Firenze (1884–1902), also recorded as "Firenzi", 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 ...

Hall of Fame racehorse. During her six year racing career, she won 47 of 82 starts and retired as the second-highest money-earning filly in American history. She was retroactively named the

American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly The American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a female horse in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971. The award originated in 1936 when both ...

of 1887 and

American Champion Older Female Horse The Eclipse Award for Champion Older Dirt Female Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a filly or mare, four years old and up, for performances on dirt and main track racing surfaces. In 1971, it became part of the ...

for three straight years. She repeatedly defeated the top colts of the day including the future Hall of Famers,

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

and Kingston. In the 1888 season, she was the only horse to beat

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 () o ...

winner,

The Bard A bard is a minstrel in medieval Scottish, Irish, and Welsh societies; and later re-used by romantic writers. Bard, BARD, The Bard or Bård may also refer to: People * Bard (surname) * Bård, Norwegian given name and surname *William Shakespea ...

Background

Firenze was a bay filly foaled at

Elmendorf Farm Elmendorf Farm is a Kentucky Thoroughbred horse farm in Fayette County, Kentucky, involved with horse racing since the 19th century. Once the North Elkhorn Farm, many owners and tenants have occupied the area, even during the American Civil War. Mo ...

in Lexington, Kentucky. Her sire was Glenelg, who made his first start as a three-year-old in the 1869 Belmont Stakes and finished second. Glenelg developed into a top-notch handicap horse and then became a four-time leading sire whose offspring were known for their soundness. Firenze's dam Florida was a full sister to the great Hindoo. She was sold as a yearling by breeder

Daniel Swigert Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

to lawyer and businessman James Ben Ali Haggin for $2,600. She was trained by James Murphy at age two and subsequently by Matt Byrnes. Firenze was a small horse at . She was noted for her soundness and stamina, making 22 starts at age three and 21 at age four, and was at her best in distances of miles and up.

Racing career

At age two in 1886, Firenze won five of eight starts, including the Nursery and Autumn Stakes. As a three-year-old, Firenze dominated the major races for fillies of the time and was also competitive against colts. She won 8 of 14 races including the

Ladies Handicap The Ladies Stakes is a historic American Thoroughbred horse race for Fillies and Mares four years of age and older held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. Inaugurated at the Jerome Park Racetrack in 1868, it is the oldest stakes ...

Gazelle Stakes The Gazelle Stakes (formerly Gazelle Handicap until 2004) is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, New York. It is a Grade III event run over a distance of miles on dirt that is open to three-year ...

, Mermaid Stakes,

Monmouth Oaks The Monmouth Oaks is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey for three-year-old fillies. Named for England's Epsom Oaks, first run in 1779, the inaugural American edition took place in 1 ...

, Free Handicap Stakes, West End Hotel Stakes and

Jerome Stakes The Jerome Stakes is a stakes race for thoroughbred race horse, horses run each January at Aqueduct Racetrack. Open to three year olds, the race is run at one mile and carries a purse of $150,000. It is a Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying race, ...

. In the latter, she defeated

at a distance of miles.

1888: four-year-old season

From 22 starts at age four, Firenze won 13 times, including eleven stakes races. She was never

out of the money In finance, moneyness is the relative position of the current price (or future price) of an underlying asset (e.g., a stock) with respect to the strike price of a derivative, most commonly a call option or a put option. Moneyness is firstly a thr ...

, finishing second 6 times and third in the 3 other starts. In the

Freehold Stakes The Freehold Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early August at the Monmouth Park Association's racetrack in Long Branch, New Jersey. Inaugurated in 1879, the Champion Stakes was open to horses of any age and was raced o ...

