Citation (April 11, 1945 – August 8, 1970) was a champion 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 ...
who is the eighth winner of the
American Triple Crown
In the United States, the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, commonly known as the Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for three-year-old Thoroughbreds, consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. The three ...
. He won 16 consecutive stakes races and was the first horse in history to win .
Background
Owned and bred by
Calumet Farm in
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-largest ...
, Citation was a bay colt by
Bull Lea from the imported
mare
A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than f ...
Hydroplane (GB), who was by the leading sire
Hyperion
Hyperion may refer to:
Greek mythology
* Hyperion (Titan), one of the twelve Titans
* ''Hyperion'', a byname of the Sun, Helios
* Hyperion of Troy or Yperion, son of King Priam
Science
* Hyperion (moon), a moon of the planet Saturn
* ''Hyp ...
. Although Citation was bred in Kentucky, his pedigree was largely European. He also traces back through his father Bull Lea to two outstanding horses from New Zealand (Trenton and Carbine), both sired by English sire Musket, the much loved and revered superstar of the late 1800s.
As a descendant of the broodmare Glasalt, Citation was related to the
2000 Guineas winner
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
: the same branch of Thoroughbred
"Family" 3-l later produced the Preakness Stakes winner
Gate Dancer.
Citation was trained by the
Hall of Fame inductee Ben Jones and his son, Hall of Famer
Horace A. "Jimmy" Jones. The horse was originally ridden by
Al Snider and later by
Eddie Arcaro
George Edward Arcaro (February 19, 1916 – November 14, 1997), was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who won more American classic races than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Tri ...
and
Steve Brooks.
Racing career
1947: two-year-old season
Citation won his first start as a two-year-old at
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 O ...
in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. He broke the
Arlington Park track record over five furlongs in his third start. For the year, he raced nine times, winning eight starts and earning $155,680. His only loss came at the heels of his stablemate,
Bewitch
Bewitch (1945–1959) was a Thoroughbred race horse born in 1945 at Calumet Farm, Kentucky, United States in the same crop in which the stallion Bull Lea produced Citation and Coaltown. Each of them was eventually inaugurated into the Thoroughbr ...
, in the Washington Park Futurity, which the filly won in stakes record time for six furlongs. Citation racked up victories in the Elementary Stakes, Futurity Trial,
Futurity Stakes, and Pimlico Futurity. He was named champion two-year-old.
1948: three-year-old season
Citation started the 1948 racing season with two victories over older horse
Armed, who had been named Thoroughbred racing's 1947
Horse of the Year, in an allowance race and the Seminole Handicap. It is rare for a three-year-old to defeat older horses so early in the year, let alone a top handicap star such as Armed.
After Citation won the Everglades Stakes and the
Flamingo Stakes at
Hialeah Park, Snider drowned while fishing off the
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of ...
.
Calumet Farm hired Arcaro, one of Snider's friends. In Arcaro's first start on Citation, they lost to Saggy in the Chesapeake Trial Stakes. This was the last race that Citation lost for almost two years.
Citation reversed the loss to Saggy in the
Chesapeake Stakes at
Havre de Grace Racetrack
The Havre de Grace Racetrack was an American horse racing track on Post Road in Havre de Grace, Harford County, Maryland. Nicknamed "The Graw," it operated from August 24, 1912, to 1950. For a time, it was owned by the Harford Agricultural and B ...
, which he won over Bovard by 4 lengths, with Saggy well back. Citation followed with his final
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 ...
prep, a win in the
Derby Trial Stakes.
In the
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 ...
, ridden by Arcaro, Citation won by 3 lengths over his stablemate, eventual 1949
Horse of the Year Coaltown, and Arcaro gave the widow of former jockey Al Snider a share of his Derby
purse money. Citation was then sent to
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
where he won the
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 Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs ...
by 5 lengths. From there he won the Jersey Stakes before going to
Belmont Park in
New York, and becoming the eighth
Triple Crown winner by capturing the
Belmont Stakes, tying the stakes record of 2:28 set by the sixth Triple Crown winner,
Count Fleet.
