Needles (horse)

Needles (horse)
Needles
Sire Ponder
Grandsire Pensive
Dam Noodle Soup
Damsire Jack High
Sex Stallion
Foaled 1953
Country United States
Colour Bay
Breeder W. E. Leach
Owner D & H Stable
Trainer Hugh L. Fontaine
Record 21: 11-3-3
Earnings $600,355
Major wins

Hopeful Stakes (1955)
Sapling Stakes (1955)
Flamingo Stakes (1956)
Florida Derby (1956)
Fort Lauderdale Handicap (1957)

American Classic Race wins:
Kentucky Derby (1956)
Belmont Stakes (1956)
Preakness Stakes 2nd (1956)
Awards
U.S. Champion 2-Yr-Old Colt (1955)
U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1956)
Honours

United States Racing Hall of Fame (2000)
Needles Stakes at Calder Race Course

Needles Court in Napa, California
Horse (Equus ferus caballus)
Last updated on December 9, 2006

Needles (1953–1984) was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred and raced in Florida, the descendant of Blenheim II and a son and grandson of Kentucky Derby winners Ponder and Pensive, Needles was a sickly foal who was given his name because of the numerous veterinary injections he was given to overcome broken ribs and pneumonia.

Fully recovered, Needles had an impressive racing season at age two, winning six of ten starts, including the prestigious Hopeful Stakes. His performances that year earned him the 1955 championship as two-year-old colt.

Ridden by David Erb, Needles was a crowd favorite for his thundering come-from-behind style, sometimes overcoming a 15-length deficit. The betting favorite, Needles impressively won the 1956 Kentucky Derby by coming from 16th place in a field of 17 to make up 24 lengths and win going away with a powerful stretch drive. His victory marked the first time a Florida-bred horse won America's most prestigious horse race. In the Preakness Stakes, the next leg of the U.S. Triple Crown races at Pimlico Race Course, Needles finished second to the Calumet Farm colt Fabius, whom he had beaten in the Derby. Needles then came back in New York to win the grueling 1½-mile Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown races. Career Boy finished second and rival Fabius ran third. Needles earned another championship as three-year-old colt in 1956.

At age four, Needles started three times, finishing 1, 2, and 3. His 1957 racing season ended early following an injury, and he was sent to stand at stud at owner Bonnie Heath's breeding farm in Marion County, Florida. Needles' success in racing sparked a boom in Florida horse breeding which, among others, produced notable runners such as Carry Back and Affirmed.

Needles died in 1984 at the age of 31. His heart and hooves are buried in the Garden of Champions at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company Pavilion. In 2000, he was inducted into the United States National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.


References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Horse-fly — Tabanus sulcifrons[1] Scientific classification Kingdom …   Wikipedia

  • Needles and Pins (1963 song) — Infobox Single Name = Needles and Pins Cover size = Caption = Artist = Jackie DeShannon from Album = A side = B side = Released = Format = Recorded = Genre = Rock and roll Beat music Length = Label = Writer = Jack Nitzsche, Sonny Bono Producer =… …   Wikipedia

  • Horse of a Different Color (Willy DeVille album) — Infobox Album Name = Horse of a Different Color (Willy DeVille album) Type = studio Artist = Willy DeVille Released = May 31, 1999 Recorded = Ardent Studios Memphis Genre = Blues, R B, Soul Length = 43:18 Label = EastWest Producer = Jim Dickinson …   Wikipedia

  • Swordswoman Riding West on White Horse — The White Horse in the West Wind (zh tsp|t=白馬嘯西風|s=白马啸西风|p=bái mǎ xiào xī fēng) is a wuxia novella written by Jinyong. The title in Chinese could be roughly translated to White Horse Neighing in the West Wind. It was first published in 1961 in… …   Wikipedia

  • Citation (horse) — Citation Sire Bull Lea Grandsire Bull Dog Dam …   Wikipedia

  • The Needles Battery — The view over the battery. The Needles Battery was a military Battery built on the cliff top above the Needles stacks in 1861–63 to guard the West end of the Solent. Its field of fire was from approximately West South West clockwise to Northeast… …   Wikipedia

  • Ponder (horse) — Thoroughbred racehorse infobox horsename = Ponder caption = sire = Pensive grandsire = Hyperion dam = Miss Rushin damsire = Blenheim II sex = Stallion foaled = 1946 country = USA flagicon|USA colour = Dark Brown breeder = Calumet Farm owner =… …   Wikipedia

  • Omaha (horse) — Omaha Sire Gallant Fox Grandsire Sir Gallahad III Dam Flambino Damsire Wrack Sex Stallion Foa …   Wikipedia

  • Chateaugay (horse) — Chateaugay Sire Swaps Grandsire Khaled Dam Banquet Bell Damsire Polynesian Sex Stallion Foale …   Wikipedia

  • Damascus (horse) — Damascus Sire Sword Dancer Grandsire Sun Glow Dam Kerala Damsire My Babu Sex Stallion Foaled …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”