Gold Heels

Last updated
Gold Heels
Gold Heels and Otto Wonderly.jpg
Gold Heels with jockey Otto Wonderly at 1902 Suburban Handicap.
Sire The Bard
Grandsire Longfellow
DamHeel-and-Toe
Damsire Glenelg
Sex Stallion
Foaled1898
CountryUnited States
Colour Bay
Breeder Alexander Cassatt
Owner1) William C. Whitney
2) David Sloan (at 2)
3) Fred C. McLewee & Diamond Jim Brady (fall 1900)
Trainer Matthew M. Allen
Record41: 16-?-?
Earnings US$47,620
Major wins
Chappaqua Handicap (1900)
Spindrift Stakes (1901)
Long Island Handicap (1901)
Seagate Stakes (1901)
Monarch Stakes (1901)
Oriental Handicap (1901)
Morris Park Woodlawn Vase (1901)
Suburban Handicap (1902)
Advance Stakes (1902)
Brighton Handicap (1902)
Brighton Cup (1902)
Awards
American Champion Older Male Horse (1902)

Gold Heels (foaled 1898 in Pennsylvania) was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse who, in a two-year period, set one new stakes record and four track records, including a world record.

Contents

Background

Gold Heels was bred by Alexander Cassatt at his Chesterbrook Farm in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. He was sired by Cassatt's outstanding runner, The Bard, a son of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Longfellow. Gold Heels was out of the very good race mare Heel-and-Toe. A daughter of four-time Leading sire in North America, Glenelg, the durable Heel-and-Toe made 107 career starts winning 21 times. [1]

Racing career

1900: Two-Year-Old season

Gold Heels was purchased by William C. Whitney but after racing him a short time at age two, the colt was deemed to have limited potential and in June 1900 was sold for $1,500 to trainer David Sloan, a cousin of future Hall of Fame jockey Tod Sloan. David Sloan raced the colt during the remainder of 1900 in mainly lower class races, finishing the year with five wins from twenty-four starts including the Chappaqua Handicap at Empire City Race Track. [2] Facing financial problems, David Sloan put Gold Heels up for sale and on the advice of trainer, Matthew Allen, he was purchased for $7,000 by the racing partnership of Fred C. McLewee and Diamond Jim Brady. [3]

1901: Three-Year-Old season

In 1901, under the conditioning of Matthew Allen, three-year-old Gold Heels won seven of his twelve starts while setting three track records. On June 27 he won the Spindrift Stakes in which he set a new Sheepshead Bay Race Track record for one mile and one furlong on dirt. [4] On July 2 he won the Long Island Handicap at Sheepshead Bay [5] and then on July 25 won the richest race for three-year-olds at Brighton Beach Race Course, [6] the mile and one furlong Seagate Stakes. [7] He followed this up with a ten length victory on September 25, 1901 in the one mile and one furlong Monarch Stakes at Gravesend Race Track. In winning the October 5 Oriental Handicap at Gravesend he set a new track record time for a mile and a quarter on dirt. [8] On October 26, at Morris Park Racecourse, Gold Heels showed he was not only capable at longer distances but a truly outstanding stayer when he won the 2¼ mile Woodlawn Vase in a track record time of 3:56.00. [9]

1902: Four-Year-Old season

At age four in 1902, Gold Heels won four of his five starts, setting a stakes record and a world record. With jockey Otto Wonderly aboard, Gold Heels won the June 14 Suburban Handicap at Sheepshead Bay Race Track. [10] Not only did he win what was then America's most prestigious race, he broke the stakes record on an off track while carrying top weight. [11] On June 28 Gold Heels won the 1 ½ mile Advance Stakes at Sheepshead Bay Race Track [12] and was top-weighted again when he won the July 5 Brighton Handicap at Brighton Beach Race Course in a world record time of 2:03.80 for a mile and a quarter on dirt. [13] For the July 26 Brighton Cup, Gold Heels was again given highweight but still earned the win in the 2¼ mile endurance test. Even though he still won by twenty lengths, near the finish jockey George Odom slowed him to a canter due to an injury that ended his racing career. [14]

The New York Times wrote on October 5, 1902 that Gold Heels was the "accepted champion of the year" [15] and Thoroughbred Heritage selected him as the retrospective American Champion Older Male Horse for that year.

