Behave Yourself (1918–1937), by Marathon out of Miss Ringlets (by Handball), 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 ...

racehorse. He was one of four Kentucky Derby winners owned by Colonel

Edward R. Bradley Edward Riley Bradley (December 12, 1859 – August 15, 1946) was an American steel mill laborer, gold miner, businessman and philanthropist. As well as a race track proprietor, he was the preeminent owner and breeder of Thoroughbred racehor ...

and was the upset winner of the 1921 Kentucky Derby over his stablemate Black Servant (also owned by Bradley).

Racing career: Kentucky Derby

Compared with Black Servant (a

Blue Grass Stakes The Blue Grass Stakes, currently the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes due to sponsorship by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is a horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. The race is ru ...

winner) Behave Yourself was a mediocre racehorse, only winning four races in his career. Behave Yourself's Derby win was very close and may have resulted from Black Servant's distraction by a spectator's hat thrown onto the track or, possibly, by Behave Yourself's jockey being overeager to win. Avalyn Hunter,''American Classic Pedigrees: 1914-2002'', Blood-Horse Publications, 2003 It was rumored that Edward R. Bradley was unhappy that his horse won because he ultimately lost money on the win (by betting heavily on Black Servant instead). Bradley also owned the sire of Black Servant,

Black Toney Black Toney (1911–1938) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire, owned and raced by Edward R. Bradley Background Black Toney was bred by James R. Keene's Castleton Lyons Farm. Keene, whose health was failing (he died in 1913), so ...

, and may have lost stud fees from the inferior colt's win.

Stud record

Behave Yourself was not considered a good sire, but he was rarely given the opportunity to breed because Bradley thought he had poorly conformed legs and did not want the trait to be perpetuated in his offspring. Bradley donated Behave Yourself to the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

cavalry remount service in 1930. He spent his remaining years, until his death in 1937, siring cavalry horses for the Army. He is buried in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne ...

at the Mark T. Cox ranch.

References

{{Kentucky Derby Winners 1918 racehorse births 1937 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Kentucky Derby winners Thoroughbred family A27

Racing career: Kentucky Derby

Stud record

See also

References