{{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Milkmaid , image = , caption = Milkmaid, 1919 Kenner Stakes , sire = Peep o' Day , grandsire =

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, dam = Nell Olin , damsire = Wagner , sex =

Filly A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

, foaled = 1916 , country = United States , colour =

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

, breeder = J. Hal Woodford , owner =

John E. Madden John Edward Madden (December 28, 1856 – November 3, 1929) was a prominent American Thoroughbred and Standardbred owner, breeder and trainer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He owned Hamburg Place Stud in Lexington, Kentucky ...

J.K.L. Ross Commander John Kenneth Leveson "Jack" Ross, CBE (31 March 1876 – 25 July 1951) was a Canadian businessman, sportsman, thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder, and philanthropist. He is best remembered for winning the first United States Triple ...

, trainer = John E. Madden
H. Guy Bedwell , record = Not found , earnings =

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

41,495 , race = Hopeful Purse (1918)
Laurel Oakwood Handicap (1918)
Wilmington Purse (1919)
Bellair Handicap (1919)

Gazelle Handicap 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-yea ...

(1919)

Kenner Stakes The Kenner Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run from 1870 through 1942 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Open to three-year-old horses, it was last contested at a distance of a mile and three sixteenths on dirt. I ...

(1919)

Black-Eyed Susan Stakes The George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies run over a distance of miles on the dirt annually at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The event currently offers a ...

(1919)

Pimlico Oaks {{Short description, Former horse race held at Pimlico Race Course in Maryland, US The Pimlico Oaks was a listed Thoroughbred horse race at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. Run at the beginning of April at a distance of 1 1/16 miles on ...

(1919)

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 ra ...

(1920)
Salem Handicap (1920)
Galway Handicap (1920)
Fourth of July Stakes (1920)
Great Neck Handicap (1920)
Mineola Handicap (1920) , awards = American Co-Champion 3-Year-Old Filly (1919)

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 ...

(1920) , honours = , updated= Milkmaid (foaled 1916 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 two-time

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...

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 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 ...

. She was bred by J. Hal Woodford at his farm in

Bourbon County, Kentucky Bourbon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,252. Its county seat is Paris. Bourbon County is part of the Lexington–Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is one of Ken ...

. Woodford had bred and raced the 1907

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 ...

winner,

Pink Star Pink Star (foaled 1904 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and was the winner of the 1907 Kentucky Derby. He was a grandson of 1883 Kentucky Derby winner Leonatus and his sire, Pink Coat, was an American Derby winner.Jim Bolus, ' ...

. Out of the mare, Nell Olin, her sire was the British import, Peep o' Day, a son of the great

who won the 1888

2,000 Guineas Stakes The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year at ...

and

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...

then just missed winning the British Triple Crown when he ran second in the

St. Leger Stakes The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a d ...

. Purchased at age two in 1918 by owner/trainer

, after winning the September 18th Hopeful Purse at

Havre de Grace Racetrack The Havre de Grace Racetrack was an American horse racing track on Post Road in Havre de Grace, Harford County, Maryland. Nicknamed "The Graw," it operated from August 24, 1912, to 1950. For a time, it was owned by the Harford Agricultural and B ...

he sold Milkmaid to

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

. Her race conditioning was then turned over to future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame trainer, Guy Bedwell.

1919 racing season

During an illustrious career in which she was frequently ridden by the great Hall of Fame jockey,

Earl Sande Earl Harold Sande (November 13, 1898 – August 19, 1968) was an American Hall of Fame jockey and thoroughbred horse trainer. Early life in South Dakota Born in Groton, South Dakota, Earl Sande started out as a bronco buster in the early 1900s b ...

, Milkmaid won races at both

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...

and longer distances. At age three and four her success against other fillies and mares resulted in her being saddled with high weight for most of her career. On April 21, 1919, Milkmaid won the Wilmington Purse at Havre de Grace Racetrack, defeating a field of colts with

and

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 ...

aspirations in a time that was just one-fifth of a second off the track record

In May, Milkmaid and her Kentucky Derby-winning stablemate

Sir Barton Sir Barton (April 26, 1916 – October 30, 1937) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the first winner of the American Triple Crown. Background Sir Barton was a chestnut colt bred in 1916, in Kentucky, by John E. Madden at H ...

were entered in the Preakness Stakes. Milkmaid finished eighth but according to a June 27, 1994 ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' article, jockey Earl Sande was "told to veer Milkmaid in at the start, break up the alignment of the field and allow Sir Barton time to get a good position.

Sir Barton proved he didn't need Milkmaid's help to win the Preakness and went on to capture that year's United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, U.S. Triple Crown. However, on an equal footing as demonstrated in the Wilmington Purse, Milkmaid had great success against

colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: *Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People * Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places *Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States ...

s including a win in the 1919

Saratoga Race Course Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting venue of any kind in the country, but is actua ...

in which she beat Sam Hildreth's top colt, Cirrus. Burdened with fourteen more pounds than Harry Payne Whitney's winning filly

Vexatious Vexatious litigation is legal action which is brought solely to harass or subdue an adversary. It may take the form of a primary frivolous lawsuit or may be the repetitive, burdensome, and unwarranted filing of meritless motions in a matter which ...

, Milkmaid ran second in the 1919

Alabama Stakes The Alabama Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race open to three-year-old fillies. Inaugurated in 1872, the Grade I race is run over a distance of one and one-quarter miles on the dirt track at Saratoga Race Course. Held in mid August, it cu ...

at Saratoga. Milkmaid's 1919 performances resulted in her being voted

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 ...

1920 racing season

On August 19, 1920, racing against males, four-year-old Milkmaid set a new

track record for seven

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hors ...

s

A few weeks later on September 3, she set another track record against males in winning the Great Neck Handicap at a distance of a mile and a sixteenth at

Belmont Park Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905. It is operated by the non-profit New York Racin ...

For 1920, Milkmaid earned

honors.

As a broodmare

Retired to

broodmare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

duty at her owner's

Yarrow Brae Stud ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

farm in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, Milkmaid produced two foals from J.K. L. Ross's stallion,

Cudgel A club (also known as a cudgel, baton, bludgeon, truncheon, cosh, nightstick, or impact weapon) is a short staff or stick, usually made of wood, wielded as a weapon since prehistoric times. There are several examples of blunt-force trauma caused ...

. Her colt, Lactarius, was born in 1924 and raced for J.K. L. Ross, notably winning the

Connaught Cup Stakes The Connaught Cup Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Run in late May, the Grade II race is open to horses aged four and older. Raced over a distance of seven furlongs on turf, it c ...

. Financial problems resulted in J.K.L. Ross liquidating his racing stable and in August 1926 Milkmaid was sold at a Saratoga auction. Her second foal was born to her new owners in 1927. Named Milkman, the colt had modest success racing but as a sire did produce a number of successful runners.

References

Milkmaid's pedigree and partial racing stats

* ttps://www.nytimes.com/1920/06/04/archives/milkmaid-again-wins-at-belmont-rosss-filly-captures-ladies-handicap.html June 4, 1920 ''New York Times'' article on Milkmaid's win in the Ladies Handicap 1916 racehorse births Thoroughbred family 2-c Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Horse racing track record setters American Champion racehorses