{{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Quicken Tree , image = , caption = , sire = Royal Orbit , grandsire =

Royal Charger Royal Charger (1942–1961) was a British Thoroughbred that was successful as a horse racing, racehorse, but much more important as a Horse breeding#Terminology, sire. Background Royal Charger was a chestnut horse sired by the important stallio ...

, dam = Mother Wit , damsire =

Counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

, sex =

Gelding A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, makin ...

, foaled = 1963 , country = United States , colour =

Chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

, breeder = Louis R. Rowan , owner =

Louis R. Rowan Louis R. Rowan (September 27, 1911 – September 28, 1988) was an American businessman and Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse owner and breeder. A native of California, Rowan was educated in England. In 1968, along with Clement L. Hirsch and Dr. ...

/ Wheelock Whitney, Jr. , trainer = 1)

Clyde Turk Clyde Turk (November 15, 1907 – April 24, 1995) was an American jockey and trainer of thoroughbred racehorses. He began riding horses in the 1920s and in 1929 was riding at the new Agua Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico. He competed at trac ...

2) William T. Canney , record = 74: 15-9-13 , 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 ...

718,303 , race = Escondido Handicap (1966)
Tropicana Hotel of Las Vegas Handicap (1966)

Display Handicap The Display Handicap was an American long distance Thoroughbred horse race held annually from 1955 through 1990. A race for 3-year-olds and up, it was run at the Jamaica Race Course from inception through 1958 at a distance of 2 miles. In 1959 th ...

(1967, 1969)

Inglewood Handicap The Last Tycoon Stakes (formerly known as the Inglewood Handicap) is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in late April at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. First run in 1938, the race is open to horses three years old ...

(1967)

Rancho Bernardo Handicap The Rancho Bernardo Handicap is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares age three and older run over a distance of six and one half furlongs on the dirt held annually in August at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, Californi ...

(1967)
Del Mar Handicap (1968)
Jockey Club Gold Cup (1968)

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 ...

(1968)

San Luis Obispo Handicap The San Luis Obispo Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The race is open to horses age four and up, willing to race one and one-half miles on the turf. A Grade II event, it offer ...

(1969)
Santa Anita Handicap (1970)

San Juan Capistrano Invitational Handicap The San Juan Capistrano Stakes is a Grade III American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of run on the turf track held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California in June. The event currently offers a purse o ...

(1970) , awards = , honours = , updated= Quicken Tree (April 18, 1963 – October 22, 1970) 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 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 ...

known for his come-from-behind style of running and his ability to win at classic and marathon distances. His

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

breeder, Louis Rowan, a co-founder of the

Oak Tree Racing Association The Oak Tree Racing Association is an American nonprofit corporation that exists to conduct live thoroughbred horse racing in Southern California. Graded Stakes races at the Oak Tree meet Since Oak Tree Racing moved to Hollywood Park in 2010, some ...

, named the horse after one of the folk names given to the

Rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus ''Sorbus'' is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Species of ''Sorbus'' (''s.l.'') are commonly known as whitebeam, r ...

plant.

Background

Quicken Tree was foaled in California at Louis Rowan's Summit Lake Farm. He was sired by 1959

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 ...

winner Royal Orbit, a grandson of

Nearco Nearco (January 24, 1935 – June 27, 1957) was an Italian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse described by ''Thoroughbred Heritage'' as "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century" and "one of the most important sires of the century." He ...

whom ''

Thoroughbred Heritage The National Sporting Library & Museum or NSLM (formerly the National Sporting Library) is a research library and art museum in Middleburg, Virginia in the United States. History The National Sporting Library was founded in 1954 in the personal ...

'' calls "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century"

Louis Rowan owned Quicken Tree's dam, Mother Wit, a daughter of 1951

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 ...

, who was a son of 1943 U.S. Triple Crown champion and

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

inductee Count Fleet. Rowan, a co-founder of the

, raced him in partnership with Wheelock Whitney, Jr.

Racing career

Quicken Tree was extremely high-strung, and trainer

had a great deal of difficulty training him. The decision was then made to geld the horse. The operation changed little, but time and patience paid off, and Quicken Tree made his racing debut at age three in January 1966. Still skittish, he had problems in the starting gate and froze at the sound of the bell. After departing well behind the rest of the field, he finished last. His "freezing up" at the sound of the starting bell plagued him throughout his racing career. Nonetheless, Quicken Tree's problem meant come-from-behind performances that made him a crowd favorite. He won for the first time in his fourth start, after which he performed poorly and was entered in claiming races. Nearing the end of Quicken Tree's three-year-old campaign, he won a division of the Escondido Handicap at Del Mar Racetrack and the Tropicana Hotel of Las Vegas Handicap at Bay Meadows Racetrack. In early 1967,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

sportsman Wheelock Whitney, Jr. purchased a part interest in the then-four-year-old. That year, Quicken Tree won two important handicaps in California, then captured the two-mile

Aqueduct Racetrack Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone Park and Jamaica, Queens, Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack locate ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 1968, he won in California and earned the biggest wins of his career to that point on New York racetracks, where he competed against such stars as future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductees

Dr. Fager Dr. Fager (April 6, 1964 – August 5, 1976) was an American thoroughbred racehorse who had what many consider one of the greatest single racing seasons by any horse in the history of the sport. In 1968 at the age of four, he became the only hors ...

and

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

. Quicken Tree's 1968 wins included the Jockey Club Gold Cup at a distance of two miles and the

at a mile and a half. In 1969, Quicken Tree added to his resume. In 1970, trainer Clyde Turk's assistant, William Canney, took over the horse's race conditioning. Under Canney, he continued to win, and, twenty years after Noor won both the 1¼ mile Santa Anita Handicap and the 1¾ mile

, Quicken Tree became the only other horse to accomplish that feat.

Injury and death

His win in the San Juan Capistrano Invitational Handicap (a dead heat with Fiddle Isle) was his last victory. Although he recovered following an operation to repair a cracked

sesamoid bone In anatomy, a sesamoid bone () is a bone embedded within a tendon or a muscle. Its name is derived from the Arabic word for ' sesame seed', indicating the small size of most sesamoids. Often, these bones form in response to strain, or can be pres ...

that occurred when he kicked the wall in his stall, he developed a case of enteritis and died in his stall at Santa Anita Park on October 22, 1970. He was buried next to Lamb Chop near the mile and a quarter chute at Santa Anita Park.

References

Quicken Tree's pedigree and partial racing stats

Profile of Quicken Tree by
Avalyn Hunter. 1963 racehorse births 1970 racehorse deaths Thoroughbred family 5-j Racehorses bred in California Racehorses trained in the United States