Willie The Kid

{{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Willie the Kid , image = , caption = , sire = Roselyon , grandsire =

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, dam = Mintwina , damsire = Mint Briar , sex =

Stallion A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" nec ...

, foaled = 1937 , country = Canada , colour =

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

, breeder = William F. Morrissey , owner = Mildred A. Kane , trainer =

Gordon J. McCann Gordon J. "Pete" McCann (1908 – January 18, 2000) was a Canadians, Canadian Thoroughbred horse trainer. He was born in East York, now part of the city of Toronto. Known to his family as Gordon, in racing circles he was nicknamed Pete. Pete ...

, record = 10: 3-4-0 , earnings = $9,765 , race = Canadian Classic Race wins:

King's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of ...

(1940) , awards= , honours = , updated= Willie the Kid (foaled 1937 in Ontario) was a Canadian 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 ...

best known for winning the eighty-first running of the

, Canada's most important race. Bred by Willie Morrissey, Willie the Kid got his owner's nickname. He was out of the mare Mintwina, who was also the dam of Morrissey's Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Bunty Lawless. He was sired by Roselyon who had sired the 1930 King's Plate winner, Aymond. Roselyon was a son of the 1911

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...

winner and

British Horseracing Hall of Fame Palace House is the home of the National Horse Racing Museum in the remaining part of Charles II's racing palace in Newmarket, Suffolk, England. It is home to the National Horse Racing Museum, the British Sporting Art Trust and Retraining of Rac ...

inductee,

. Willie the Kid raced under the name of Willie Morrissey's girlfriend, Miss Mildred A. Kane. Trained by Gordon McCann, the oft-injured colt did not race at age two but as a three-year-old won three times in ten starts. In the May 18, 1940

he beat a field that included

Curwen Curwen is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Dame Anne Curwen (1889–1973), National General Secretary, YWCA of Great Britain *Annie Jessy Curwen (1845–1932), an author of books of instruction in music and piano playi ...

, the

Harry Hatch Harold Clifford "Harry" Hatch (1884–1946) was a millionaire industrialist from Prince Edward County, Ontario specializing in the business of wine and spirits. Hatch started out with a small liquor store in Whitby, Ontario and prospered to t ...

-owned colt who had been sent off as the betting favorite. The victory marked the first time a female owner won the Plate, and it was the first of six career Plate wins for trainer Gordon McCann. In the ensuing

Prince of Wales Stakes The Prince of Wales Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Fort Erie Race Track in Fort Erie, Ontario. Restricted to only three-year-old horses bred in Canada, it is contested on dirt over a distance of miles (1.9 km; ...

, Willie the Kid again beat third-place finisher Curwen but was second to race winner, Hood. Willie the Kid came out of the race with an injury that ended his racing career. He was retired to stud duty but was not a success. 1937 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Ontario Racehorses trained in Canada King's Plate winners Thoroughbred family 23-b