Sale and stud career

The September 20, 1902, issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune announced that the racing partnership of McLewee and Daly was to be dissolved [16] and on October 4, 1902 Gold Heels was sold at a dispersal auction. Expected to bring $15,000, jockey Winfield O'Connor bought him for only $6,500 [15] then quickly resold the horse to St. Louis, Missouri breeder, E. J. Arnold. [17]

At stud, Gold Heels met with little success although Covadonga (b. 1908) became one of the first American-bred horses to be imported to Puerto Rico where he raced with considerable success. Gold heels was sold in December 1912 to the U.S. Cavalry Remount Service for use as a sire for military horses. [18]

Related Research Articles

Easy Goer American Thoroughbred racehorse

Easy Goer was an American Champion Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse known for earning American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt honors in 1988 and defeating 1989 American Horse of the Year Sunday Silence in the Belmont Stakes by eight lengths. Both horses were later voted into the American Hall of Fame. The victory deprived Sunday Silence of the Triple Crown. It was also the second-fastest Belmont in history, behind only the record performance of Secretariat in 1973. Easy Goer was the first two-year-old champion to win a Triple Crown race since Spectacular Bid in 1979. Easy Goer also ran the fastest mile on dirt by any three-year-old in the history of Thoroughbred racing with a time of 1:32+25, which was a second faster than Secretariat's stakes record, and one-fifth of a second off of the world record set by Dr. Fager in 1968.

Firenze (1884–1902), also recorded as "Firenzi", was an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. During her six year racing career, she won 47 of 82 starts and retired as the second-highest money-earning filly in American history. She was retroactively named the American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly of 1887 and American Champion Older Female Horse for three straight years. She repeatedly defeated the top colts of the day including the future Hall of Famers, Hanover and Kingston. In the 1888 season, she was the only horse to beat Preakness Stakes winner, The Bard.

Sheepshead Bay Race Track

Sheepshead Bay Race Track was an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility built on the site of the Coney Island Jockey Club at Sheepshead Bay, New York.

Sir Walter was an outstanding American Thoroughbred racehorse known for his gritty determination which saw him win a number of races by a matter of inches.

George M. Odom

George Martin Odom was an American National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame jockey and trainer in Thoroughbred horse racing. He is only one of two people to ever have won the Belmont Stakes as both a jockey and a trainer.

Africander (horse) American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Africander was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse.

The Bard (1883–1907) was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was the most popular horse of his day and one who raced and beat many leading American horses.

Pavot was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. In a career that lasted from 1944 to 1946 he ran thirty-two times and won fourteen races. He was the leader of his generation in 1944 when he was named American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt. The following year he recorded his most important win in the Belmont Stakes.

Troubadour was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. Bred in Kentucky by A. J. Alexander's Woodburn Stud, he was sired by Lisbon, a son of the imported British stallion Phaeton who in turn was a son of two-time Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland, King Tom. His dam was Glenluine, a daughter of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Lexington who was the Leading sire in North America sixteen times and prepotent sire of the second half of the 19th century.

Otto Wonderly

Otto Wonderly was a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing jockey from Ontario who competed in his native Canada and in the United States where he died from a racetrack accident.

Arthur E. Redfern

Arthur Ewell Redfern was an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey who in 1903 was the highest paid rider in the United States.

The Advance Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually from 1899 through 1910 at the Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Brooklyn, New York. An important race open to horses age three and older, it was raced on dirt. The final running took place on June 27, 1910 and was won by Ballot for the second time.

