Gallant Fox – The Second Triple Crown Winner: What a Horse He Was!
Gallant Fox was the second horse to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes, the first to do so being Sir Barton in 1919, but it wasn’t called the Triple Crown then and the importance of the accomplishment wasn’t emphasized.
It was the 1930’s, and horse racing was emerging as one of the most popular sports in North America. After the 1929 Crash, citizens across the nation needed a diversion and found it in the form of horse racing. Even though the decade of the 1930’s was a difficult one in terms of the economic hardship that swept the nation, one bright spot was Gallant Fox, who swept the Triple Crown of horse racing. What better way to begin the decade?
Unlike Man o’ War before him, and Citation and Secretariat afterwards, this foal born at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky in 1927 wasn’t considered to be the next super horse as a two-year-old. It is true that he was talented and did win two stakes races. But he was a large colt, and somewhat awkward as a youngster, and it was believed that time would bring out the potential in that body. His jockey Earl Sande thought highly enough of him that he was induced to come out of retirement just to ride him as a three-year-old.
As a three-year-old in 1930, he was stronger and more coordinated. He made his debut in the Wood Memorial, which he won by four easy lengths. He made his debut in the Preakness off just one prep race, something that is unheard of today. Have you heard all the talk about Uncle Mo not getting enough racing into him before the Derby? Well, back in those days, it was not uncommon to enter the Triple Crown series off just one race, or in the case of Man o’ War, off a layoff.
What was unusual about that year’s Triple Crown is that the Preakness actually preceded the Kentucky Derby, the former being run on May 9th, and the Kentucky Derby only 10 days later. He went on to win the Belmont on June 7th to become the second Triple Crown winner. Even though he was the second horse ever to have captured all three jewels of the Triple Crown, It was during this year that the term ‘Triple Crown’ came into widespread use.
Gallant Fox was practically invincible as a three year old, and was very consistent in winning five of his last six races following the Belmont, but he does have one black mark on his record. This occurred at Saratoga, known as the graveyard of favorites, a venue at which even Man o’War and Secretariat have fallen victim. In the Travers Stakes, he lost to a 100-1 long shot named Jim Dandy, after whom a prominent race at Saratogta for three-year-olds was named and that is still run today.
He went off as the 1-2 favorite in the
Travers Stakes
over what was a heavy, muddy track. He got hooked up in a speed duel with another horse, and lost to long shot Jim Dandy who skipped along the off-going to defeat Gallant Fox by six lengths. Gallant Fox had never run over a muddy track, and the likely story is that he just wasn’t a mud lark the way Jim Dandy apparently was.
He closed out his racing career with an easy three length win in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, which in those days was run at a distance of 2 miles, a distance absolutely unheard of today in American racing.
Gallant Fox was very successful at stud, siring the next Triple Crown winner, Omaha, who accomplished the same feat just five years later in 1935.
Blood Horse magazine ranked him at #28 on the list of all-time greatest U.S. Thoroughbreds.
Unity 3D 2.6 Toon Shaded Fox Game Footage
|
|
Norpro Stainless Steel Vertical Roaster, With Infuser $21.85 If your last experiment with a vertical roaster led to the bird tipping on its tripod base and landing in the grease pouring out of its cavity, here’s a chance to get it right. This Norpro model is versatile enough to serve as a horizontal 13-by-8-1/2-inch rack for roasts. And it easily but sturdily converts to vertical roasting by anchoring up to four hooked pieces to the slats of the flat rack, … |
|
|
Tulz Lucky Ice Mold $8.88 This Lucky Ice Mold is great for making fun ice cubes. It includes designs for dice and poker chips with card symbols clubs, hearts, diamonds, and spades. It’s also great for molding chocolates. Made from FDA approved, 100% pure food grade silicone. Safe from -50 to 445 degrees. Oven and dishwasher safe. Size: 6 3/4 inches long…. |
|
|
Chicago Bears NFL 6oz Stainless Steel Hip Flask $19.95 This Officially Licensed flask is decorated in the team colors and proudly displays hand-crafted metal emblem featuring the Team Logo…. |
|
|
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie $3.78 They skydive, they kickbox, they travel through space. Is there anything these crayon-colored teens can’t do? The answer seems a resounding “no,” until some construction workers unwittingly open a manhole cover and loose Ivan Ooze upon Angel Grove. Although incarcerated in his egglike tomb for 6,000 years, Ooze gets right to work at that world domination thing. First up: Strip those eager teens of… |
|
|
The Sandlot $5.89 When egghead Scotty Smalls moves to town just before the summer vacation of 1962, his first priority is to make friends. He heads to the nearby sandlot only to humiliate himself before the local kids, but star player Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez befriends the awkward boy, teaches him the basics of baseball, and welcomes him to the team. It’s a summer filled with camaraderie and fun until Smalls … |
|
|
Ray (Widescreen Edition) $4.68 Jamie Foxx’s uncannily accurate performance isn’t the only good thing about Ray. Riding high on a wave of Oscar buzz, Foxx proved himself worthy of all the hype by portraying blind R&B legend Ray Charles in a warts-and-all performance that Charles approved shortly before his death in June 2004. Despite a few dramatic embellishments of actual incidents (such as the suggestion that the accidental dr… |
|
|
Cass Creek Big Horn Remote Speaker 80-Feet Cable $47.99 Wild game rely on their keen sense of hearing to communicate and keep them aware of their environment. Now you can amplify any of the Cass Creek Game Calls to lure game in close. The Big Horn XL can be used as a remote unit with the Nomad MX4 Series as well as a standard extension speaker with all the original model Cass Creek calls. Three times louder than the original speaker, the Big Horn Outdo… |
|
|
Sports Coverage Denver Broncos Wall Border $18.88 Add some team spirit to your bedroom decor with this NFL® team wall border from Sports Coverage. The border features an easy peel-and-stick application and is simple to remove. The team colors and graphics boldly adorn the border…. |
|
|
Fox-N-Hound Small Game Damascus Skinner Stag Handles $21.50 Great little Damascus small game skinner fixed blade knife. Overall length: 6 1/4″. Genuine Damascus Steel blade 3″ long. Genuine Stag handles with Polished Brass finger guard and pommel. Brown leather belt sheath…. |
|
|
Rio $13.00 A classic tale of self-discovery, romance, and adventure, Rio is the story of Blu, a flightless macaw who was taken from the forests of Rio de Janeiro as a young bird and raised by a kind girl in a small Minnesota town. When an ornithologist comes to town and informs Blu’s now-grown owner Linda that Blu is the last male of his species, Blu and Linda return to Rio so that Blu can mate with a feisty… |