Twilight Tear (1941–1954) was an American Hall of Fame

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. At age two, she won four of her six starts, finishing second and third in her other two starts. Her performances earned her the title of 2-year-old filly honors in a poll by Turf and Sports Digest magazine. The rival

Daily Racing Form The ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) (referred to as the ''Racing Form'' or "Form" and sometimes "telegraph" or "telly") is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of raceh ...

award was won by Durazna. At three, Twilight Tear won fourteen out of seventeen races including eleven straight, beating both fillies and colts. In the prestigious

Pimlico Special The Pimlico Special is a Grade 3 American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of miles ( furlongs) held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland in mid May. The race currently offers a purse of $300,000. ...

she defeated

Devil Diver Devil Diver (1939–1961) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was twice voted American Champion Older Male Horse. Background Devil Diver was foaled at Mrs. Payne Whitney's Greentree Stable in Lexington, Kentucky. A bay colt by S ...

and Kentucky Derby 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

Pensive Pensive (February 5, 1941 – May 20, 1949) was a bright chestnut Thoroughbred racehorse that in 1944 won the first two legs of the U.S. Triple Crown. Pensive also began only the second sire line "hat trick" in the Kentucky Derby, as his son P ...

in a time that matched the record set by

Seabiscuit Seabiscuit (May 23, 1933 – May 17, 1947) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-horse ...

in the 1938 race. Her dominating performance in 1944 saw her named Horse of the Year by both the

and the Turf and Sport Digest. In the latter poll she received 121 of the possible 154 votes, with the second-placed Pavot receiving 20. In her first race at age four, Twilight Tear suffered respiratory tract problems and was retired to stand as a broodmare at Calumet Farm. In a poll among members of the American Trainers Association, conducted in 1955 by Delaware Park, she was voted the second greatest filly in American racing history. (

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 ...

was voted first.)

References

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Twilight Tear at the National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame

Twilight Tear's pedigree and stats
1941 racehorse births 1954 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States American Thoroughbred Horse of the Year United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Thoroughbred family 23-b