This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2017) |
Richard Stone Reeves (November 6, 1919 – October 7, 2005) was an American equine painter whom Blood-Horse magazine described as perhaps the greatest modern-day horse painter. [1]
Born in New York City, Reeves grew up in Garden City on Long Island. His father's family included a painter and his mother's owned race horses. Those influences, plus living near Belmont Park, resulted in his love of horses and desire to paint them.
Reeves graduated with a Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University. He served with the United States Navy during World War II after which he embarked on a career as a painter of horses. His big break came when Life magazine featured his painting of 1947 Horse of the Year, Armed. That publicity led to his being hired to do private portraitures for many American and European horse owners. As well as portraits, Reeves did a number of action scenes from memorable races. More than a dozen of his works can be found in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York.
When asked, Reeves said: "Buckpasser was the most perfectly proportioned Thoroughbred I have ever seen." Only two horses, Secretariat and Affirmed, have since been "in a class with Buckpasser". [2]
Reeves died October 7, 2005, at Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport, N.Y.
Secretariat, also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who was the ninth winner of the American Triple Crown, setting and still holding the fastest time record in all three of its constituent races. He is considered by many to be the greatest racehorse of all time. He became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years and his record-breaking victory in the Belmont Stakes, which he won by 31 lengths, is widely regarded as one of the greatest races in history. During his racing career, he won five Eclipse Awards, including Horse of the Year honors at ages two and three. He was nominated to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1974. In the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century, Secretariat was second to Man o' War.
War Admiral was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the fourth winner of the American Triple Crown. He was also the 1937 Horse of the Year and well known as the rival of Seabiscuit in the 'Match Race of the Century' in 1938. War Admiral won 21 of his 26 starts with earnings of $273,240 and was the leading sire in North America for 1945. He was also an outstanding broodmare sire whose influence is still felt today in descendants such as Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify.
Belmont Park is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Elmont, New York, United States, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905, and is one of the major tracks in the northeastern United States.
Spend a Buck was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1985 Kentucky Derby.
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. He is known for his excellence in New York, with running the fastest mile on dirt by any three-year-old in the history in the Gotham Stakes with a time of 1:32+2⁄5, the only horse in racing history to win the Belmont, Whitney, Travers, Woodward and Jockey Club Gold Cup, among others.
Dr. Fager was an American thoroughbred racehorse who had what many consider one of the greatest single racing seasons by any horse in the history of the sport. In 1968 at the age of four, he became the only horse to ever hold four American titles in one year when he was named the Horse of the Year, champion handicap horse, champion sprinter, and co-champion grass horse. In his most famous performance, Dr. Fager set a world record of 1:32+1⁄5 for a mile in the Washington Park Handicap while carrying 134 pounds.
Buckpasser (1963–1978) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 1966 Horse of the Year. His other achievements include 1965 Champion Two-Year-Old, 1966 Champion Three-Year-Old, 1966 Champion Handicap Horse, and 1967 Champion Handicap Horse. He was also the leading broodmare sire in 1983, 1984, and 1989.
Damascus was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 1967 Horse of the Year after winning the Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, Travers Stakes, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Woodward Stakes, and Dwyer Stakes. Damascus also came third in the Kentucky Derby that year.
Gallorette (1942–1959) was a Maryland-bred chestnut thoroughbred filly who became a Hall of Fame race horse. Sired by Challenger II, out of Gallette, Gallorette's damsire was Sir Gallahad III.
The title of American Champion Older Dirt Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a stallion or gelding, four years old and up, for performances on dirt and main track racing surfaces. In 1971, it became part of the Eclipse Awards program as the award for Champion Older Male Horse.
Hill Prince (1947–1970) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was one of the leading American two-year-olds of 1949, alongside Oil Capitol and Middleground. In 1950, he ran fifteen times, winning races including the Preakness Stakes, Wood Memorial Stakes, Withers Stakes, American Derby, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Jerome Handicap and Sunset Handicap and being named American Horse of the Year. Hill Prince raced for two further seasons and had some success despite a number of injuries and training problems. He later became a moderately successful breeding stallion.
Kauai King was an American Thoroughbred racehorse was foaled on April 3, 1963 at Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, Maryland. His sire was Native Dancer and his dam was Sweep In. In 1966, Kauai King won the first two legs of the U.S. Triple Crown. To date, Kauai King is one of only two horses born in Maryland to have crossed the Kentucky Derby finish line first, but 1968 winner Dancer's Image was later stripped of his title, leaving Kauai King as the only official Maryland-bred winner of the Derby.
The Tremont Stakes is a Listed American Thoroughbred horse race run annually for two-year-olds over the distance of 5+1⁄2 furlongs on the dirt in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event carries a purse of US$150,000.
Edward L. Bowen is an American Thoroughbred horse racing historian and author, and the president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, an institution involved in funding equine research.
Busanda (1947–1968) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best remembered as the dam of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Buckpasser.
Bold Bidder (1962–1982) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.
Snow Knight was a Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. As a three-year-old in 1974, he won Britain's most prestigious race, the Derby, then the following year earned an Eclipse Award as the American Champion Male Turf Horse.
Tom Fool was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 1953 American Horse of the Year and was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame. He sired the champion racehorses Buckpasser and Tim Tam.
Roger Laurin is a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses in the United States and Canada. He has trained Champions Numbered Account, the 1971 American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly, and Chief's Crown, the 1984 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt and Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner.