Blue Man (horse)

Thoroughbred racehorse infobox
horsename = Blue Man


caption =
sire = Blue Swords
grandsire = Blue Larkspur
dam = Poppycock
damsire = Identify
sex = Stallion
foaled = 1949
country = United States flagicon|USA
colour = Bay
breeder = Allen T. Simmons
owner = 1) White Oak Stable
2) Frank R. Conklin
trainer = Woody Stephens
record = 24: 11-4-1
earnings = $277,035
race = Flamingo Stakes (1952)
Yankee Hankicap (1952)
Dwyer Stakes (1952)

American Classic Race wins:
Preakness Stakes (1952)
awards =
honours =
updated=

Blue Man (foaled 1949) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Preakness Stakes.

He was bred by Allen T. Simmons at his Lexington, Kentucky horse farm, a property that had been part of the renowned Idle Hour Stock Farm. Blue Man's dam was Poppycock, a granddaughter of the great Man o' War. His sire was Blue Swords who won several handicaps and ran second to Count Fleet in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Grandsire Blue Larkspur was the 1929 American Horse of the Year and a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee.

Blue Man was owned by Arthur Abbott of Rye, New York, founder of Abbott's Frozen Custard, who raced him under the White Oak Stable banner. Trained by future Hall of Fame inductee, Woody Stephens, at age two Blue Man showed limited racing ability but in the spring of 1952 the then three-year-old colt won the important Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah Park in Florida. In the ensuing Kentucky Derby he finished third to winner, Hill Gail then won the most important race of his career in the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series.

1952 Preakness Stakes

Derby winner Hill Gail had to be withdrawn from the Preakness as a result of an injury but Blue Man still faced a solid field led by Walter M. Jeffords' highly regarded One Count who was to be ridden by star jockey, Eddie Arcaro. Blue Man was ridden by Conn McCreary, a top jockey and future Hall of Fam inductee known for his dramatic come-from behind rides who had won the 1944 Preakness. In typical McCreary style, by the time he and Blue Man reached the three-quarter pole they were at the back of the pack, running ahead of just one other horse. One by one, they began passing the field then pulled away in the homestretch to win by three-and-a-half lengths. For trainer Woody Stephens, Blue Man was his first of nine Preakness starters and his only winner.

Sent to compete in the final leg of the Triple Crown, the 1½ mile Belmont Stakes, Blue Man ran second to winner One Count. That year, Blue Man won other important races such as the Yankee Handicap at East Boston's Suffolk Downs and the Dwyer Stakes held that year at the Old Aqueduct Racetrack.

Retired to stud duty, in 1958 Blue Man was sold to Canadian breeder Frank R. Conklin who stood him at his Midway Farm in Brantford, Ontario. Successful as a sire and damsire, Blue Man produced a number of Canadian stakes race winners.

References

* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/blue+man Blue Man's pedigree and partial racing stats]
* [http://www.tbcprojects.com/career.php?search=2777 Blue Man at Classic Runners]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,859643,00.html "TIME" magazine article on Blue Man's win in the Preakness Stakes]