Head Play (April 2, 1930 – December 11, 1954) 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 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 1933

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 Graded stakes race, Grade I race run over a distance of ...

, the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series of races and as the horse on the losing end of the "Fighting Finish" of the 1933 Kentucky Derby.

Early racing career

Trainer Willie Crump, a former top jockey, bought Head Play for $500 at a yearling sale and gave him to his wife Ruth to race under her name. At age two, Head Play broke his maiden in his second start. He went on to win the one and one sixteenth mile Hawthorne Juvenile Stakes in December at Hawthorne Race Course in

Cicero, Illinois Cicero (originally known as Hawthorne) is a suburb of Chicago and an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 85,268. making it the 11th largest municipality in Illinois. The town of Ci ...

, before being freshened over the winter. In his three-year-old season, with jockey Herb Fisher aboard he won the Derby Trial Stakes at one mile at

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was p ...

on opening weekend. After that impressive win, in which he beat a number of the Kentucky Derby eligibles, the Crumps accepted a $30,000 offer for the colt from Suzanne Mason, wife of construction contractor Silas B. Mason whose consortium built the

Grand Coulee Dam Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerho ...

. With jockey Fisher on Head Play again, he finished second by a nose to

Brokers Tip Brokers Tip (March 16, 1930 – July 14, 1953), by Black Toney out of the French mare Forteresse, was a Thoroughbred racehorse and the only horse in history whose sole win was in the Kentucky Derby. Kentucky Derby His Derby win went down in h ...

ridden by

Don Meade Donald Lawrence Meade (December 12, 1913 – December 22, 1996) was an American National Champion jockey. Called the "Bad Boy" of the sport by Time magazine because of his numerous suspensions and fines, he is widely known to this day as a result ...

after a battle between the two jockeys so severe they would both be suspended by the racing authorities. Convinced that Head Play would have won had it not been for the jockeys antics, his new connections entered Head Play in the $25,000

run at a mile and three sixteenth at Baltimore's

Pimlico Race Course Pimlico Race Course is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Ol ...

. In the time leading up to the race, he began uneasy in the paddock, bucking and exhibiting fractious behavior and was unable to be placed in the stall for saddling. In the race, he broke from gate four as the post time 2-1 favorite. He was immediately sent by his jockey

Charles Kurtsinger Charles Kurtsinger (November 16, 1906 – September 24, 1946) was an American Hall of Fame and National Champion jockey who won the Triple Crown in 1937. Known as "Charley" and nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman", Kurtsinger was born in Shepherdsville ...

to the outside, shifting across several other paths to the middle of the track. He outran all others, including

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-yea ...

winner

, to the first turn, completing the first quarter mile in :23-3/5. He rated by slowing down the pace on the back stretch but was still in front comfortably. He shook off several challenges from

Ladysman Ladysman (foaled 1930) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the son of Pompey who was the winner of the 1925 Hopeful Stakes as a two-year-old and the prestigious Suburban Handicap as a four-year-old. He is best remembered for his runne ...

and then drew off in the last quarter mile to win by four lengths. He won the Preakness in a final time of 2:02, paying $5.60 to win. The Derby winner, Brokers Tip, finished last in the field of ten. Tom Hayes had taken over as the trainer for the new owner after the Derby and the Preakness win with Head Play marked his second win in the event, having won in 1897 with the colt

Paul Kauvar Paul Kauvar was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He won the 1897 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 Cours ...

. Only a few months after, Hayes died on August 28, 1933 at his home in Lexington, Kentucky.

Later racing career

Head Play was injured and did not win another race in the remainder of his three-year-old or four-year-old seasons. As a five-year-old, he came back into form from his injury and won four stakes races on separate coasts of the country. Early in 1935, he won both the inaugural running of the

San Antonio Handicap The San Antonio Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Raced on the dirt, it is for horses age three and older. In 2017, the distance was shortened from miles to miles. The race was original ...

in the first week of February at one and one eighth mile on the dirt and the San Juan Capistrano Handicap in the second half of April at the same distance at

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

outside Los Angeles in California. Then he won the Bay Meadows Handicap at one and one eighth miles in the San Francisco Area in Northern California at Bay Meadows Racetrack. In May, he ran against the 1934 Kentucky Derby winner, Cavalcade, at Belmont and recorded an upset victory over the younger horse. On the

fourth of July Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...

weekend, Head Play won the prestigious

Suburban Handicap The Suburban Stakes is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is now run at the mile distance on dirt for a $700,000 purse. Named after the City and ...

at 1¼ miles on the dirt 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 ...

in New York over

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discove ...

with Cavalcade losing his rider at the start. He won the Derby Week Special at one and one eighth miles at Detroit in mid-June over Stand Pat and Azucar. He bowed slightly after this and never regained his form, racing only twice the next year unsuccessfully.

Breeding

References

Head Play's pedigree and racing stats
{{Preakness Stakes Winners 1930 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Preakness Stakes winners Thoroughbred family 1-k Godolphin Arabian sire line