Irish Lad American Thoroughbred racehorse

Irish Lad (1900–1925) was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse and a world record holder.

The Twin City Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race first run in 1884 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, New York where it continued annually through 1909. Following passage by the New York State Legislature of the Hart–Agnew Law anti-wagering bill that resulted in the closure of all racetracks in the state of New York. The devastation to the horse racing industry was such that the Sheepshead Bay Race Track never reopened. On September 2, 1909 Olambala won what would prove to be the final running of the Twin City Handicap at the Sheepshead Bay track.

The Flatbush Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. Held in September, it was an important event for two-year-olds of either sex. The race was run on dirt over a distance of seven furlongs and was generally the longest distance to that point for the participants who were in their first year of racing.

The Omnium Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York from 1885 thru 1909. A race for horses of either sex age three and older, it was run on dirt over a distance of a mile and one-eighth. The Omnium was the third and last of the track's autumn serials, coming after the Fall Handicap at 6½ furlongs and the Ocean Handicap at one mile.

The Ocean Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York from 1894 thru 1909. A race for horses of either sex age three and older, it was run on dirt over a distance of 1 mile. The Ocean Handicap was the second of the track's autumn serials, coming after the Fall Handicap at 6½ furlongs and before the Omnium Handicap at 1⅛ miles.

The Fall Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York from 1894 thru 1909 for horses of either sex age three and older. For easier identification purposes, the race is sometimes referred to as the Coney Island Fall Handicap. For its first two editions, the Fall Handicap was run on the track's short futurity course at 5¾ furlongs then for the next twelve runnings at 6 furlongs and the final two years at 6½ furlongs. The Fall Handicap was the first of the track's autumn serials, preceding the Ocean Handicap at 6½ furlongs and the Omnium Handicap at 1⅛ miles.

The Russet Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race on turf held annually from 1895 through 1909 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. Open to horses age three and older and run at a distance of 1½ miles, it was an event that attracted mainly stayers who were best at longer distances.

The Equality Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually from 1902 thru 1909 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track at Sheepshead Bay, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it was raced over a distance of one mile on dirt.

References

  1. "Glenelg". Tbheritage.com. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  2. "Gold Heels Beat Chuctanunda in the Chappaqua. - Article - NYTimes.com". New York Times. 2011-08-26. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  3. "GOLD HEELS' VICTORY BEAT WORLD'S RECORD - Front Page - NYTimes.com". New York Times. 1902-07-06. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  4. "Gold Heels's New Record McLewee's Colt Beat Best Time for Track in Spindrift". New York Times, page 8. 1901-06-28. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  5. "Gold Heels Was Winner - Article - NYTimes.com". New York Times. 2011-08-26. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  6. "Gossip of the Horsemen - View Article - NYTimes.com" (PDF). New York Times. 1898-12-18. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  7. "Gold Heels Beat Bonnibert - Article - NYTimes.com". New York Times. 2011-08-26. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  8. "Gold Heels's New Record - Article - NYTimes.com". New York Times. 2011-08-26. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  9. "Gold Heel's Long Race - Article - NYTimes.com". New York Times. 2011-08-26. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  10. "GOLD HEELS WON SUBURBAN HANDICAP - View Article - NYTimes.com" (PDF). New York Times. 1902-06-15. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  11. "The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search".
  12. "IRISH LAD'S GREAT TRIAL - Article - NYTimes.com". New York Times. 1902-06-29. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  13. "The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search".
  14. Gallagher, T J (1902-07-27). "Gold Heels Is A Cripple". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  15. 1 2 "CHAMPION RAGE HORSES SOLD. - View Article - NYTimes.com" (PDF). New York Times. 1902-10-05. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  16. "Gold Heels To Be Sold". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. 1902-09-20. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  17. "TROTTING AT LEXINGTON. - View Article - NYTimes.com" (PDF). New York Times. 1902-10-11. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  18. Washington Post. "Uncle Sam's horses." December 30, 1912. Page 6.