Cleopatra (horse)

Cleopatra
Sire	Corcyra
Grandsire	Polymelus
Dam	Gallice
Damsire	Gallinule
Sex	Filly
Foaled	1917
Country	United States
Colour	Chestnut
Breeder	Claiborne Farm
Owner	William R. Coe
Trainer	James G. Rowe, Sr.
Record	20: 8-6-4
Earnings	US$$55,937
Major wins
Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (1920) Alabama Stakes (1920) Coaching Club American Oaks (1920) Champagne Stakes (1919) Pimlico Oaks (1920) Huron Handicap (1920) Latonia Championship (1920)
Awards
American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly (1920)
Horse (Equus ferus caballus)
Last updated on July 3, 2011

Cleopatra (foaled 1917 in Kentucky) was an American Champion Thoroughbred filly racehorse. Her sire was the one of Great Britian]]'s top stallions Corcyra, a son of three-time the Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland Polymelus. Her dam was Gallice, a daughter of Gallinule. ^[1] Cleopatra will best be remembered for her easy victory in the second running of the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes on May 17, 1920.

Two year-old season

Cleopatra was a brilliant filly from the first time she stepped onto the race track. She broke her maiden race in her very first outing. In her second race she stepped up and raced against the males in the Hopeful Stakes. In that race at Saratoga Race Course she placed second to the century's greatest race horse Man O' War in the six furlong sprint. Cleopatra's next start came in the prestigious Champagne Stakes and she won that mile race on dirt going away over the males including the colt Upset who is the actual name sake for the sports term "Upset".

Three year-old season

Cleopatra's sophomore season was one for the ages as she strung together six stakes wins and finished in the money in 13 of 15 starts. In April, Cleopatra finished second in the Ladies Handicap to inaugural Pimlico Oaks winner and racing legend Milkmaid at Aqueduct Racetrack. On the first Saturday of May, Cleopatra ran a disappointing 15th as the only filly in the 1920 Kentucky Derby.

In mid-May her connections; trainer James G. Rowe, Sr. and owner William R. Coe decided to wheel the hard charging filly back in just 13 days after the Derby and run in the $6,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes then called the Pimlico Oaks. In only the second running of that race she was sent off as the morning line favorite and lived up to her reputation by winning the mile and a sixteenth race in 1:53.00 flat. She did this against a strong field of nine stakes winning fillies including runner-up Arethusa and Rubidium.

In July she won the Coaching Club American Oaks setting a new track record at Belmont Park for the 11 forlong race in 2:18.80. Early in the Saratoga meet, Cleopatra won the Huron Handicap. In late August Cleopatra won the prestigious Alabama Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. In the late autumn, Cleopatra came back to win the Latonia Championship (in what is now Turfway Park) setting a new track record for the marathon 1-3/4 mile race in 2:56.80. Her record in 1920 was 6-5-3 in 15 starts, that year she won the fourth highest annual amount of earning in any year up to that point. That record was good enough to insure her of divisional championship honors by being voted American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly for 1920.

References

1. ^ Cleopatr's's Pedigree and partial Racing Stats

• Cleopatra's pedigree and partial racing stats