- Mr. Prospector
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Mr. Prospector Sire Raise a Native Grandsire Native Dancer Dam Gold Digger Damsire Nashua Sex Stallion Foaled 1970 Country United States Colour Bay Breeder Leslie Combs II Owner Abraham I. Savin Trainer Jimmy Croll Record 14: 7-4-2 Earnings $112,170 Major wins Gravesend Handicap (1974)
Whirlaway Handicap (1974)Awards Leading sire in North America (1987 & 1988)
Leading broodmare sire in North America
(1997–2003, 2005–06)Honours Mr. Prospector Stakes at Gulfstream Park Horse (Equus ferus caballus) Last updated on January 9, 2010 Mr. Prospector (1970–1999) was a thoroughbred racehorse foaled in Kentucky, whose descendants have been dominant in the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. He won half of his 14 career races.
Contents
Background
Mr. Prospector's sire was Raise a Native, a son of the Native Dancer. He was out of the mare Gold Digger, a daughter of Nashua who was sired by Nasrullah.[1] A $200,000 yearling in 1971 (a significant price for the early 1970s), "Mr. P", as he came to be known, was trained by Jimmy Croll, a Hall of Fame member who went on to train Holy Bull.
Racing career
Mr. Prospector was a contemporary of Secretariat. He did not contest the Triple Crown, but proved successful over sprint distances. Mr. Prospector won the Gravesend Handicap, the Whirlaway Handicap and managed to set track records for six furlongs (1,207 m) at Gulfstream Park and Garden State, but his racing record provided little inkling of his success as a breeding sire.
Stud career
One of Mr. Prospector's most remarkable feats was siring one winner of each of the Triple Crown races, a feat his grandson, Unbridled, has also accomplished. His Triple Crown race winners were the 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus, a promising young sire; 1985 Preakness Stakes winner Tank's Prospect; and 1982 Belmont Stakes winner and Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year, Conquistador Cielo.
Ancestry and legacy
In tail-male descent (traced entirely through males, the line in which Mr. Prospector has made his mark), Mr. Prospector descends from the Darley Arabian, through Eclipse. Virtually all horses of this line alive today descend through Whalebone (foaled 1807), via Stockwell (1849). And the overwhelming majority of these descend from Stockwell's grandson Bend Or (1877) through his great-great-grandson Phalaris (1913). Successful sire-lines continue to crowd out less successful ones as breeders seek successful bloodlines, and in recent years Mr. Prospector has appeared likely to join this catalogue of likely tail-male ancestors of major racers, whether they be heavily promoted and trained and owned by prominent figures, or "Cinderellas" like Smarty Jones or Funny Cide.
On June 1, 1999, Mr. Prospector died in his stall of complications from colic at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky. He was buried between Nijinsky and Secretariat.
Progeny
Mr. Prospector's male-line descendents with Triple Crown races won:
- Mr. Prospector
- Fappiano (foaled 1977)
- Cryptoclearance (1984)
- Victory Gallop (1995) 1998 Belmont Stakes
- Quiet American (1986)
- Real Quiet (1995) 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes
- Unbridled (1987) 1990 Kentucky Derby
- Grindstone (1993) 1996 Kentucky Derby
- Birdstone (2001) 2004 Belmont Stakes
- Mine That Bird (2006) 2009 Kentucky Derby
- Summer Bird (2006) 2009 Belmont Stakes
- Birdstone (2001) 2004 Belmont Stakes
- Red Bullet (1997) 2000 Preakness Stakes
- Empire Maker (2000) 2003 Belmont Stakes
- Grindstone (1993) 1996 Kentucky Derby
- Cryptoclearance (1984)
- Conquistador Cielo (1979) 1982 Belmont Stakes
- Tank's Prospect (1982) 1985 Preakness Stakes
- Woodman (1983) (has sired 94 stakes winners)
- Hansel (1988) 1991 Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes
- Timber Country (1992) 1995 Preakness Stakes
- Gulch (1984)
- Thunder Gulch (1992) 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes
- Point Given (1998) 2001 Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes
- Thunder Gulch (1992) 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes
- Gone West (1984)
- Elusive Quality (1993)
- Smarty Jones (2001) 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes
- Commendable (1997) 2000 Belmont Stakes
- Da Hoss (1992)
- Elusive Quality (1993)
- Afleet (1984)
- Northern Afleet (1993)
- Afleet Alex (2002) 2005 Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes
- Northern Afleet (1993)
- Forty Niner (1985)
- Editor's Note (1993) 1996 Belmont Stakes
- Distorted Humor (1993)
- Funny Cide (2000) 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes
- Seeking the Gold (1985)
- Jazil (2003) 2006 Belmont Stakes
- Machiavellian (1987)
- Almutawakel (1995) (deceased Nov. 2007)
- Street Cry (1998)
- Street Sense (2004) 2007 Kentucky Derby
- Zenyatta (2004) won 19 out of her 20 career starts including the 2008 Breeders Cup Ladies Classic and 2009 Breeders Cup Classic
- Kingmambo (1990)
- Lemon Drop Kid (1996) 1999 Belmont Stakes
- Our Emblem (1991)
- War Emblem (1999) 2002 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes
- Smart Strike (1992)
- Curlin (2004) 2007 Preakness Stakes
- Lookin at Lucky (2007) 2010 Preakness Stakes
- Fusaichi Pegasus (1997) 2000 Kentucky Derby
- Roman Ruler (2002)
- Ruler on Ice (2008), 2011 Belmont Stakes
- Roman Ruler (2002)
- Mr. Principality (2000)
- Fappiano (foaled 1977)
References
- Hunter, Avalyn. Gold Rush : How Mr. Prospector Became Racing's Billion-Dollar Sire (2007) Eclipse Press ISBN 978-1-58150-173-5
External links
Categories:- 1970 racehorse births
- 1999 racehorse deaths
- Thoroughbred racehorses
- Racehorses bred in Kentucky
- Racehorses trained in the United States
- American racehorses
- United States Champion Thoroughbred Sires
- Mr. Prospector
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