Thinking Cap (1952-1976) 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 who successfully competed in major races from one mile to more than two miles.

Background

Out of the Heliopolis mare Camargo, Thinking Cap was sired by Rosemont who in turn was sired by the 1937

Leading sire in North America The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the year. It is restricted to stallions which are based in N ...

, The Porter. Bred and raced by the Christiana Stables of Harry Lunger and his wife

Jane du Pont Lunger Jane du Pont Lunger (June 20, 1914 - September 18, 2001) was an American heiress, philanthropist, and an owner/breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses. A sixth-generation member of Delaware's prominent Du Pont family, her father, Philip Francis du Pon ...

, Thinking Cap was trained by U. S. Hall of Fame inductee Henry S. Clark.

Racing career

In his first year of racing at age two,

Douglas Dodson Douglas Allan Dodson (December 21, 1921 - February, 1982) was a Champion jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. Early life Douglas Dodson was born in Pickardville, Alberta, Canada, the son of James Floyd and Emma Dodson. His family moved t ...

rode Thinking Cap to his most important win in the 1954

Pimlico Futurity The Laurel Futurity is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late September at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland. Run over a distance of miles on turf, at one time it was a Grade I stakes race on dirt, and one of the riches ...

. Run over a muddy track, it would prove to be a surface he would do exceptionally well on throughout his career. Ridden by jockey Paul Bailey, Thinking Cap won two of the top stakes for 3-year-olds over muddy tracks, taking the

Travers Stakes The Travers Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Mid-Summer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds according to internation ...

in August and the

Lawrence Realization Stakes The Lawrence Realization Stakes was an American horse race first run on the turf in 1889. The race, for three-year-old Thoroughbred colts, geldings and fillies, was last run in 2005. History Inaugurated at the Sheepshead Bay Race Track at Gravese ...

in October. Racing at age four and five, Thinking Cap continued to show his strength as a distance runner. Again with Paul Bailey aboard, in 1956 he won the mile and one-half Stymie Handicap at

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 ...

and the grueling mile and three-quarters

Merchants and Citizens Handicap The Merchants and Citizens Handicap is a discontinued American Thoroughbred horse race which was first run in 1900 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Open to horses aged three and older, it was contested on dirt. The inaugural ...

. In his last year of racing, Thinking Cap won the 1957 Southampton Handicap at Belmont Park. Ridden by

Eldon Nelson Glen Eldon Nelson (January 28, 1927 - March 16, 2012) was an American jockey in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing who competed primarily at tracks on the East Coast of the United States and who is best known for winning the 1972 Preakness St ...

, the race was contested on a sloppy track over a distance of a mile and one-half.

At stud

Retired to stand at stud for the Lungers, Thinking Cap sired a number of horses that made it into racing from which only his son

Smart Smart or SMART may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014 * Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com * ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper * ''SMart'', a children's television ser ...

was able to achieve his sire's level of success. Smart, a 1959 chestnut colt whose

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

was Enchanted Eve, inherited Thinking Cap's endurance with wins in such top level races at a mile and one-quarter or more such as the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Gallant Fox Gallant Fox (March 23, 1927 – November 13, 1954) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the second winner of the American Triple Crown. In a racing career which lasted from 1929 to 1930, Gallant Fox won 11 of his 17 races includ ...

, and

Massachusetts Handicap The Massachusetts Handicap, frequently referred to as the "MassCap", was a flat thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and up held annually at Suffolk Downs in East Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was an ungraded stakes race run o ...

s, the latter he won back-to-back in 1964 and 1965.

References

{{reflist 1952 racehorse births 1976 racehorse deaths Thoroughbred racehorses Racehorses bred in the United States Racehorses trained in the United States American racehorses Thoroughbred family 4-r Du Pont racehorses