Pucker Up (1953) was an American

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 ...

racing

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 four ...

. She was bred by Dan and Ada Rice's Danada Farm, and raced under Mrs. Rice's name. Her training was handled by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Jimmy Conway and his assistant, Al Robertson. Racing in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, in July she won the

Arlington Matron Handicap The Matron Stakes is an American Grade III flat horse race for Thoroughbred fillies and mares, aged three years and upward. Raced over a distance of 9 furlongs on the dirt at Arlington Park, Arlington Heights, Illinois every spring. It currentl ...

and in early September the

Washington Park Handicap The Washington Park Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the first week of September at Arlington Park Racetrack in Arlington Heights, Illinois. A Grade III event open to horses age three and older, it is contest ...

. and then on September 21 the

Beldame Handicap The Beldame Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares three-years-old and up. Inaugurated in 1939, it was run as a handicap prior to 1960. The race is held annually near the beginning of October at Belmont Park and cur ...

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 ...

in Elmont, New York. After winning the October 17 Spinster Stakes Prep at

Keeneland Keeneland Association, Inc. is an equine business based in Lexington, Kentucky. It includes two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex. It is also known for it ...

she finished second to Bornastar in the Spinster Stakes. Pucker Up was voted American Champion Older Female Horse of 1957. In 1961,

Arlington Park Racetrack Arlington International Racecourse (formerly Arlington Park, the name was Arlington Park Jockey Club from as soon as 1948 up to 1955) was a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago regio ...

honored her with the

Pucker Up Stakes The Pucker Up Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-old Filly, fillies held annually in early September at Arlington Park race track near Chicago, Illinois. A Graded stakes race, Grade III event, it is contested over a distance o ...

, a race on turf for three-year-old fillies.Chicago Daily Tribune, August 2, 1961
/ref> 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 ...

service at Danada Farm, of six foals Pucker Up's best runner was the filly Plucky Plan who was sired by

Bold Ruler Bold Ruler (April 6, 1954 – July 11, 1971) was an American Thoroughbred National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame racehorse who was the 1957 American Horse of the Year, Horse of the Year. This following a three-year-old campaign t ...

and who won the 1968 New Castle Stakes.

References

{{reflist
Pucker Up's pedigree and partial racing stats
1953 racehorse births Thoroughbred family 23-a Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States American Champion racehorses