Proctor Knott (horse)

Last updated
Proctor Knott
Sire Luke Blackburn
DamTallapaloosa
Damsire Great Tom
Sex Gelding
Foaled1886
CountryUnited States
Color Chestnut
Breeder Belle Meade Stud
OwnerGeorge W. Scoogan &
Samuel W. Bryant
TrainerSamuel W. Bryant
Record26:11-6-4
Earnings$80,350
Major wins
Alexander Stakes (1888)
Equity Stakes (1888)
Futurity Stakes (1888)
Junior Champion Stakes (1888)
Kenwood Stakes (1888)
West Side Stakes (1888)
Sheridan Stakes (1889)
Awards
American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt (1888)

Proctor Knott (foaled 12 April 1886 in Tennessee) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse gelding. His sire was the Hall of Famer Luke Blackburn, and his dam Tallapaloosa. He was bred by Belle Meade Stud and like his father, who had been named for the then-current governor of Kentucky, he was named for Governor J. Proctor Knott. He was owned during his racing career by George Scoogan and Sam Bryant, who purchased him at auction for $450. [1]

Contents

Racing career

Trained by co-owner, Captain Samuel W. Bryant, Proctor Knott had a career racing record of 26 starts, 11 wins, 6 seconds and 4 thirds, earning $80,350.

In 1888, as a juvenile, he won the Alexander Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. [2] Returning north, Proctor Knott won the Junior Champion Stakes for which he earned $20,935, the richest offered by Monmouth Park Racetrack.

By far his most important win came in the inaugural running of Futurity Stakes at Sheepshead Bay Race Track. The winner's share of the purse was the enormous amount of $50,000 at a time when the 1888 Kentucky Derby winner earned $4,740 and the 1888 Belmont Stakes winner $3,440. An estimated crowd of 40,000 were on hand for the race. In this race he defeated Salvator. [3] [4] [1]

Proctor Knott is listed by Thoroughbred Heritage as American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse of 1888.

During his three-year-old campaign, he entered the Kentucky Derby as the 1-2 favorite against a horse he will soon be well acquainted with, Spokane. Proctor Knott false started twice, ran off and almost unseated his rider, according to the official comments, [5] then raced wide and lost in a contested finish when the judges put the nose win in Spokane's favor.

The pair met again a few days later in the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs, with Spokane this time winning by three lengths.

The American Derby would mark the third meeting of the two, competing for more than $15,400 with a crowd of over 30,000 on hand at Washington Park in Chicago. Once again, after leading for much of the race Proctor Knott could not hold off the late closing move of Spokane in the stretch.

Finally, Proctor Knott got a win over Spokane by two lengths on the July 4th Sheridan Stakes at Washington Park in front of a crowd of 20,000 while carrying 10lbs less than his rival. [6] [7]

He also ran second in the Omnibus Stakes at Monmouth Park on August 13, behind Longstreet, the 1891 American Horse of the Year and son of the great Longfellow. He beat his other common foe, Salvator in the race. [8] [9] [10]

Proctor Knott vs. Salvator

Salvator, a member of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, never defeated Proctor Knott. In Salvator's first start, the Junior Champion Stakes at Monmouth Park Racetrack, Proctor Knott won while Salvator came in third. Three weeks later, their rivalry was renewed in the Futurity, where Proctor Knott again won. After this race, Proctor Knott was given time off, while Salvator continued to race and won four more stakes.

Their next and final meeting was in the Omnibus Stakes in 1889. While neither of them won, Proctor Knott placed ahead of Salvator. Salvator never lost again in seven more races, while Proctor Knott won only two of his final nine races.

Legacy

Proctor Knott died on the morning of August 6, 1891. The Proctor Knott Handicap was won in 1921 by Black Servant, a son of Black Toney. [11] The race was conducted at Churchill Downs between 1920 and 1921.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alysheba</span> American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Alysheba was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that won two legs of the Triple Crown in 1987. A successful sire, he produced 11 stakes winners.

Flower Alley is an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Winner of the Travers Stakes during his racing career, he is best known as the sire of 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner I'll Have Another.

Swale was an American thoroughbred racehorse. He is best known for winning the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes in 1984. He died eight days after his win in the latter race.

Timely Writer was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. The Boston Globe once described him as "the horse with the greatest potential—and the worst luck—whose very story was a fairytale of racing history."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salvator (horse)</span> American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Salvator (1886–1909) was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse considered by many to be one of the best racers during the latter half of the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bimelech</span> American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Bimelech was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse who won two Triple Crown races and was a Champion at both age two and three. He was ranked #84 among U.S. racehorses of the 20th century. After retiring to stud, he sired 30 stakes winners and his daughters produced 50 stakes winners.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Any Given Saturday</span> American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Any Given Saturday is an American Thoroughbred racehorse.