Citation then won the Stars and Stripes Handicap, equalling Armed's track record. He next won the American Derby and the Sysonby Mile. After that came the
Jockey Club Gold Cup at , which he won by seven lengths over 1947
Preakness winner Phalanx. He then won the Empire City Gold Cup.
In Citation's next start, he deterred potential challengers and won the
Pimlico Special in a rare walkover. Citation then traveled to California, where he finished the year with two wins, including in the Tanforan Handicap at
Tanforan Racetrack.
By the end of his three-year-old season, Citation had a record of 20 starts, 19 wins and $709,470, for a new single season record.
[Montgomery, E.S, "The Thoroughbred", Arco, New York, 1973 ] His total career record now stood at 27 victories and two seconds in 29 starts and earnings of $865,150. He had also amassed a 15-race winning streak. For his performances, Citation was named
Horse of the Year, gaining 161 of a possible 163 votes in the poll conducted by ''Turf and Sport Digest'' magazine. Toward the end of his three-year-old season, he developed an
osselet.
[Ahnert, Rainer L. (editor in chief), ''Thoroughbred Breeding of the World'', Pozdun Publishing, Germany, 1970]
1950–1951: later career
The osselet injury kept Citation from racing in 1949, but he came back to race in 1950, winning his 16th race in a row 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 ...
(a streak that stood alone among major North American stakes horses until
Cigar equaled the feat in 1994–96;
Zenyatta and
Peppers Pride both later broke the mark by winning their 19th race in a row, Peppers Pride in 2008 and Zenyatta in 2010;
Rapid Redux
Rapid Redux (foaled in Kentucky on February 24, 2006) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who set an American record with 22 consecutive wins in 2012. The winter-born gelding was his sire Pleasantly Perfect's first runner.
As a two-year-old at ...
then surpassed their records in 2012 with 22 straight wins, although not against major stakes competition). His owner,
Calumet Farm, had brought Citation back from his injury in 1950 with the intention of making him the first horse to earn $1 million, but he came against the English import
Noor, who defeated Citation four times (Citation carrying more weight in the first three encounters), in the
Santa Anita Handicap at 1 miles, the
San Juan Capistrano Handicap at 1 miles in world record time, the Forty Niners Handicap at 1 miles in track record time, and the
Golden Gate Handicap. In the latter event, Noor conceded weight to Citation and set a world record of 1:58 which stood as an American record on a dirt track until
Spectacular Bid broke it 30 years later. Citation's times in these races would have also been records; he did not become a millionaire at age five solely because Noor ran faster than any horse in history up to that point. Citation himself set a world record in winning the Golden Gate Mile Handicap in 1:33 in a race that Noor sat out.
Citation was brought back by his owners one more time at age six in 1951 in an attempt to become the first racehorse to win a record one million dollars. After two third-place finishes, Citation finished out of the money for the first time in the Hollywood
Premiere Handicap
The Shoemaker Mile Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for horses age three years old and older over a distance of one mile on the turf held annually in late May at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, USA. The event curre ...
. After another loss in the Argonaut Handicap, he returned to form with victories in the Century Handicap, American Handicap, and
Hollywood Gold Cup, winning over his stablemate, the mare Bewitch. The Gold Cup victory put him over $1 million in career earnings, and he was then retired to stud.
Stud record
Citation retired after the Hollywood Gold Cup. As a sire at Calumet Farm, he produced a number of noteworthy offspring including the Hall of Fame filly
Silver Spoon
The English language expression silver spoon is synonymous with wealth, especially inherited wealth; someone born into a wealthy family is said to have "been born with a silver spoon in their mouth". As an adjective, "silver spoon" describes s ...
, Get Around (won $164,868), Guadalcanal (won $243,337) and 1956 Preakness Stakes winner
Fabius
In Roman mythology, Fabius was the son of Hercules and an unnamed mother.
In "The Life of Fabius Maximus" from the ''Parallel Lives'' by Pluta