Top Row (foaled in 1931) was an American
Thoroughbred 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 ...
who, during three years of racing, set two
track records, one of which was a
world record, and won the then world's richest horse race.
Bred by
Mrs. Elsie Cassatt Stewart, daughter of businessman and Thoroughbred racehorse owner,
Alexander Cassatt, Top Row was claimed by trainer
Bert Baroni for $3,500. At age three in 1934 the colt set a new world record of 1:42 for a mile and a sixteenth on dirt in winning the
San Francisco Handicap at
Bay Meadows Racetrack in
San Mateo, California
San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...
,
beat the great and future
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
Discovery to win the prestigious
Narragansett Special in 1935, won the 1935
Christmas Stakes at
Santa Anita Park in a
track record time of 1:35 4/5 for a mile on dirt, and in 1936 won the
Santa Anita Handicap, the then world's richest horse race. Top Row's earnings for 1936 played the major role in making his damsire
High Time the
Leading broodmare sire in North America.
Thoroughbred Heritage
/ref>
Top Row was retired to stud duty in California where he met with modest success as a sire
Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French.
The words "sire" a ...
.
References
{{reflist
Top Row's pedigree and partial racing stats
1931 racehorse births
Thoroughbred family 5-c
Racehorses bred in Virginia
Racehorses trained in the United States
Horse racing track record setters