Re-Discovering Discovery Legendary Racehorse, Stallion Had Deep Roots in State
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Maryland Horse® February 2021 Official publication of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association; Vol. 86, No. 2 Re-discovering Discovery Legendary racehorse, stallion had deep roots in state Story by Andrew Hanna and Cindy Deubler MARYLAND HORSE BREEDERS ASSOCIATION INC. 321 Main Street Reisterstown, MD 21136 410-252-2100 Native Dancer, Bold Rul- www.marylandthoroughbred.com er and Intentionally. All three stallions appear in the pedigree BOARD OF DIRECTORS of 2020 Kentucky Derby-G1 Michael Harrison DVM and Breeders’ Cup Classic-G1 President winner Authentic. At least one Richard F. Blue Jr. can be found somewhere in Vice-president the pedigrees of nearly every 1 Kent Allen Murray Thoroughbred in the world Secretary-treasurer today. And all three are grand- Cricket Goodall sons of Sagamore Farm’s leg- Executive director endary stallion Discovery. Discovery was born 90 James Blackwell*, Ellen M. years ago on March 3, 1931, Charles, Michael D. Golden DVM, Christy Holden, in Kentucky at the Mereworth Michael Horning, TK Farm of his breeder, Walter J. Kuegler*, Louis Merryman, Salmon Sr. The connection to Sabrina Moore, Maryland came two years lat- A. Leonard Pineau VMD, er through Adolphe Pons, a William Reightler, Thomas J. bloodstock advisor who pur- Rooney, James B. Steele, David chased a farm on the outskirts Wade, Theresa Wiseman of Bel Air in 1933 he named A son of Man o’ War’s sire markable racing career before *president appointed Country Life Farm. Fair Play, Display was fiery, ob- being retired, and except for DIRECTORS EMERITUS A one-time personal sec- streperous, sometimes a men- Discovery, had an unremark- (served 18 years) retary to August Belmont II, ace – hot-blooded, as the Fair able broodmare career. But her J. William Boniface, Pons oversaw the sale of Bel- Play male line was described. granddam Adriana was by R. Thomas Bowman, King T. mont’s yearling colt Man o’ But Display was one of the best Hamburg, who stood for most Leatherbury, Donald P. Litz Jr., War, advising Samuel D. Rid- runners of the mid-1920s. After of his life as the property of Ann Merryman, Michael Pons, Katharine M. Voss dle to make the purchase, and capturing the 1926 Preakness the Whitney family. advised a number of other Stakes and a host of other races The blaze-faced Hamburg, ADVISORY COUNCIL major owners, including Jo- in 103 starts, winning more also described as “fiery,” was (past MHBA presidents) seph E. Widener, before find- than $250,000 (the equivalent an exceptional broodmare J. William Boniface, ing work as Salmon’s agent. of $3.6 million today), he was sire, his daughters producing William K. Boniface, Frank A. Bonsal, R. Thomas Bowman, After purchasing his first retired to stand at Mereworth. the likes of Regret, Maskette William G. Christmas, horses in 1919, Salmon had im- Display’s first book in- and Paul Jones. Adriana was Hal C.B. Clagett III, Kimball C. mediate success and was soon cluded Ariadne, a daughter a stakes producer, as was her Firestone, King T. Leatherbury, building a breeding empire. of the English imported stal- daughter, Discovery’s grand- J.W.Y. Martin Jr., One of the earliest, and best, lion *Light Brigade, sire of dam Adrienne, who produced Joseph P. Pons Jr., Michael horses bred by Salmon was Mereworth’s homebred 1929 her first foal in 1923. That filly, Pons, Katharine M. Voss, Display, a classic winner who Preakness winner Dr. Free- Adria, was one of six to win Robert B. White sired Discovery in his first crop. land. Ariadne had an unre- stakes from the first crop bred track-record time, plus Suffolk Miss Disco, who gave birth Downs’ Bunker Hill Handicap to Bold Ruler, the 1957 Horse by 15 lengths (despite conced- of the Year and one of the top ing nearly 30 pounds). stallions of the 20th century. At Saratoga, Discovery car- Vanderbilt sold Miss Disco as ried 139 pounds in the Mer- a yearling, but kept Geisha, chants and Citizens Handicap, who produced the greatest of but he brushed it – and the all Sagamore runners, Native competition – off to become Dancer, who also stamped his the first horse in more than 20 legacy not only as the sire of years to win with such an im- champion Raise a Native (sire post. Eleven days later, under of leading sires Mr. Prospector the same impost in the Nar- and Exclusive Native), among ragansett Special, he couldn’t others, but as the grandsire of catch Top Row, in receipt of 29 Northern Dancer. pounds. Discovery returned Breeders from around the three days later to win his sec- country supported