Spendthrift (foaled 1876 in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

– 21 October 1900) was a successful 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 and an outstanding sire.

Breeding

Bred by A. J. Alexander and foaled at his Woodburn Stud, he was sired by the English-bred stallion,

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, who was in turn the son of West Australian, England's first

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winner, out of Aerolite by Lexington. He was a brother to Fellowcraft and half brother to Addie C. (the dam of the 1894 Kentucky Derby winner Chant (by Falsetto). They were from the old American family number, A3. Spendthrift was bought by

Daniel Swigert Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

for $1,000 (equal to about $,000 today) at the Woodburn yearling sale and named for Swigert's wife's extravagant spending habits in New York.

Racing record

The widely respected

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trainer and future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Edward Brown race conditioned the two-year-old Spendthrift for Daniel Swigert. After leading the colt through an undefeated year that would retrospectively see him named the American Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Colt of 1878, he was then sold to James R. Keene for $15,000 (based on inflation only equal to about $,000 today). At three, trained for his new owner by Col. Thomas Puryear, Spendthrift was sent east; finishing second to a stablemate in the

Withers Stakes The Withers Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three years old horses over the distance of miles on the dirt scheduled annually in February at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. The event currently carries a purse ...

before going on to easily win the 1879 Belmont Stakes. He then won the

Jersey Derby The Jersey Derby is a $60,000 American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in late July/early August at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. Since 1993, it has been raced on grass at a distance of miles. A Jerse ...

despite being kicked at the start. In 1880, Spendthrift was one of a group of horses, which included

Lord Murphy Lord Murphy (1876 – after 1881) was an American thoroughbred racehorse that was bred in Tennessee and is best known for winning the 1879 Kentucky Derby. He was originally named Patmus and was a grandson of Lexington. He descended from the Bye ...

and Foxhall, that were sent by Keene to be trained in England.http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=NEM18800528.2.8 Spendthrift was retired as a five-year-old to the farm of William Kenney near Lexington, Kentucky. In all, his record stands as 16 starts, with 9 wins and 5 places.

Stud record

He was sold by Keene in 1884 and spent some time first at Dr. E. M. Norwood's farm near Lexington, then Hartland Stud, then Spendthrift Stud, before ending up at Overton Chenault's farm. Some of his outstanding progeny were * Bankrupt-won 86 races from 348 starts *

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-leading sire and sire of

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(three times leading sire and sire of

Man o' War Man o' War (March 29, 1917 – November 1, 1947) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is widely regarded as the greatest racehorse of all time. Several sports publications, including ''The Blood-Horse'', ''Sports Illustrated'', ESPN, and t ...

and

Chance Play Chance Play (foaled 1923) was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse and Champion sire. In a career which lasted from 1925 to 1928 he ran in thirty-nine races and won sixteen of them. Although he was successful in his early career over sprin ...

). * Kingston-had 138 starts and won a record 89 races, including 30 stakes-races, scoring the most victories of any Thoroughbred racehorse on record, for $139,652. *

Lamplighter A lamplighter is a person employed to light and maintain candle or, later, gas street lights. Very few exist today as most gas street lighting has long been replaced by electric lamps. Function Lights were lit each evening, generally by means ...

-won multiple stakes, successful sireAhnert, Rainer L. (editor in chief), ''Thoroughbred Breeding of the World'', Pozdun Publishing, Germany, 1970 Spendthrift-died of old age at 24, on October 21, 1900.

Pedigree

References

External links