Decathlon (foaled in 1953) 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 who was voted the U.S. Champion Sprint Horse in 1956 and 1957. He was sired by

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

, 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 freq ...

in 1974. His dam was Dog Blessed, a daughter of Bull Dog, the 1943

Leading sire in North America The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the year. It is restricted to stallions which are based in N ...

. Decathlon was purchased for $15,500 at a 1954 Kentucky yearling sale by Robert J. Dienst, president of

Beulah Park Racetrack Beulah Park was Ohio's first thoroughbred racetrack and premier event center, offering live thoroughbred racing from October through to early May. The track also offered Quarter Horse racing on select days throughout the season, with the most no ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. Decathlon was trained by Rollie Shepp. Because of his awkward side-wheeling stride, Shepp and owner Dienst decided his running style might exhaust the colt over longer distances and early in his racing career began limiting him to sprint races. In October 1957, Robert J. Dienst announced that Decathlon would be retired to stud in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

for the 1958 season.New York Times – October 8, 1957
/ref> The horse finished his racing career with a record of 25-8-1 from 42 starts with earnings of US$269,530.

References

1953 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States American Champion racehorses Thoroughbred family 21-a {{Racehorse-stub