Discovery (1931–1958) was a champion

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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 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 ...

. In a racing career which lasted from 1933 to 1936 he ran sixty-three times and won twenty-seven races. One of the leading American three-year-olds of his generation in 1934, he became a dominant performer in the next two seasons. The

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...

said that he was: "...considered one of the greatest horses of the 20th century."

Background

A bright

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

horse with a white blaze and white hind feet, Discovery was foaled at Walter J. Salmon's

Mereworth Farm Walter Joseph Salmon Sr. (1871 – December 25, 1953) was a New York City real estate investor and developer. According to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, Salmon was "responsible for rebuilding the north side of West 42n ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. He was sired by the

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

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, another product of Mereworth. His dam, Ariadne, was a member of Thoroughbred family 23-b, which has produced many notable American racehorses including Zev,

Affirmed Affirmed (February 21, 1975 – January 12, 2001) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the eleventh winner of the American Triple Crown. Affirmed was well known for his famous rivalry with Alydar, whom he met ten times, includi ...

and Winning Colors.

Racing career

Discovery was owned by Adolphe Pons of Country Life Farm in

Bel Air, Maryland The town of Bel Air is the county seat of Harford County, Maryland. According to the 2020 United States census, the population of the town was 10,661. History Bel Air's identity has gone through several incarnations since 1780. Aquilla Scott, w ...

, who raced him at age two with limited success, winning only two of thirteen starts and being beaten in several races by future Hall of Famer

Cavalcade A cavalcade is a procession or parade on horseback, or a mass trail ride by a company of riders. The focus of a cavalcade is participation rather than display. Often, the participants do not wear costumes or ride in formation. Often, a cava ...

. Purchased for $25,000 by Alfred G. Vanderbilt II's

Sagamore Farm Sagamore Farm is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding farm on Belmont Avenue in Reisterstown, Maryland. Established in 1925, it was owned by Isaac Edward Emerson of Baltimore, who assembled the property as a gift for his daughter, Margaret. A ...

, Discovery raced one more time in 1933, finishing second. At age three, Discovery's racing season was marked by his continuing rivalry with Cavalcade. He finished second to Cavalcade in the 1934

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 third to

High Quest High Quest (1931–1948) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1934 Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series of races. Background Sir Gallahad III, the sire of High Quest, had been purchas ...

and Cavalcade in the

. Both horses skipped 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 ...

. Discovery went on to win the first of three consecutive

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and

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 ...

s (both under higher and higher weights), and set a world record time for one mile and three-sixteenths in the Rhode Island Handicap at

Narragansett Park Narragansett Park was an American race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Beginnings On May 18, 1934, Rhode Island voters approved a measure legalizing parimutuel betting by an almost 3 to 1 margin. The following day, ...

. In 1935, Discovery was the dominant horse in the United States, and one of the most notable things about him was his ability to carry great weight. Running under an average of 131 pounds, the four-year-old won eleven of nineteen races and has been retrospectively regarded as the U.S. Champion Handicap horse and Horse of the Year for 1935. Although there was no formal award, Discovery was recognized in contemporary sources as the "top stake horse" of the year. In the Merchants and Citizens Handicap, he carried 139 pounds to victory in August before a crowd of 25,000 including the

Governors A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

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and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. For these feats, he was called the great weight carrier, or the "Iron Horse." The fact that Discovery was retrospectively named Horse of the Year in 1935 is unusual as

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

won the

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

in that year. This was the only time that a Triple Crown winner has been failed to be retrospectively recognized as Horse of the Year. Racing at age 5, Discovery won his third Brooklyn and Whitney Handicaps. His achievements were formally recognized when he was the first horse to be voted U.S. Champion Handicap horse. His win in the Whitney was described by ''

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'' as "the most decisive victory to be scored in a big American stake in many years".

Stud record

He was retired to stud at Vanderbilt's

in rural

Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City of ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

at the end of the 1936 racing season. Over the course of a 21-year stallion career, Discovery sired just 25

graded stakes race A graded stakes race is a thoroughbred horse race in the United States that meets the criteria of the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). A specific grade level (I, II, III or listed) is then ...

winners including

Loser Weeper Loser Weeper (1945–1960) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse bred and raced by Alfred Vanderbilt Jr. and trained by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Bill Winfrey. At the time of his retirement from racing in 1951, a major media ...

. But it was through his daughters that Discovery left his legacy. The most important of those was

Miss Disco Miss Disco (1944-1974) was an American Thoroughbred racemare that won important sprint events against colts during her racing career but who secured her place in history when, as a broodmare at Claiborne Farm, she was bred to Nasrullah and p ...

, dam of Horse of the Year and

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inductee

Bold Ruler Bold Ruler (April 6, 1954 – July 11, 1971) was an American Thoroughbred National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame racehorse who was the 1957 American Horse of the Year, Horse of the Year. This following a three-year-old campaign t ...

who became the

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 ...

eight times and sired one of the greatest racehorses of all time,

winner

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...

. Discovery's other daughters produced

champions

Native Dancer Native Dancer (March 27, 1950 – November 16, 1967), nicknamed the ''Gray Ghost'', was one of the most celebrated and accomplished Thoroughbred racehorses in American history and was the first horse made famous through the medium of television. ...

, Bed o'Roses, multiple stakes winner Intentionally, and

winner

Hasty Road Hasty Road (1951–1978) was an American thoroughbred racehorse which won the 1954 Preakness Stakes. In 1953, Hasty Road won six of his nine races including the Arlington Futurity and the Washington Park Futurity, and set a record for prize mon ...

. Native Dancer produced

Raise a Native Raise a Native (April 18, 1961 – July 28, 1988) was an undefeated Thoroughbred Horse racing, racehorse that was named 1963 champion two-year-old colt in the Turf and Sport Digest poll and was the highest rated juvenile in the Experimental Free ...

, who sired leading stallion Mr. Prospector, champion

Alydar Alydar (March 23, 1975 – November 15, 1990) was an American Thoroughbred race horse and sire. A chestnut colt, he was most famous for finishing a close second to Affirmed in all three races of the 1978 Triple Crown. With each successive ...

; Sea Bird II's sire Dan Cupid, champion filly Ruffian's sire Shenanigans, and

Northern Dancer Northern Dancer (May 27, 1961 – November 16, 1990) was a Thoroughbred who, in 1964, became the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. He then became one of the most successful sires of the 20th century. He is considered a Canad ...

's dam Natalma. Discovery was inducted into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame in 1969.

Pedigree

References

{{reflist 1931 racehorse births 1958 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Horse racing track record setters American Thoroughbred Horse of the Year United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees United States Champion Thoroughbred Sires Vanderbilt family Thoroughbred family 23-b Chefs-de-Race

Background

Racing career

Stud record

See also

Pedigree

References