My Juliet (1972–2001) 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 ...
champion
racehorse who defeated both male and female competitors when earning the
Eclipse Award for Outstanding Sprint Horse in 1976. She was inducted into the
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2019.
Background
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 ...
by J. R. Betterworth, My Juliet was a bay mare who stood . She was out of the
mare
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 fo ...
My Bupers, who never won a race. My Bupers later became famous as the dam of
Snaafi Dancer
Snaafi Dancer (foaled February 25, 1982) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first yearling to sell for more than US$10 million ($ million in current dollars).
Breeding
Bred by Donald T. Johnson under the name of his Crescent Farm, he was ...
, by Northern Dancer, who was sold for a then world record of $10.2 million.
Her
sire was Gallant Romeo, the multiple stakes winning son of
U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee
Gallant Man
Gallant Man (March 20, 1954 – September 7, 1988) was a thoroughbred racehorse, named for a horse in a Don Ameche movie. He was one of the most successful racehorses foaled outside the United States with his near miss in the 1957 Kentuck ...
. Gallant Romeo also sired Gallant Bob who earned 1975 Champion Sprint Horse honors.
My Juliet was purchased by Rex Ladd (of Merino, Colorado) as a yearling in California for just $7,500,
then was privately purchased at age two by George Weasel, Jr. for $40,000.
My Juliet was initially trained by Steve A. Long, Leland G. Ripley then again by Long. Both raced her from a base at
Keystone Racetrack (now known as Philadelphia Park Racetrack). Eugene Euster took over during her three-year-old season.
Two-year-old season
She began her career in racing as a two-year-old in 1974, scoring four wins in five starts. She made her debut at Fonner Park in
Grand Island, Nebraska, finishing second. She won the remaining four starts, including her first important win at
Churchill Downs in the
Pocahontas Stakes.
Three-year-old season
In the spring of 1975, My Juliet suffered the only three-race losing streak in her career when she finished second in the Ashland, third in the La Troienne and tenth in the Kentucky Oaks.
On May 16, My Juliet's connections decided to run her in the what was then the de facto second jewel of the filly triple crown, the
Grade II $65,000
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 ...
at
Pimlico Race Course
Pimlico Race Course is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Ol ...
. That day in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
My Juliet beat a strong field of six stakes winners including favorite Gala Lil and Funalon. She completed the one and one sixteenth mile race on dirt in 1:44.00 under jockey Alan Hill.
Just 13 days later, Long dropped her back in distance to six furlongs in the Miss Woodford Stakes. My Juliet ran the first quarter-mile in "an of unheard of" 20 seconds, and completed the half-mile in an "astounding" 43 seconds. Although she tired in the final furlong to finish fifth (beaten by just four lengths), she earned the respect of sportswriter
Steve Haskin, who called her something special.
My Juliet spent the rest of the year travelling between racetracks large and small from the East Coast to Nebraska. One of her biggest wins was the then
Grade II Cotillion Handicap at Keystone. She also won the
Dogwood Stakes
The Dogwood Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies run over a distance of seven furlongs held annually in late May or early June at Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky.
History
The event ...
at Churchill Downs, the Ak-Sar-Ben Princess at
Ak-sar-ben, the
Test Stakes
The Test Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race open to three-year-old fillies and run each summer at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is contested at a distance of seven furlongs on the dirt and is an influenti ...
at Saratoga, the Fair Haven Handicap at Monmouth Park, the Anne Arundel Handicap at Monmouth and the Next Move Handicap at Aqueduct. She ended the year winning nine of fifteen starts and established herself as one of the top sprinters of either sex racing in the United States.
My Juliet was rated at 123 pounds by the ''Daily Racing Form'' in their Free Handicap for three-year-old fillies, second to the great
Ruffian.
Four-year-old season
My Juliet began her four-year-old campaign in California, finishing third in the
Malibu Stakes
The Malibu Stakes is a race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses of either gender held each December at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The race is at a distance of seven furlongs '' and is the first leg of Santa Anita Park's Strub Seri ...
on January 10, 1976. She returned to the east coast to win an overnight handicap at Aqueduct before finishing eighth in the Gallorette Handicap. She then won the
Vagrancy Handicap
The Vagrancy Handicap is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares that are three years old and older run over a distance of furlongs on the dirt track held annually in late May or early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, Ne ...
for fillies and mares at
Belmont Park but fractured a foreleg while doing so. Out of racing for more than five months, she came back to beat
Kentucky Derby and
Belmont Stakes winner
Bold Forbes
Bold Forbes (March 31, 1973 – August 9, 2000) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse, winner of the 1976 Kentucky Derby and 1976 Belmont Stakes.
Background
Bold Forbes was a bay horse bred in Kentucky by Lee Eaton. Bold Forbes' dam Comely Nel ...
and other males in winning the
Vosburgh Stakes
The Vosburgh Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Run at the end of September/early October, it is open to horses three-years-old and up of either gender. A Grade II sprint race, it is ...
, also at Belmont Park. At a time when there was only one
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse.
An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is made by a few small selected American ...
for horses of either sex in the Sprint category, My Juliet was voted the
American Champion Sprint Horse of 1976.
My Juliet returned to race at age five. She began her campaign on January 1 in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
with a win against a field of females in the
Las Flores Handicap
The Las Flores Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the first week of April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. In 2015, due to the 2013 closing of Hollywood Park Racetrack and extensive rescheduling, the rac ...
at
Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...
. She went on to win the 1977
Endine Stakes at
Delaware Park, again against a field of females, plus defeated males in winning both the Neshaminy Handicap at
Keystone Racetrack and in the
Michigan Mile And One-Eighth Handicap
The Michigan Mile And One-Eighth Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at the now defunct Detroit Race Course in Livonia, Michigan. A one time Grade II event raced on dirt, it was open to horses age three and older.
First ...
at
Detroit Race Course. In the Neshaminy Handicap, she broke the track record by four-fifths of a second with a time of 1:14 for furlongs.
Retirement
My Juliet retired a winner of twenty-four races, of which seventeen were stakes. She won at 14 different racetracks in 10 states: Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, California, Illinois, Nebraska, Delaware and Michigan.
As a
broodmare in Kentucky, she produced ten named foals of which eight were winners. Her most notable foals were both by
Alydar
Alydar (March 23, 1975 – November 15, 1990) was an American Thoroughbred race horse and sire. A chestnut colt, he was most famous for finishing a close second to Affirmed in all three races of the 1978 Triple Crown. With each successive ...
:
* Tis Juliet (b. 1986) - won the
Shuvee Handicap
* Stella Madrid (b. 1987) - won the
Frizette,
Spinaway,
Matron
Matron is the job title of a very senior or the chief nurse in several countries, including the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and other Commonwealth countries and former colonies.
Etymology
The chief nurse, in other words the person ...
and
Acorn Stakes
The Acorn Stakes is an American Grade I race at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies. It is raced on dirt over a distance of one mile with a current purse of $500,000. It is the first leg of the US Triple Tiar ...
. also a stakes-producing broodmare
My Juliet died at age twenty-nine in November 2001.
''Philadelphia Inquirer'' - November 16, 2001
/ref> She raced for most of her career from a base at Philadelphia Park Racetrack (formerly known as Keystone Racetrack). In 1979, the track created the My Juliet Stakes and built the My Juliet Café in the Picnic Grove in her honor.
She was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2019.
Pedigree
References
My Juliet's pedigree and partial racing stats
{{reflist
1972 racehorse births
2001 racehorse deaths
Racehorses bred in Kentucky
Racehorses trained in the United States
Eclipse Award winners
Thoroughbred family 6-a
United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees