- Count Turf
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Count Turf Sire Count Fleet Grandsire Reigh Count Dam Delmarie Damsire Pompey Sex Stallion Foaled 1948 Country United States Colour Bay Breeder Dr. & Mrs. Frank Porter Miller Owner Jack Joseph Amiel Trainer 1) Sol Rutchick
2) William B. FinneganRecord 45: 8-4-6 Earnings $166,375 Major wins Dover Stakes (1950)
Kentucky Derby (1951)
Questionnaire Handicap (1953)Honours Count Turf Drive, Louisville, Kentucky Horse (Equus ferus caballus) Last updated on May 27, 2010 Count Turf (1948–1966) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known as the winner of the 1951 Kentucky Derby. He is one of only two equine families where three generations have won the Kentucky Derby. His grandsire Reigh Count won the 1928 Derby and then his sire Count Fleet won it in 1943. Count Fleet went on to win the U.S. Triple Crown. The only other father/son/grandson combination to win the Derby was Pensive (1944) who sired Ponder (1949) who in turn sired the 1956 winner, Needles.
Bred and raised at Runnymede Farm near Paris, Kentucky, Count Turf was owned by New York City restaurateur Jack Amiel who bought him at a yearling sale for $3,700. Amiel named him Count for his sire and Turf for his Turf Restaurant in Times Square. In the mid-1950s, Amiel dispensed with his ownership of the Turf Restaurant and became a co-owner of next-door's Jack Dempsey's Broadway Restaurant.
Racing at age two, Count Turf's best showings in Graded stakes races was a second place finish in both the Youthful Stakes and the Christiana Stakes. Wintered in Florida, at age three he showed little promise in the races leading up to the 1951 Kentucky Derby. Conditioned by Turkish-born trainer Sol Rutchick, the colt finished off the board in the Flamingo and Everglade Stakes in Florida and in the Wood Memorial Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack in Jamaica, New York.
In the 1951 Kentucky Derby, Count Turf was one of twenty horses entered. Harry Guggenheim's colt Battle Morn was the betting favorite with Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney's eventual Horse of the Year Counterpoint, the second choice. Counterpoint was Count Turf's half-brother through their common sire, Count Fleet. Given almost no chance of winning, Count Turf was part of a five-horse betting "field" with long-shot odds of 15-1. In the race, he was well placed in the front-middle of the pack and after taking the lead at the top of the homestretch he never looked back and won by four lengths over an over 53-1 long shot named Royal Mustang. [1] Favorite Battle Morn never was in contention and finished 6th while Counterpoint tired badly after making a run at the leaders and wound up 11th. For future U.S. Hall of Hame jockey Conn McCreary, it was his second Derby victory, having won the 1944 race aboard Pensive.
For the ensuing two legs of the Triple Crown series, Count Turf did not run in Preakness Stakes but then finished seventh in the Belmont Stakes, twenty lengths back of winner Counterpoint. In October of 1951, Count Turf was sent to race in California under the care of trainer Bill Finnegan. [2] Racing at age four and five, he met with limited success, his most notable performance a win in the 1953 Questionnaire Handicap at Jamaica Racetrack but he came out of the race lame and was retired. [3].
At stud, Count Turf stood at Almahurst Farm in Nicholasville, Kentucky, then at Elmhurst Farm near Lexington, and finally at Windy Hills Farm in Westminster, Maryland. As a sire, his accomplishments were modest, producing only two stakes race winners. One of those was Manassa Mauler, so-named by Jack Amiel for the widely known pugilistic nickname of his friend Jack Dempsey.
Count Turf died in 1966 and is buried at Windy Hills Farm.
