Colonial Affair (April 19, 1990 – April 23, 2013) 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 ...

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 ...

. He was best known for winning the

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...

in 1993.

Background

He was sired by 1981

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

and

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () on ...

winner

Pleasant Colony Pleasant Colony (May 4, 1978 – December 31, 2002) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1981 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and was named the 1981 American Champion Three-Year-Old. Background A big, gangly horse stan ...

, out of the

Rutledge Farm Historic Rutledge Farm'is a Grand Prix and hunter/jumper facility, in Middleburg, Virginia, owned by Rutledge Farm, LLC (Aleco Bravo-Greenberg and Mrs. Hermen Greenberg). Built in 1740, it was most recently owned by Aleco's late step-father, M ...

mare Snuggle. Purchased for $100,000 at the 1991

Fasig-Tipton The Fasig-Tipton Company, Inc. is an American auction house for Thoroughbred and Standardbred horses. Founded in 1898, it is the oldest auction company of its kind in North America. The company has offices in Lexington, Kentucky, Elkton, Maryla ...

Saratoga select yearling sale, Colonial Affair was raced by Centennial Farms. He was trained by the 1992 U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Scotty Schulhofer

Racing career

Colonial Affair won the

under jockey

Julie Krone Julieann Louise Krone (born July 24, 1963), is a retired American jockey. In 1993, she became the first (and so far only) female jockey to win a Triple Crown race when she captured the Belmont Stakes aboard Colonial Affair. In 2000, she became the ...

as the 13-1 longshot. His 1993 Belmont triumph is also in the record books, because it was the first time that a woman jockey won any of the three races of the

Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, often shortened to Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for Thoroughbreds, often restricted to three-year-olds. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplis ...

. At age four, Colonial Affair was only three votes shy (out of a possible 247 votes) of winning the 1994

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is made by a few small selected American ...

for

American Champion Older Dirt Male Horse The title of American Champion Older Dirt Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a stallion or gelding, four years old and up, for performances on dirt and main track racing surfaces. In 1971, it became part of ...

( The Wicked North voted the award winner) after winning 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 ...

and

Jockey Club Gold Cup The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It has traditionally been the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the sp ...

that year. Colonial Affair was the favorite for the 1994 $3 million

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late October o ...

until he broke a bone in his leg, thereby ending his racing career.

Retirement

Colonial Affair was originally retired in 1995 to Gainesway Farm. He was then supposed to be sent to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1998 but was instead sent to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and stood privately at stud at Haras El Paraiso in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Colonial Affair died in his stall on April 23, 2013, at Haras El Paraiso in Capitan Sarmiento, Argentina. He was 23.

Pedigree

References

1990 racehorse births 2013 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Virginia Racehorses trained in the United States Belmont Stakes winners Thoroughbred family 13-b {{Racehorse-stub

Background

Racing career

Retirement

External links

Pedigree

References