Joe Patchen (May 5, 1889 – February 18, 1917) was a

Standardbred The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace i ...

racehorse foaled in

Peabody, Kansas Peabody is a city in Marion County, Kansas, United States. It is named after F.H. Peabody, of Boston, former vice-president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Peabody is well known in the region for its Independence Day Celebration o ...

, United States. His sire was Patchen Wilkes and his dam was Josephine Young. Though best remembered for siring the famous Dan Patch, Joe Patchen enjoyed a successful racing career of his own.

Racing career

A large-bodied horse with unusually long legs, Joe Patchen was a strong contender on half-mile tracks. Joe Patchen won 53% of the races in which he started, and finished second in 39%. He was unplaced (out of the top four) in only 3% of his races. Though his exact career winnings are unknown, estimates place them in excess of $50,000. In August 1896, Joe Patchen broke the world records for both a half-mile and mile track by completing two laps on the half-mile Combination Park in 2:05¼ on August 8 and one lap of the mile-long

Rigby Park Rigby Park was an American harness racing track in South Portland, Maine, that was open from 1893 to 1899. It was torn down in 1922 and replaced by the Rigby Yard, Maine's busiest rail yard. Beginnings In 1891, New England trotting horse owners, w ...

in 2:03 on August 21. The half-mile record stood for seven years until his son Dan Patch lowered it to 2:04. Patchen was trained by Harness Racing Hall of Fame trainer John Dickerson, and was himself inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1954.

External links

Joe Patchen, sire of Dan Patch
{Dead link, date=February 2020 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes 1889 racehorse births 1917 racehorse deaths American Standardbred racehorses Racehorses bred in Kansas Racehorses trained in the United States United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame inductees