Pedigree of Count Turf Sire
Count FleetReigh Count Sunreigh Sundridge Sweet Briar Contessina Count Schomberg Pitti Quickly Haste Maintenant Miss Malaprop Stephanie Stefan The Great Malachite Dam
DelmariePompey Sun Briar Sundridge Sweet Briar Cleopatra Corcyra Gallice Charmimg Note Polymelian Polymelus Pasquita Alburn Alcantara Face A Main References
- Count Turf's pedigree and partial racing statistics
- Count Turf's Kentucky Derby
- Count Turf Wins the Kentucky Derby, 1951
Kentucky Derby winners 1875 Aristides • 1876 Vagrant • 1877 Baden-Baden • 1878 Day Star • 1879 Lord Murphy • 1880 Fonso • 1881 Hindoo • 1882 Apollo • 1883 Leonatus • 1884 Buchanan • 1885 Joe Cotton • 1886 Ben Ali • 1887 Montrose • 1888 Macbeth II • 1889 Spokane • 1890 Riley • 1891 Kingman • 1892 Azra • 1893 Lookout • 1894 Chant • 1895 Halma • 1896 Ben Brush • 1897 Typhoon II • 1898 Plaudit • 1899 Manuel • 1900 Lieut. Gibson • 1901 His Eminence • 1902 Alan-a-Dale • 1903 Judge Himes • 1904 Elwood • 1905 Agile • 1906 Sir Huon • 1907 Pink Star • 1908 Stone Street • 1909 Wintergreen • 1910 Donau • 1911 Meridian • 1912 Worth • 1913 Donerail • 1914 Old Rosebud • 1915 Regret ♥ • 1916 George Smith • 1917 Omar Khayyam • 1918 Exterminator • 1919 Sir Barton ₩ • 1920 Paul Jones • 1921 Behave Yourself • 1922 Morvich • 1923 Zev • 1924 Black Gold • 1925 Flying Ebony • 1926 Bubbling Over • 1927 Whiskery • 1928 Reigh Count • 1929 Clyde Van Dusen • 1930 Gallant Fox ₩ • 1931 Twenty Grand • 1932 Burgoo King • 1933 Brokers Tip • 1934 Cavalcade • 1935 Omaha ₩ • 1936 Bold Venture • 1937 War Admiral ₩ • 1938 Lawrin • 1939 Johnstown • 1940 Gallahadion • 1941 Whirlaway ₩ • 1942 Shut Out • 1943 Count Fleet ₩ • 1944 Pensive • 1945 Hoop Jr. • 1946 Assault ₩ • 1947 Jet Pilot • 1948 Citation ₩ • 1949 Ponder • 1950 Middleground • 1951 Count Turf • 1952 Hill Gail • 1953 Dark Star • 1954 Determine • 1955 Swaps • 1956 Needles • 1957 Iron Liege • 1958 Tim Tam • 1959 Tomy Lee • 1960 Venetian Way • 1961 Carry Back • 1962 Decidedly • 1963 Chateaugay • 1964 Northern Dancer • 1965 Lucky Debonair • 1966 Kauai King • 1967 Proud Clarion • 1968 Forward Pass • 1969 Majestic Prince • 1970 Dust Commander • 1971 Canonero II • 1972 Riva Ridge • 1973 Secretariat ₩ • 1974 Cannonade • 1975 Foolish Pleasure • 1976 Bold Forbes • 1977 Seattle Slew ₩ • 1978 Affirmed ₩ • 1979 Spectacular Bid • 1980 Genuine Risk ♥ • 1981 Pleasant Colony • 1982 Gato Del Sol • 1983 Sunny's Halo • 1984 Swale • 1985 Spend A Buck • 1986 Ferdinand • 1987 Alysheba • 1988 Winning Colors ♥ • 1989 Sunday Silence • 1990 Unbridled • 1991 Strike the Gold • 1992 Lil E. Tee • 1993 Sea Hero • 1994 Go For Gin • 1995 Thunder Gulch • 1996 Grindstone • 1997 Silver Charm • 1998 Real Quiet • 1999 Charismatic • 2000 Fusaichi Pegasus • 2001 Monarchos • 2002 War Emblem • 2003 Funny Cide • 2004 Smarty Jones • 2005 Giacomo • 2006 Barbaro • 2007 Street Sense • 2008 Big Brown • 2009 Mine That Bird • 2010 Super Saver • 2011 Animal Kingdom
Legend - ₩ = Triple Crown Winners, ♥ = FillyCategories:- 1948 racehorse births
- 1966 racehorse deaths
- Thoroughbred racehorses
- Racehorses bred in Kentucky
- Racehorses trained in the United States
- American racehorses
- Kentucky Derby winners
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