El Rio Rey (foaled January 16, 1887 in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

) was an undefeated 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 ...

racehorse. He was regarded as the

American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt The American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971. The award originated in 1936 when the '' Daily Racing F ...

of 1889. He was bred and raced by Theodore Winters in whose honor the city of

Winters, California Winters is a city in rural Yolo County, and the western Sacramento Valley, in northern California. The population of Winters was 6,624 as of the 2010 Census. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Yuba City, CA-NV Combined Statistical A ...

was named.

Breeding

He was bred by Theodore Winters at his Rancho del Rio breeding farm near

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

where he stood both El Rio Rey's important sire,

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and his dam,

Marian Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queenslan ...

. The outstanding

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than fo ...

of her era in the American West, Marian (1871–1893) was also the dam of

Yo Tambien Yo Tambien (1889–1896) was an American Thoroughbred racing filly bred in California by Theodore Winters, a breeder and major landholder from the Washoe Valley in Nevada who was sometimes called "Black T" due to his huge, black, T-shaped mousta ...

as a result of Theodore Winters mating her to his stallion, Joe Hooker. El Rio Rey was a full brother to the good racehorse,

Emperor of Norfolk Emperor of Norfolk (1885–1907) was a champion American Champion and Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. His large size, strong hindquarters, and racing record earned him the name "California Wonder." Background In the 1870s, when Joseph Cair ...

and Czar as well as six other horses.Lowe, Bruce, ''Breeding Racehorses by the Figure System'', Libra Books, Canberra, 1977, These colts were inbred to Glencoe in the third and fourth (3m x 4f) generation.Morris, Simon; ''Tesio Power 2000 - Stallions of the World'', Syntax Software

Racing record

El Rio Rey's race conditioning was supervised by the head of the Theodore Winters racing stable, Alfred H. Estell, as well as trainer William H. McCormick. As a two-year-old racing in 1889, El Rio Rey competed at racetracks in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

before heading to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The publicity surrounding his racing abilities as a full brother to the great

drew a huge crowd to

Morris Park Racecourse Morris Park Racecourse was an American Thoroughbred horse race, thoroughbred horse racing facility from 1889 to 1904. It was located in a part of Westchester County, New York that was annexed into the Bronx in 1895 and later developed as the neighb ...

to see him win the August 25 Great Eclipse Stakes. On the same track, he then won the inaugural running of the six

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hor ...

(1,200 meters) White Plains Handicap on August 31, against a field of 14 horses in track record time while carrying 126 pounds (57 kilograms). The next day's issue of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' declared him the best two-year-old in the country, stating that horsemen consider him "the greatest colt ever foaled." El Rio Rey followed up with another win in September's Prospect Stakes at the

Gravesend Race Track Gravesend Race Track at Gravesend in Brooklyn, New York was a Thoroughbred horse racing facility that opened in 1886 and closed in 1910. The track was built by the Brooklyn Jockey Club with the backing of Philip and Michael Dwyer, two wealthy raci ...

. The colt ended his two-year-old campaign undefeated, having won all seven starts. In ''

The Blood-Horse ''BloodHorse'' is a multimedia news organization covering Thoroughbred racing and breeding that started with a newsletter first published in 1916 as a monthly bulletin put out by the Thoroughbred Horse Association.

'' magazine's National Champion review, El Rio Rey was recognized as the

of 1889. In 1890, El Rio Rey was scheduled to run, but breathing problems led to the belief that he was a roarer, and his career eventually ended without him making a start at age three.

Retirement

Later in 1890, Theodore Winters sold his California properties to return to Nevada after he had been selected as the Democratic Party's candidate for

Governor of Nevada 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 r ...

. He relocated his breeding operations to his Rancho del Sierra in Nevada's

Washoe Valley The Washoe Valley is a geographical region in the United States covering in southern Washoe County in the state of Nevada. Located between Reno and Carson City, it is named for the Washoe people, Native Americans who lived there before the arr ...

with El Rio Rey and Joe Hooker as his main stallions. El Rio Rey sired some Californian race winners.

Sire line tree

*El Rio ReyHerod Sire Line
/ref> **Scarborough **Bonus Res

References

* Robertson, William H. P. ''The History of Thoroughbred Racing in America'' (1988)

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

{{ISBN, 978-0-517-00204-9
April 15, 1888 ''The New York Times'' article on Theodore Winters and El Rio Rey

External links

El Rio Rey's pedigree and partial racing stats
1887 racehorse births Racehorses bred in California Racehorses trained in the United States Horse racing track record setters American Champion racehorses Byerley Turk sire line Thoroughbred family A17