Pot O'Luck (1942) was an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, 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 bas ...

bred and raced by the renowned

Calumet Farm Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegrass ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

. He was sired by

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 spri ...

, the 1927 retrospective

American Horse of the Year The American Award for Horse of the Year, or simply 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 san ...

and 1935

Leading sire in North America The list below shows the leading Father, sire of Thoroughbred Horse racing, racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the year. It is restricted to Stallio ...

. Out of the mare Potheen, his damsire was

Wildair Wildair (foaled 1917 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse bred and raced by National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame#Exmplars of Racing, Exemplar of Racing Harry Payne Whitney and trained by National Museum of Racing and Hall of ...

, winner of the 1920

Metropolitan Handicap The Metropolitan Handicap, frequently called the "Met Mile", is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of one mile (8 furl ...

1944

Trained by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Ben Jones, racing at age two Pot O'Luck notably won the Champagne Stakes at New York's

Belmont Park Belmont Park is a thoroughbred racing, thoroughbred horse racetrack in Elmont, New York, just east of New York City limits best known for hosting the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United Stat ...

and the Pimlico Futurity 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 O ...

1945

At three, Pot O'Luck won five of twenty-one starts and earned $149,220. He ran second to

Hoop Jr. Hoop Jr. (March 15, 1942 – November 19, 1964) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1945 Kentucky Derby. Background Hoop Jr. was a bay horse sired by the French-bred stallion Sir Gallahad, a full brother to Bul ...

in the 1945

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

but won a number of important races that year including the 1¹/16 mile

Ben Ali Stakes The Ben Ali Stakes is an American race for thoroughbred horses run in the Spring of each year at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. For 4-year-olds and up, it is a Grade III event set at a distance of one and three-sixteenth miles on ...

at Keenland Race Course, the

Arlington Classic Stakes The Arlington Classic Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three year old horses over a distance of miles on the turf held annually in late May at Arlington Park race track near Chicago. History The event was inaugurat ...

, the

Lawrence Realization Stakes The Lawrence Realization Stakes was an American horse race first run on the turf in 1889. The race, for three-year-old Thoroughbred colts, geldings and fillies, was last run in 2005. History Inaugurated at the Sheepshead Bay Race Track at Grave ...

and the Governor Bowie Handicap, both at , as well as the

Jockey Club Gold Cup The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a thoroughbred flat race, held at the Saratoga Race Course in the United States, that is open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It has traditionally been the main event of the fal ...

at two miles.

1946

Pot O'Luck bowed a tendon In the spring of 1946 that resulted in a year when he did not win a major race. He lost three races in a row until winning the July 15 Scintillator Purse at

Arlington Park Arlington Park (formerly known as Arlington International Racecourse) is a former horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Once called the ''Arlington Park Jockey Club'', it was located adjacent to the Illinois Rou ...

and in October won the Hop Creek Purse at

Garden State Park Racetrack Garden State Park was a harness and thoroughbred race track in Cherry Hill, Camden County, New Jersey. It is now the site of a high-end, mixed-use "town center" development of stores, restaurants, apartments, townhouses, and condominiums. Garde ...

1947

In February 1947, five-year-old Pot O'Luck won the Cocoanuts Purse at

Hialeah Park Race Track The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic racetrack in Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenue, and from East ...

and in April earned his second win of the

at Keenland Race Course. On June 13 it was announced that he had been sold to

bloodstock agent The following is a glossary of North American horse racing. Additional glossaries at: *Glossary of Australian and New Zealand punting *Glossary of equestrian terms *Parimutuel betting#Parimutuel bet types A B ...

John H. Clark who raced him without success until selling him in the fall to a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

breeding syndicate.''Milwaukee Journal'' - June 14, 1947
/ref> A few years later Pot O'Luck was sold to a breeding operation in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

but overall he met with little success as a sire. His best runner was Pot Hunter, a multiple stakes winner in Canada.

Pedigree

Pot O'Luck is

inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders an ...

4D × 4D to the stallion

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

, meaning that he appears twice fourth generation on the dam side of his pedigree.

References

{{Reflist 1942 racehorse births Thoroughbred family 8-c Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Godolphin Arabian sire line