Discov- ond Whitney Stakes. ery, including Salmon, who Discovery won 11 stakes received as a condition of the that year, and edged Triple sale a breeding right for the Crown winner Omaha for stallion’s first five seasons Horse of the Year while also (Salmon bred stakes winners named champion handicap Dark Discovery and Dispose horse. in Discovery’s first crop). Bal- While his final campaign timore County breeder Wil- wouldn’t be as spectacular, his liam C. Price bred Discovery’s 14 starts yielded five stakes daughter My Recipe, who wins, including three-peats in would add another chapter to the Brooklyn and Whitney. He her sire’s impact. also made his first trip to Cali- When owned by Harry fornia and won Santa Anita’s Isaacs, My Recipe produced Adolphe Pons, founder of Country Life farm, raced Discovery 13 times, before the horse was sold to Alfred G. Vanderbilt. At the end of his racing career, the great handicap horse stood at Vanderbilt’s Sagamore Farm for 21 years. San Carlos Handicap. And, Intentionally, one of the top in one of the most remarkable 2-year-olds of 1958, champion 2 by Salmon (a crop that includ- accomplishments were rec- in the Kentucky Jockey Club it. I bought Discovery in 1933 displays of respect by a hand- sprinter the next year, and sire 3 ed Display). ognized seven decades later Stakes. He made 13 starts for for $25,000. He never could icapper, he was assigned 143 of influential In Reality. In the throes of the Great when he ranked 37th on the Pons –winning twice, with beat Cavalcade in the big rac- Keeneland Library (2) pounds for the Merchants and Discovery stood 21 years at Depression, and seeking a list of the Top 100 Racehorses two seconds and five thirds – es, but he beat everybody else, As a sire, Discovery’s impact on the breed is best illustrated by Miss Citizens. He tired to finish fifth, Sagamore until retired in 1957. Disco (top) dam of Bold Ruler, and Geisha, dam of Native Dancer as the top three finishers car- shift to a commercial breeding of the 20th Century compiled before moving to Alfred G. and carried great weights.” (shown here with a full sister to the great runner and influential sire). He died a year later in August ried 100, 107 and 108 pounds. market, Salmon began leasing by The Blood-Horse. Vanderbilt’s stable. Transferred to the care of at age 27 and was buried on the Vanderbilt said he would runners to Pons in 1932. But his career started in- Vanderbilt recalled the Joseph “Bud” Stotler, Discov- The rematch with Caval- wins, winning five of his last farm, not far from his champi- retire his champion after 1936, Josh Pons recalled those auspiciously. Sent out for purchase of the colt with Josh ery made his 14th juvenile cade came seven days later in seven starts and breaking on granddaughter and fellow 3 and true to his word Discovery years his grandfather Adol- his first start by trainer John Pons, who chronicled the ex- start, and first for Vanderbilt, the Preakness Stakes. Both lost the 1 ⁄16-mile world record in Hall of Famer Bed o’ Roses. His entered stud at Sagamore Farm phe raced the Salmon horses: “Jack” Pryce in June 1933 at change with the legendary in Pimlico’s Walden Handi- to High Quest, who beat Cav- winning Narragansett Park’s obituary in The Maryland Horse in Glyndon. Named cham- “He leased the Mereworth Belmont Park, he finished breeder at Saratoga in August cap, where he finished second. alcade by a nose, with Dis- Rhode Island Handicap, Cav- written by Joe B. Hickey read: pion handicap horse a second racing stable – Swivel in 1932 fourth. The favorite in his 1989 in his Country Life Diary: The season had tired him out, covery third. Discovery made alcade had beaten him five “The fabled weight-carrier of time, he won 27 times, 22 in won the Pimlico Futurity for next two, he faded. Making “You know Discovery raced so Stotler gave him a long rest. his fourth start in less than a times that year and was voted the ’30s, one of the greatest him, then Discovery raced for his fourth start in 34 days, at in your grandfather’s silks, month in a Belmont Park al- Horse of the Year. stakes, and earned $195,287. American breeding ever has him on lease in 1933. Right up Arlington Park, he figured it until I bought the colt late in Discovery opened his lowance, which he dominat- Racing exclusively in He received racing’s highest produced, was known as the until his last start at 2.” out. Discovery broke poorly his 2-year-old year,” said Van- 3-year-old season April 28 at ed. And he kept rolling. stakes in a 19-start 4-year-old honor when inducted into the Big Train. Of this lead-lug- Over a storied career, Dis- and was forced to chase the derbilt.