Menifee (May 4, 1996 – June 13, 2019) was an American Thoroughbred

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

that competed in the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in 1999. His rivalry with Triple Crown contender

Charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects. Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...

was compared at times with the rivalry between 1978 contenders Affirmed and Alydar, who won and placed respectively in all three races that year. He was trained by W. Elliott Walden and ridden in all three races by Pat Day.

Triple Crown run

Menifee won a come-from-behind victory in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in his last Triple Crown prep over the highly regarded

Cat Thief Cat Thief (foaled January 30, 1996 in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He is the son of Storm Cat, an outstanding Champion sire and the grandson of both the 20th Century's most important sire, Northern Dancer and whose damsire wa ...

, Vicar, Kimberlite Pipe and Wondertross. With Pat Day riding and coming from far behind, he then placed second with a big late run just coming up a neck short in the

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 ...

behind eventual Horse of the Year

. Two weeks later, in the

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Preakness Stakes, he garnered a great deal of support, being sent off as the morning line favorite at 2–1 in a full field of 13 colts and 1 filly ( Silverbulletday). In the race,

and Vicar took the lead early while Menifee settled into mid-pack at eighth and Charismatic lagged behind in tenth. Around the second turn, Charismatic made a move on the outside and won by 1 1/2 lengths. Menifee passed

and Badge to claim the runner-up share of $200,000 in the Preakness Stakes. Menifee failed to place in the top three 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 ...

. It was the only time he finished out of the money at age three.

Late three-year-old season

Following the Triple Crown series in the summer of 1999, Menifee won the Grade I Haskell Invitational Handicap at Monmouth Park Racetrack, finished second in the

Super Derby The Super Derby is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually in September at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, Louisiana. Inaugurated in 1980, the Super Derby is open to three-year-olds and the distance is miles on the dirt. Currently a Gr ...

, and ran third in the Travers Stakes. He was retired from racing with 5 wins, 4 places and one show in 11 starts; two of those wins were as a two-year-old in 1998.

Retirement

Menifee started his stallion career at Stone Farm, where he commanded US $15,000 for a

live cover Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics ...

breeding. In October 2006, it was announced that he had been sold to the Korean Racing Association to continue his stallion career at Jeju Stud Farm. He was the leading sire in South Korea from 2012–2019 and became a favorite of Korean racing fans. The horse reportedly quickly learned to respond to Korean phrases, which led Jeju staff to frequently remark that "Menifee speaks Korean." Menifee died of a heart attack on June 13, 2019 at the age of 23.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Menifee's pedigree and photoMenifee Profile on the Stallion Register
1996 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Hancock family Thoroughbred family 16-h 2019 racehorse deaths