of its runnings would take place in early fall, its fin ...

in which he defeated two future Hall of Fame inductees, Exterminator and Sir Barton. Cudgel's racing record is incomplete, especially at ages two and three when he raced primarily in "the west" (a term then used for racetracks in Kentucky and other states away from the East Coast). At age two in 1916, he won the Hamburg Place and Mt. Lookout Handicaps and was third in the Glenview Handicap. At age three, he won the Latonia Independence and Madisonville Handicaps, and was second in the Latonia Derby. He finished eleventh in the 1917 Kentucky Derby. In August, he was purchased by Canadian J. K. L. Ross for $30,000. At age four in 1918, Cudgel was relocated to the east coast where he developed into the champion older horse of the year, winning five major stakes races. In the Pimlico Spring Handicap on May 8, he beat

Omar Khayyam Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīsābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131), commonly known as Omar Khayyam ( fa, عمر خیّام), was a polymath, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, an ...

, the previous year's three-year-old champion. On May 19, he beat

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in the Kings County Handicap. He briefly returned to Kentucky where he won the

Kentucky Handicap ''Kentucky Handicap'' is a 1926 American silent action film directed by Harry Joe Brown and starring Reed Howes, Alice Calhoun and Robert McKim. It is also known by the alternative title ''Kentucky Luck''. Cast * Reed Howes * Alice Calhoun ...

on June 1. Travelling back to New York, he beat future Hall of Famer Roamer in the Brooklyn Handicap on June 24 while carrying top weight of 129 pounds. On August 16, he set an American record of 1:56 for miles while winning the Schenectady Handicap at Saratoga by a nose over Westy Hogan. He carried 131 pounds in the race, 5 pounds more than Westy Hogan. After this, he lost several races but returned to form in the Liberty Handicap on September 27, winning handily despite conceding 48 pounds to the runner-up. After another loss, he finished the season by winning the Dixie Handicap at Laurel racetrack "with ridiculous ease" over Midway and Omar Khayyam. The next year, despite a long layoff between May and August as a result of an injury, he came back to share Champion Older Horse honors with Sun Briar.

At Stud

After retiring from racing, Cudgel stood at

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Ross's

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near

Laurel, Maryland Laurel is a city in Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River. While the city limits are entirely in northern Prince George's County, outlying developments extend into Anne Arunde ...

. A successful sire, his best offspring were Fluvanna, 1923 American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly, and Froth Blower, who won the 1931

King's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of ...

, Canada's most prestigious race. Cudgel died in October 1941 at age twenty-seven.

Pedigree

References

{{reflist
Cudgel racing and offspring statistics at The Triple Crown database

1914 racehorse births 1941 racehorse deaths Thoroughbred family 4-a Racehorses bred in New Jersey Racehorses trained in the United States American Champion racehorses