Temperence Hill (March 1977 – June 2003) was a

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, a ...

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 ...

racehorse.

Background

Temperence Hill was a bay horse 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 Dr. Albert F. Polk, Jr.'s Oriskany Farm. He was sired by Stop The Music out of the Etonian mare, Sister Shannon. He was named for a 19th-century Arkansas

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

church that his owner's ancestors attended. Temperence Hill was consigned to the 1978 Keeneland September yearling sale, where he was purchased and raced by

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

lumberman John Ed Anthony and his former wife, Mary Lynn Dudley under their

Loblolly Stable Loblolly Stable was a Thoroughbred horse breeding and racing stable in Lake Hamilton, Arkansas owned by businessman John Ed Anthony and his former wife Mary Lynn. The stable's first top runner was Cox's Ridge who won important races in 1977 an ...

colors. He was trained throughout his career by Joseph B. Cantey.

Racing career

After showing strong potential throughout the spring of 1980, with wins in Kentucky Derby prep races, the

Rebel Stakes The Rebel Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt run annually in March, at Oaklawn Park Race Track in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The event currently off ...

and

Arkansas Derby The Arkansas Derby is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in April at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is currently a Grade I race run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles (9 furlongs) on dirt. In 200 ...

, Temperence Hill's breakthrough performance came in the 1980 Belmont Stakes where he defeated Kentucky Derby winner Genuine Risk and

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 ...

winner Codex at odds of 53-1. He went on to win several additional

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

stakes and was voted Champion three-year-old of 1980.

Stud record

Temperence Hill was retired after the 1981 racing season with career earnings of $1,567,650. He was syndicated and began his stallion career near Lexington, Kentucky at Gainesway Farm. In the early 1990s he was moved to

Bonnerdale, Arkansas Bonnerdale is an unincorporated community in Hot Spring County, Arkansas, United States. Bonnerdale is located on U.S. Route 70 in far western Hot Spring County, east-northeast of Glenwood. Bonnerdale has a post office with ZIP code 71933.

where he stood at D-Lan Farms and then Starr Farm. In the fall of 1996, he was sold to Thailand's only thoroughbred farm owner, Police General Sharlie Pekanan. Temperence Hill died peacefully in 2003 at SawangJai Farm 2 hours from Bangkok along the Friendship Highway near

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. In 16 seasons of breeding in North America, Temperence Hill sired 3 foreign champions, 39 stakes winners, and 433 winners from 602 starters with total earnings of $26,538,905. The best of his runners was Temperate Sil who won the 1986

Hollywood Futurity The Los Alamitos Futurity is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-olds run over a distance distance of one and one sixteenth miles ( furlongs) on the dirt held annually in early December at Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, ...

and in 1987, the

Santa Anita Derby The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is currently run at a distance of miles on the dirt and carries a purse of $400,000. It is one ...

and the Swaps Stakes.

Pedigree

References

{{reflist 1977 racehorse births 2003 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Belmont Stakes winners Eclipse Award winners Thoroughbred family 4-f