Spokane was a chestnut thoroughbred stallion foaled in 1886. Winner of the 1889 Kentucky Derby, he was owned and bred by Noah Armstrong. of Montana. Spokane was sired by the Leamington son Hyder Ali and out of the mare Interpose by Intruder.

Gato Del Sol was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his win in the 1982 Kentucky Derby.

Forty Niner was an American champion thoroughbred racehorse and influential stallion.

Hasty Road (1951–1978) was an American thoroughbred racehorse which won the 1954 Preakness Stakes. In 1953, Hasty Road won six of his nine races including the Arlington Futurity and the Washington Park Futurity, and set a record for prize money won by a two-year-old. In 1954 Hasty Road defeated Determine in track record time in the Derby Trial and then finished second to the same horse in the Kentucky Derby. At Pimlico Race Course in May, he recorded his most important victory when winning the Preakness Stakes by a neck from Correlation. The rest of his three-year-old campaign wasn't as good, but he returned to form to win the Widener Handicap in February 1955 before his racing career was ended by injury.

Noble's Promise was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2009 Breeders' Futurity Stakes.

Rayon d'Or (1876–1896) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and Champion sire in the United States. Bred by Frédéric Lagrange at his Haras de Dangu stud farm in Dangu, Eure, he was sired by Flageolet whose wins included the Prix Morny (1872), Goodwood Cup (1873) and Jockey Club Cup (1873) and whom Rayon d'Or would help make the Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland in 1879. Rayon d'Or's dam was the good producing mare Araucaria, sired by Ambrose. Araucaria was the last foal of the mare Pocahontas whom Thoroughbred Heritage says is "one of the most influential thoroughbreds of all time, male or female."

Captain's Gig was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.

The 1889 Kentucky Derby was the 15th running of the Kentucky Derby, won by Spokane. The race took place on May 9, 1889. The winning time of 2:34.50 set a new Derby record for a distance of 1+12 miles (2.4 km), and remains the Derby record for the distance This was hte first Derby where $2 win wagers were available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruler on Ice</span> American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Ruler on Ice is a Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 2011 Belmont Stakes. He was bred and foaled in Kentucky by Brandywine Farm in partnership with Liberation Farm on. He is a chestnut gelding sired by Hill 'n' Dale Farms' Roman Ruler out of the Saratoga Six-bred mare, Champagne Glow. The colt was consigned as lot 988 at the 2009 Keeneland September yearling auction, where he was purchased by George and Lori Hall for $100,000. Ruler on Ice only won one minor race after winning the Belmont and was retired from racing in July 2014. He lives in Versailles, Kentucky at the farm of his owners.

Dullahan was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. As a two-year-old he recorded his first win in the Grade I Breeders' Futurity Stakes. In early 2012, he won the Blue Grass Stakes, finished third in the Kentucky Derby and was the beaten favorite for the Belmont Stakes. Later in the season, he defeated older horses in the Pacific Classic. He was euthanized of a ruptured colon on October 20, 2013 at Winstar Farm in Versailles, Kentucky.

Take Charge Indy is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. His win in the 2012 Florida Derby saw him regarded as a contender for the Triple Crown races, but an injury sustained in the Kentucky Derby ruled him out for most of the remainder of the season. As a four-year-old in 2013 he won the Alysheba Stakes but later that summer suffered a condylar fracture in the Monmouth Cup, which required surgery, but ended his racing career and his owners, WinStar Farm, retired him to stud.

The Junior Champion Stakes was a Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-olds of either sex run from 1884 through 1893 at the Monmouth Park Racetrack in Eatontown, New Jersey. Run on dirt, it was contested over a distance of six furlongs.

References

  1. 1 2 "He Won the Futurity". Chicago Tribune. 4 September 1888. p. 3. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  2. "The Louisville Jockey Club". Indianapolis Journal. 1888-05-18. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
  3. "Proctor Knott's Futurity". New York Times, page 3. 1888-09-04. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
  4. "1888 Kentucky Derby Results Tables" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  5. "2002".
  6. "Won By Proctor Knott". Chicago Tribune. 5 July 1889. p. 1. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  7. "Proctor Knott Wins". New York Times, page 3. 1889-07-05. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
  8. "Proctor Knott Horse Pedigree".
  9. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/08/14/100966836.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  10. "Proctor Knott Horse Pedigree".
  11. "Black Servant's Fine Race: Takes the Proctor Knott Handicap With All Ease". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1921-05-31. Retrieved 2021-09-21.