Mate (foaled 1928 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 ...

) 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 best known for winning the 1931

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 ...

Background

From modest parentage, Mate was bred and raced by Albert C. Bostwick, Jr., whose grandfather was a founding partner of

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

. Mate was trained by Jim Healy and had to race against very strong opponents in 1930 and 1931 when he was part of what the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' newspaper called the "big four" in racing which included Twenty Grand, Jamestown, and

Equipoise Equipoise may refer to: * Clinical equipoise, or the principle of equipoise, a medical research term * Equilibrioception, the state of being balanced or in equilibrium * Boldenone undecylenate, an anabolic steroid, by the trade name ''Equipoise'' * ...

Racing career

United States

At age two, Mate won several races including two from the most important for his age group, the

Breeders' Futurity Stakes The Breeders' Futurity Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early October at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. Currently offering a purse of $500,000, the race is open to two-year-old horses and is run ...

and the Champagne Stakes. The following year, in what was the first leg of the 1931 U.S. Triple Crown series, on May 9 Mate beat Twenty Grand to win Preakness Stakes while equaling the stakes record. That year's

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 ...

was then run on May 16 and won by Twenty Grand with Mate finishing third behind runner-up, Sweep All. He did not run in 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 ...

but went on to win the prestigious

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 ...

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

and beat Twenty Grand for the second time while winning the

Arlington Classic The Arlington Classic Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three year old horses over a distance of miles on the turf held annually in late May at Arlington Park race track near Chicago. History The event was inaugurat ...

in which he set a new

Arlington Park Arlington International Racecourse (formerly Arlington Park, the name was Arlington Park Jockey Club from as soon as 1948 up to 1955) was a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago regi ...

track record of 2:02 2-5 for 1¼ miles on dirt. Racing in 1932 and 1933, at age four and five, Mate won the 1933 Thanksgiving Day Handicap at Bowie Race Track, a race he had previously won as a three-year-old. and had second and third-place finishes in some of the major racing events including the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and

Metropolitan Handicap The Metropolitan Handicap, frequently called the "Met Mile", is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of one mile (8 furl ...

England

In 1934, the then six-year-old mate was sent to England with the ultimate goal of winning the Ascot Gold Cup at

Ascot Racecourse Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...

. Having been accustomed to race on flat, oval dirt tracks for most of his career he now had to adapt to European turf courses. He first ran in the Newbury Spring Cup in mid April without showing well, then finished third in the

City and Suburban Handicap The City and Suburban Handicap is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run over a distance of 1 mile 2 furlongs and 17 yards (2,027 metres) at Epsom in April duri ...

Epsom Downs Epsom Downs is an area of chalk upland near Epsom, Surrey; in the North Downs. Part of the area is taken up by the racecourse, the gallops are part of the land purchased by Stanly Wootton in 1925 and are open to users such as ramblers, model ...

. He was second on the same racecourse in the

Coronation Cup The Coronation Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards (2 ...

but out of the money behind

Felicitation Felicitation (foaled 1930) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. A specialist stayer, owned and bred by the Aga Khan he was best known for his emphatic victory over a very strong international field in the 1934 Ascot Gold Cup. He was o ...

in June's Ascot Gold Cup. Mate won his first and only stakes in England on October 19, 1934, capturing the Challenge Stakes at

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...

Stud record

Retired to

stud Stud may refer to the following terms: Animals * Stud (animal), an animal retained for breeding ** Stud farm, a property where livestock are bred Arts and entertainment * Stud (band), a British progressive rock group * The Stud (bar), a gay ba ...

duty, from a limited number of offspring, Mate most notably sired Elkridge, a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee who was the

American Champion Steeplechase Horse The American Champion Steeplechase Horse is an American horse racing honor awarded as part of the Eclipse Award program since its inception in 1971. It is awarded annually to the top horse in steeplechase racing. Flatterer is the only horse to wi ...

in 1942 and 1946.

Breeding

References

{{Preakness Stakes Winners 1928 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Preakness Stakes winners Thoroughbred family 22-a