Firenze (horse)

Thoroughbred racehorse infobox
horsename = Firenze


caption =
sire = Glenelg
dam = Florida
damsire = Virgil
sex = Filly
foaled = 1884
country = United States flagicon|USA
colour = Bay
breeder = Daniel Swigert
owner = James Ben Ali Haggin
trainer = Matthew Byrnes
record = 82: 47-21-9
earnings = $112,471
race = Nursery Stakes (1886)
Gazelle Handicap (1887)
Ladies Handicap (1887)
Monmouth Oaks (1887)
Jerome Handicap (1887)
Free Handicap Sweepstakes (1887 & 1888)
Monmouth Handicap (1888)
Freehold Stakes (1888 & 1889)
Omnium Handicap (1889)
New York Handicap (1889 & 1890)
Knickerbocker Handicap (1889 & 1890)
Coney Island Cup (1890)
Champion Stakes (1888 & 1891)
awards= U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Filly (1887)
U.S. Champion Older Mare (1887, 1888, 1889, 1890)
honours = United States Racing Hall of Fame (1975)
Firenze Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
updated= November 10, 2006

Firenze (1884-1902), also recorded as "Firenzi,", was an American Thoroughbred Champion and Hall of Fame filly racehorse. The New York Times [http://horseracing.about.com/library/blsalvator.htm] called Firenze: "...one of the greatest distaffers of the 19th Century."

Foaled at Elmendorf Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, Firenze was sold by owner/breeder Daniel Swigert to lawyer and businessman James Ben Ali Haggin. Under trainer Matt Byrnes, Firenze became the second filly in American Thoroughbred racing history to earn more than $100,000 in purse money and was voted Champion Older Mare for four straight years.

Although a small horse at just 15 hands, Firenze was noted for her stamina. She competed in up to twenty or more races a year and frequently at distances of 1¼ to 2 miles. However, what makes her performances so remarkable is that she repeatedly defeated the top colts of the day including the Dwyer Brothers Stable's two future Hall of Fame colts, Hanover and Kingston. As well, in the 1888 season, she was the only horse to beat A. J. Cassatt's Preakness Stakes winner and son of the great Longfellow, The Bard.

At her retirement she had achieved the second highest earnings for a filly in American history. Miss Woodford won more, and Yo Tambien won a bit less.

Firenze began racing at age two and competed through age seven, retiring to her owner's Rancho Del Paso stud farm near Sacramento, California. As a broodmare, her own progeny, including those sired by her Hall of Fame stablemate Salvator, achieved only modest success in racing but several of her fillies were successful as broodmares.

Firenze died in 1902 at Rancho del Paso. In 1981, she was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

References

* [http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=71 Firenze at the United States National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/firenze Firenzee's pedigree and racing stats]