Oil Capitol

Oil Capitol
Sire	Mahmoud
Grandsire	Blenheim II
Dam	Never Again II
Damsire	Pharos
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1947
Country	United States
Colour	Gray
Breeder	Elmendorf Farm
Owner	1) Thomas Gray & Cora M. Trotsek 2) Hasty House Farm & Cora M. Trotsek
Trainer	Harry Trotsek
Record	80: 19-10-9
Earnings	US$580,756
Major wins
Lansing Stakes (1949) Pimlico Futurity (1949) Keeneland Sales Stakes (1949) Breeders' Futurity (1949) Everglades Stakes (1950) Flamingo Stakes (1950) Butler Handicap (1951) New Orleans Handicap (1952) Palm Beach Stakes (1953) Widener Handicap (1953) Ben Ali Stakes (1953) Arlington Handicap (1953)
Awards
American Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Colt (1949)
Horse (Equus ferus caballus)

Oil Capitol (1947-1959) was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. Bred by the Widener family's Elmendorf Farm in Fayette County, Kentucky, he was sired by the French-bred runner Mahmoud, the 1936 winner of England's Epsom Derby. Out of the mare Never Again II, his damsire was the very important Pharos, the leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland in 1931 and the leading sire in France in 1939, who also sired the great Nearco.

Oil Capitol was owned by the wife of trainer Harry Trotsek in partnership with Thomas Gray of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Gray gave the colt the name, which, spelled with an "o" instead of an "a," was taken from the common reference to the city of Tulsa as the "Oil Capital of the World."

At age two, Oil Capitol had his best year in racing. Ridden by Kenneth Church, the colt notably won the important 1949 Pimlico Futurity in Maryland and the Breeders' Futurity in Kentucky. He equaled the Keeneland track record for 6½ furlongs and shared 1949 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt honors with Hill Prince.

As a three-year-old in 1950, at Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida, Oil Capitol won the Everglades Stakes and the Flamingo Stakes, which were important prep races for the Kentucky Derby. He then finished second in the Blue Grass Stakes before going on to the Derby, where he deadheated for fifth. Thomas Gray sold his interest in Oil Capitol during the latter part of 1951 to Allie Reuben's Hasty House Farm. The horse continued to win important races until he retired after the 1953 racing season.

Oil Capitol met with limited success as a sire. He died on March 9, 1959, at Crown Crest Farm near Lexington, Kentucky, from enterolith.

References

• Oil Capitol's pedigree and partial racing stats
• Oil Capitol and the 1950 Kentucky Derby