Lieutenant Gibson (1897–1900) 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 that was bred 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 ...

and is best remembered for winning the 1900

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 ...

. His winning time of 2:06 stood as the Derby record for 11 years. Lieut. Gibson also won the

Latonia Derby The Latonia Derby was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually from 1883 through 1937 at Latonia Race Track in Latonia, Kentucky. Open to three-year-old horses, for its first 52 years the Latonia Derby was contested at a mile and a half t ...

, Clark Stakes and Flatbush Stakes as a three-year-old. He was the crowd favorite for the 1900 running of the

American Derby The American Derby is a Thoroughbred horse race in the United States run annually at Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois. The inaugural American Derby was held at Chicago's old Washington Park Race Track on the city's South Side and rac ...

, but ran third. Shortly after his failure at the American Derby, Lieut. Gibson sustained a

bowed tendon Tendinitis/tendonitis is inflammation of a tendon, often involving torn collagen fibers. A bowed tendon is a horseman's term for a tendon after a horse has sustained an injury that causes swelling in one or more tendons creating a "bowed" appearanc ...

and was retired from racing. The condition progressively worsened until surgery was attempted to repair the tendon and reduce the swelling in his leg. However, the colt died during the operation on December 18, 1900, at the

Washington Park Race Track Washington Park Race Track was a popular horse racing track, racing venue in the Chicago metropolitan area from 1884 until 1977. It had two locations during its existence. It was first situated in what is the current location of the Washingto ...

, formerly in

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

. The horse was secretly buried with little fanfare, with his death being leaked to the press more than a week after his death. When the ''New York Times'' interviewed Lieut. Gibson's owner for comment, Charles Head Smith said the following.

It was not my intention to say anything about Gibson's death, but it is true that he died a week ago Tuesday and was buried without any publicity. I had great confidence in Gibson. His sufferings were far more a matter of regret to me than could have been any pecuniary loss I experienced by the disabling of the colt. He was a brave horse, a well-bred one, and when he died I wanted him buried with just as little publicity as possible.Lieutenant Gibson dead: Kentucky Derby winner succumbed to operation for bowed tendon. ''New York Times''. Dec 29, 190

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Pedigree

References

1897 racehorse births 1900 racehorse deaths Racehorses trained in the United States Racehorses bred in Kentucky Horses who died from racing injuries Kentucky Derby winners Thoroughbred family A13 {{Racehorse-stub