Nashua (April 14, 1952 – February 3, 1982) was an

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-born

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 ...

, best remembered for a 1955

match race A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head. In sailboat racing it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams consis ...

against Swaps, the horse that had defeated him 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 ...

Background

Nashua's sire was the European champion Nasrullah. The dam was Segula, a broodmare who has had influence through her female descendants.

Racing career

Owned by William Woodward, Jr.'s famous

Belair Stud Belair Stud was an American thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm founded by Provincial Governor of Maryland Samuel Ogle in 1747 in Collington, Prince George's County, Maryland, in Colonial America. Colonial period Queen Mab and S ...

Bowie, Maryland Bowie () is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 58,329. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous c ...

, Nashua was trained by

Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons James Edward "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons (July 23, 1874 – March 11, 1966) was a Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Early life Born in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn in 1874, Fitzsimmons began his career in 1885 working at a racetrack as a stable boy. After ...

and ridden by

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

Eddie Arcaro George Edward Arcaro (February 19, 1916 – November 14, 1997), was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who won more American classic races than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Tripl ...

. As a two-year-old in 1954, Nashua entered eight races, winning six and finishing second twice, which earned him champion 2-year-old honors. The following year he earned United States Horse of the Year awards from the Thoroughbred Racing Association (with 21 of the 40 votes), and the publishers of

Daily Racing Form The ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) (referred to as the ''Racing Form'' or "Form" and sometimes "telegraph" or "telly") is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of race ...

U.S. Triple Crown series

Nashua was the betting favorite to win the 1955 Kentucky Derby but was beaten by the second choice, Swaps. In the 1955 Preakness Stakes, second leg of the Triple Crown, Swaps did not run and Nashua won by a length over a surprisingly strong challenge by Marion duPont Scott's colt, Saratoga. Nashua's time of 1:54 3/5 for the mile and three-sixteenth race on dirt broke the Pimlico track record. Swaps 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 ...

and Nashua, the overwhelming choice of the bettors, romped home nine lengths ahead of his nearest rival Blazing Count with Porterville another five and on-half behind them. In what would become Nashua's most famous race, he defeated Swaps in an August 31, 1955

at Chicago's

Washington Park Race Track Washington Park Race Track was a popular horse 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 Washington Park Subdiv ...

. Nashua would be voted the 1955

American Horse of the Year The American Award for Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to sanction the various awards, "Hor ...

New owners

Following the death of William Woodward Jr., the

horses were auctioned off. In 1955, a syndicate purchased Nashua for a record $1,251,200 from the Woodward estate, with majority interests owned by Christopher J. Devine (senior partner and founder of C.J. Devine & Co.); Leslie Combs II; and John Wesley Hanes II, an

Under Secretary of the Treasury The United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, in the United States government, advises and assists the Secretary of the Treasury in the supervision and direction of the Department of the Treasury and its activities, and succeeds the Secret ...

in the

Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

, the head of the

New York Racing Association The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) is the not-for-profit corporation that operates the three largest Thoroughbred horse racing tracks in the state of New York, United States: Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens; Belmont Park ...

and a part owner in the company that made

Hanes Hanes (founded in 1900) and Hanes Her Way (founded in 1985) is a brand of clothing. History Hanes was founded in 1900 by John Wesley Hanes (one of Winston-Salem's wealthiest and most influential business men) at Winston, North Carolina under th ...

hosiery and underwear. In 1956 the syndicate leased Nashua to Combs to race under the Combs colors.

Retirement

At the end of his 1956 season, after thirty career races with a record of 22–4–1, Nashua was retired to stand at stud at

Spendthrift Farm Spendthrift Farm is a thoroughbred race horse breeding farm and burial site in Lexington, Kentucky, currently owned by Eric & Tammy Gustavson. It was founded by Leslie Combs II and named for the great stallion Spendthrift, who was owned by Combs' a ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. He retired as only the second horse to earn more than $1 million. His earnings of $1,288,565 surpassed the great Citation's record and stood as the earnings mark until surpassed by

Round Table The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...

in the autumn of 1958. At stud, Nashua was consistent, though his fillies were usually better runners than his colts. His progeny included the Hall of Fame racemare

Shuvee Shuvee (January 22, 1966 – April 1, 1986) was an American Thoroughbred Eclipse Award, Champion National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame horse racing, racehorse. Background Shuvee was a chestnut mare bred in Virginia by Whitney ...

, Gold Digger (the dam of Mr. Prospector), and

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...

winner Beldale Ball. In 1965, Nashua was inducted into the

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...

. In ''

The Blood-Horse ''BloodHorse'' is a multimedia news organization covering Thoroughbred racing and breeding that started with a newsletter first published in 1916 as a monthly bulletin put out by the Thoroughbred Horse Association.

'' ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, he was ranked 24. Nashua died in 1982 and is buried at

. In the mid-eighties, the farm commissioned a statue to be raised over him. The sculptor was Liza Todd, the daughter of

Mike Todd Michael Todd (born Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen; June 22, 1909 – March 22, 1958) was an American theater and film producer, best known for his 1956 production of ''Around the World in 80 Days'', which won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Actr ...

and

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

. In 2010, sportswriter Bill Christine wrote that Nashua "...belongs on that short list of best horses never to have won the Kentucky Derby".Christine, B. (October 23, 2010). Death Killed a Sports Illustrated Cover
horseraceinsider.com
Retrieved January 23, 2015.

Pedigree

References

External links

Nashua's pedigree
* Bowen, Edward L. ''Nashua'' (2001)

Eclipse Press Blood-Horse Publications is an American multimedia publishing house focused on horse-related magazines headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. It began in 1916 through its flagship magazine, ''The Blood-Horse''. From 1961 to 2015, Blood-Horse Publica ...

{{Authority control 1952 racehorse births 1982 racehorse deaths Racehorses trained in the United States Horse racing track record setters Racehorses bred in Kentucky American Thoroughbred Horse of the Year United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Preakness Stakes winners Belmont Stakes winners American Champion racehorses Horse monuments Thoroughbred family 3-m Chefs-de-Race