, she defeated The Bard in what was essentially a match race with only the two entries. The Bard went to the lead but Firenze stayed within striking distance until she was urged forward around the far turn. As the gap narrowed, The Bard tried to respond and the two horses battled down the stretch until the final strides, when Firenze drew off to win by two lengths. She tied the record for the fastest miles ever recorded, 2:34, while carrying 113 pounds. The other record holders, Luke Blackburn and Jim Guest, had carried only 102 and 98 pounds respectively. The Bard was subsequently injured, but Firenze faced a strong challenge in the Champion Stakes from Kingston and his stablemate Santalene. Santalene set the pace for the first mile then tired, leaving Firenze in the lead by two lengths with a mile remaining. Kingston was heavily urged to close ground but could not, and was eased near the finish. Firenze won in hand by six lengths in a time of 2:35. Firenze was so popular that she had a stakes race named after her, and then went on to win it. Her other stakes wins that year included the

Monmouth Cup The Monmouth Cup Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three-years-old and older run over a distance of miles annually in early July at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey. The event currently offers a purse of $400,00 ...

, Great Long Island Stakes,

Monmouth Handicap The Philip H. Iselin Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. Open to horses three years of age and older, the race was first run in 1884. In 1891, New Jersey state legislator ...

, Battle Stakes, Average Stakes,

Manhattan Handicap The Manhattan Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race raced annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is named for Manhattan, the principal borough of the City of New York. Currently offering a purse of $1,000,000, the Grade I Manh ...

, Harvest Handicap and Free Handicap Sweepstakes.

1889: five-year-old season

Firenze started her five-year-old campaign with two walkovers at

Jerome Park Jerome Park is a municipal park in the West Bronx of New York City. The park, along with the surrounding neighborhood of the same name, are both on land that was once Jerome Park Racetrack, which was founded by Leonard W. Jerome, grandfather o ...

but then suffered a series of defeats. She finally rounded back into form in the Knickerbocker Handicap on June 29, 1889 at a distance of miles. Firenze trailed the field for nearly a mile, then closed to fourth at the top of the stretch and moved to the lead with a furlong remaining. Her jockey eased her up, which allowed Euros to close ground and then put a head in front. Firenze was then put to an all-out drive and prevailed by a head. She easily defeated Raceland in the Monmouth Cup on July 11, then won the Navesink Handicap in "the easiest possible fashion" on July 21. Her form was up and down in her next few starts, with three losses to Euros, Raceland and Kingston respectively, offset by a sweepstakes win at Monmouth Park. She reestablished her dominance in the New York Handicap on September 5 at a distance of miles, closing from last to first in the stretch. Just two days later, she cut back in distance to miles in the Omnium Handicap. She trailed the field early and closed to third around the final turn. Her jockey then asked her to run and she unleashed a burst of speed, drawing away from the field "as easily as a duck shucks raindrops from its back". The win led ''The New York Times'' to call her the greatest racehorse of the year. That year she also won both the Freehold and Firenze Stakes for a second time. She finished the year with 12 wins from 21 starts with six seconds and three thirds.

1890-1891

At age six, Firenze won half of her fourteen starts and finished third three times. She won the Freehold Stakes for a third time and the Free Handicap Sweepstakes for the second. She lowered her record for miles to 2:33 in the Coney Island Cup. She also won the Twin City and New York Handicaps. In 1891 at age seven, Firenze started only three times with two wins. She won the Champion Stakes for the second time. At her retirement Firenze had achieved the second highest earnings for a filly in

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

history behind

Miss Woodford Miss Woodford (1880–1899) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who was one of the top American fillies of all time, winning 16 consecutive races. Background Miss Woodford was bred in Kentucky by the Ezekiel Clay & Catesby Woodford b ...

and just ahead 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 ...

. After racing for six years, Firenze retired to her owner's

Rancho Del Paso Rancho Del Paso was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in present-day Sacramento County, California, In 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena, Captain John Sutter’s old friend, gave 44,000 acres to Elijah Grimes. Grimes called it the Ran ...

stud farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word " stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, documentation ...

near

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

Retirement

As a broodmare, her own progeny achieved only modest success in racing but several of her fillies became successful producers. She was the fourth dam of Paul Jones, the 1920 Kentucky Derby winner. Firenze died on March 27, 1902 at Rancho Del Paso. In 1981, she was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. The Firenze Handicap, since renamed the

Personal Ensign Stakes The Personal Ensign Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the third week of August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Open to fillies and Mares age three and older, it is contested at a di ...

, was originally named in her honor.

Pedigree

References

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