Twenty Grand (1928–1948) 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 ...

race horse 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 ...

. Owned and bred by Helen Hay Whitney's

Greentree Stable Greentree Stable, in Red Bank, New Jersey, was a major American thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm established in 1914 by Payne Whitney of the Whitney family of New York City. Payne Whitney operated a horse farm and stable at Sar ...

, Twenty Grand was a bay colt by St. Germans out of Bonus.

Racing career

Trained at age three by James G. Rowe, Jr. and ridden by jockey Charley Kurtsinger, Twenty Grand raced against very strong opponents in 1930 and 1931 when he was part of what the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' newspaper called the "big four" in racing, which included Jamestown,

Mate Mate may refer to: Science * Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in: ** Mate choice, intersexual selection ** Mating * Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins Person or title * Friendship ...

, and

Equipoise Equipoise may refer to: * Clinical equipoise, or the principle of equipoise, a medical research term * Equilibrioception, the state of being balanced or in equilibrium * Boldenone undecylenate, an anabolic steroid, by the trade name ''Equipoise'' * ...

. Twenty Grand won the

Wood Memorial Stakes The Wood Memorial Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in April at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. It is run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles (9 furlongs) on dirt. The Wood Memorial ...

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-year ...

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...

Dwyer Stakes The Dwyer Stakes is an American Grade III stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred racehorses held annually at Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, Long Island, New York. Run in early July, it is open to three-year-old horses and is raced over a ...

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 ...

Saratoga Cup The Saratoga Cup was an American Thoroughbred horse race open to horses of either sex age three and older although geldings were not eligible from 1865 through 1918. Between 1865 and 1955 it was hosted by Saratoga Race Course, in Saratoga Springs, ...

, and the

Jockey Club Gold Cup The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It has traditionally been the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the sp ...

. In his only blemish of the year, Twenty Grand just missed the

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

, finishing second to

in the

Preakness Preakness may refer to: * The Preakness or Preakness Stakes, an American flat thoroughbred horse race held in Baltimore, Maryland * Preakness (horse), an American thoroughbred racehorse from Preakness Stables * Preakness, New Jersey, a section of W ...

. He went off as the post time favorite at 3:2. Mate, his stablemate, was sent to the front early, followed by Clock Tower. As Twenty Grand tried to pass the leaders on the clubhouse turn, he was bumped badly by Clock Tower. Twenty Grand was knocked off his stride but recovered. Down the back stretch and around the final turn, he made up ground on Ladder and Mate. His jockey, Charlie Kurtsinger, chose the rail and went inside, but the tiring Mate blocked Twenty Grand and held on to win by a half length. Twenty Grand's performances in 1931 earned him retrospective

American Horse of the Year The American Award for Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to sanction the various awards, "Hor ...

honors. After twenty five races, of which he won fourteen, finished second four times and third three times, Twenty Grand was retired to stud but proved to be sterile. In 1957, he was elected to the

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...

. In the ''Blood-Horse'' ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Twenty Grand ranked number 52.

Twenty Grand Cigarette Brand

Twenty Grand's fame was reflected in his name and image being used for a brand of cigarettes put out by Axton-Fisher Tobacco Co. In 1936, Axton-Fisher's right to the Twenty Grand trademark was upheld after it was sued for trademark infringement.

Cigarette Camp

Camp Twenty Grand was an American Army "

cigarette camp A Cigarette Camp was one of a number of temporary U.S. Army "tent city, tent cities" situated principally around the French ports of Le Havre and Marseilles following their captures by Allied Forces in the wake of the Allied D-Day invasion in June 1 ...

", located near

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

, France, during World War II and named after the once-popular American cigarette brand (Twenty Grand cigarettes).

References

External links

Twenty Grand's pedigree

Twenty Grand at the United states' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

{{Belmont Stakes Winners 1928 racehorse births 1948 racehorse deaths Whitney racehorses Racehorses trained in the United States Racehorses bred in Kentucky Kentucky Derby winners American Thoroughbred Horse of the Year United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Belmont Stakes winners Thoroughbred family 5-g