Pavot (January 27, 1942 - June 5, 1975) 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. In a career that lasted from 1944 to 1946 he ran thirty-two times and won fourteen races. He was the leader of his generation in 1944 when he was named
American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt The American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971.
The award originated in 1936 when the '' Daily Racing F ...
. The following year he recorded his most important win in the
Belmont Stakes.
Background
Bred and raced by
Walter M. Jeffords, Sr., he was sired by Case Ace, a successful runner at
sprint race distances. His dam was Coquelicot who was a daughter of
Man o' War
Man o' War (March 29, 1917 – November 1, 1947) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is widely regarded as the greatest racehorse of all time. Several sports publications, including ''The Blood-Horse'', ''Sports Illustrated'', ESPN, and t ...
. He was trained by
Oscar White.
Racing career
1944: two-year-old season
Pavot was undefeated in eight starts as a two-year-old in 1944. He was ridden by
U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey
George Woolf
George Monroe Woolf (May 31, 1910 – January 4, 1946), nicknamed "The Iceman", was a Canadian thoroughbred race horse jockey. An annual jockey's award given by the United States Jockeys' Guild is named in his honor. He became known for riding ...
in six of those wins including for his most important races including the
Saratoga Special Stakes
The Saratoga Special Stakes is an American grade II thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid-August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The race is for two-year-olds willing to race six furlongs on the dirt.
With its first r ...
in which he set a stakes record time that stood for the next thirty-one years. Pavot finished racing early that year with earnings totalling US$180,350 after his resounding win in the September 30th
Belmont Futurity
The Futurity Stakes, commonly referred to as the Belmont Futurity, is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid-September or October at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, United States. Open to two-year-old horses, it is raced on turf ...
from which he emerged with a badly cut hoof that kept him out of racing until June of the following year.
1945: three-year-old season
In late April 1945, Pavot was being made ready to run in the
Kentucky Derby, delayed that year by a month due to government imposed
wartime restrictions. However, he stepped on a pin which interrupted his race conditioning and as a result only made his first start as a three-year-old on June 6, 1945. After more than an eight-month absence from racing, the colt suffered the first loss of his career when he finished second by a nose to
Polynesian in the
Withers Mile at
Belmont Park.
Not entered in the mile and a quarter Kentucky Derby, on June 16 Pavot was sent to
Baltimore's 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 ...
to prepare for the 55th running of the
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 () o ...
. The colt showed he could handle the 1 3/16 miles Preakness distance with a workout of that length in 1:59 1/5. However, in the race, under jockey George Woolf he finished fifth to winner Polynesian.
Shipped to
Elmont, New York
Elmont is an unincorporated hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in northwestern Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States, along its border with the borough of Queens in New York City. The population was 35,265 at the 2 ...
for the mile and a half
Belmont Stakes, Pavot was ridden by
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. Triple ...
who guided him to a five-length win of the third and longest leg of the Triple Crown series. In his next outing, Pavot finished last in the July 15
Dwyer Stakes
The Dwyer Stakes is an American Grade III stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred racehorses held annually at Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, Long Island, New York. Run in early July, it is open to three-year-old horses and is raced over a ...
and was fourth in the August 11
Travers Stakes
The Travers Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Mid-Summer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds acco ...
, run that year at Belmont Park.
The Belmont Stakes would be Pavot's only major win of 1945 but in addition to the runnerup in the Withers Mile, he also earned seconds in both the
Whitney Handicap
The Whitney Stakes (run as the Whitney Handicap through 2013 and still sometimes referred to as such) is an American Grade 1 stakes race for Thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and older run at a distance of miles. The current purse is $1, ...
and the
Empire City Handicap
The Empire City Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race inaugurated on October 22, 1900, as part of the opening day racecard at Empire City Race Track in Yonkers, New York. Sometimes referred in newspaper reports as the Empire City Stakes ...
1946: four-year-old season
On April 25, Pavot made his first start of 1946, winning the Choptank 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 ...
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 ...
.
In mid June, he won the
Sussex Handicap at
Delaware Park Racetrack
Delaware Park (also known as ''DelPark'') is an American Thoroughbred horse racing track, casino, and golf course in Stanton, Delaware. It is located just outside the city of Wilmington, and about 30 miles from Philadelphia.
Thoroughbred racing ...
, defeating future Hall of Fame inductees,
Stymie
A stymie is an obsolete rule in the sport of golf. It legislated for the situation where a player's ball lay behind or blocked by another player's ball; the blocked player was not afforded relief. In the modern game, the blocking ball is temporar ...
and
Gallorette
Gallorette (1942–1959) was a Maryland-bred chestnut thoroughbred filly who became a Hall of Fame race horse. Sired by Challenger II, out of Gallette, Gallorette's damsire was Sir Gallahad III.
Breeding
Trainer Preston M. Burch bought Gal ...
. and on July 6 captured the
Massachusetts Handicap
The Massachusetts Handicap, frequently referred to as the "MassCap", was a flat thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and up held annually at Suffolk Downs in East Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was an ungraded stakes race run ...
at
Suffolk Downs in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
.
In early August Pavot won the
Wilson Stakes
The Wilson Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run from 1930 through 1958. Inaugurated as the Wilson Stakes at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, it was named in honor of the late Richard Thornton Wilson Jr., a pr ...
and in the September 14
Narragansett Special
The Narragansett Special was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Narragansett Park in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. At the time of its inaugural running in 1934, the Narragansett Special offered a purse of $32,500 added money making it ...
he ran second to
Lucky Draw
Lucky may refer to:
*An adjective of luck
Lucky may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' Lucky: No Time for Love'', a 2005 Hindi-language romance starring Salman Khan, Sneha Ullal, and Mithun Chakraborty
* ''Lucky'', a 2005 short film by Avi ...
in a
World Record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
time of 1:54 3/5 for 1 3/16 miles on dirt. Eleven days later, Pavot was second again, this time to Stymie in the
Manhattan Handicap
The Manhattan Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race raced annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is named for Manhattan, the principal borough of the City of New York. Currently offering a purse of $1,000,000, the Grade I Manh ...
at Belmont Park. In his last win of the year, on October 5 Pavot won the gruelling two-mile
Jockey Club Gold Cup
The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It has traditionally been the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the s ...
at Belmont Park.
Stud record
Pavot was retired to stand at
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 ...
at his owner's
Faraway Farm
Faraway Farm, also known as the Daniel Ropp House, is a historic home located near Martinsburg, Berkeley County, West Virginia. It was built about 1865 and is a two-story, "L"-shaped brick dwelling. It is five bays wide and the ell is four bays ...
on Huffman Mill Pike in
Lexington, Kentucky. As a sire, Pavot's progeny met with modest success in racing. Through his daughter, Ophelia Rose, Pavot is the damsire of the 1962
American Grand National Steeplechase winner and
Steeplechase Horse of the Year,
Barnaby's Bluff, the 1963 American Grand National winner,
Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following:
First nations and Native American people and culture
* Tuscarora people
**''Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960)
* Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people
* ...
, plus
Hollywood Gold Cup
The Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of miles on the dirt held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California in May. The race currently offers a purse of $400,000 ...
winner,
Dotted Swiss
Dotted Swiss (foaled 1956 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Hollywood Gold Cup in 1960. He was bred and raced by C. V. Whitney, a member of New York City's prominent Vanderbilt family. His dam was S ...
.
References
{{Belmont Stakes Winners
1942 racehorse births
Racehorses bred in Kentucky
Racehorses trained in the United States
Belmont Stakes winners
Thoroughbred family 10-a