Gun Bow

Thoroughbred racehorse infobox
horsename = Gun Bow


caption =
sire = Gun Shot
grandsire = Hyperion
dam = Ribbons and Bows
damsire = War Admiral
sex = Stallion
foaled = 1960
country = United States
colour = Bay
breeder = Maine Chance Farm
owner = Gedney Farms
trainer = Edward A. Neloy
record = 42: 17-8-4
earnings = $798,722
race = Narragansett Special (1963)
Brooklyn Handicap (1964)
Gulfstream Park Handicap (1964)
San Antonio Handicap (1964, 1965)
San Fernando Stakes (1964)
Strub Stakes (1964)
Washington Park Handicap (1964)
Whitney Handicap (1964)
Woodward Stakes (1964)
Donn Handicap (1965)
Metropolitan Handicap (1965)
awards=
honours = United States' Racing Hall of Fame (1999)
updated= April 15, 2007

Gun Bow (born 1960 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. Owned and bred by cosmetics tycoon, Elizabeth Arden at her Maine Chance Farm, Gun Bow was sired by Gun Shot, a son of Hyperion, the 1933 Epsom Derby winner and a six-time leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland. He was out of the mare Ribbons and Bows, a daughter of the 1937 U.S. Triple Crown champion, War Admiral.

Lameness kept Gun Bow out of racing at age two and as a result of American tax laws at the time, Elizabeth Arden sold Gun Bow in December 1962 to Harry Albert and Mrs. John Stanley of New Jersey who raced him under the name Gedney Farms. Conditioned by future Hall of Fame trainer Edward A. Neloy, on the track at age three he won six of his eighteen starts. The colt's most significant 1963 win came in the ungraded Narragansett Special at the Narragansett Race Track in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. However, by age four he had developed into a powerful runner and a major rival for the now legendary Kelso.

In his 1964 season, Gun Bow traveled across the United States to compete. He raced in California as well as at Arlington Park in the Midwest plus at tracks on the East Coast from New York thorough Florida. He won eight of his sixteen starts including three important graded stakes races on the West Coast and had wins in major East Coast races such as the Woodward Stakes and defeated Kelso by twelve lengths in the Brooklyn Handicap while setting a new track record for 10 furlongs. He gave the U.S. a one-two finish against an international field when he came second to Kelso in record time in the Washington, D.C. International. In September, his owners syndicated 60% of Gun Bow to a group led by John R. Gaines which included former owner, Elizabeth Arden. For the 1964 racing year, Gun Bow had earnings of more than $580,000.

Racing at age five, Gun Bow won three of eight starts, claiming his second straight San Antonio Handicap in California plus the Metropolitan and Donn Handicaps in the East. Retired to stud duty after his 1965 racing season, his offspring met with modest racing success. Notably, his outstanding daughter Pistol Packer won several Group One races in France including the 1971 Prix de Diane. In 1974 Gun Bow was sold to a breeding farm in Japan.

In 1999, Gun Bow was inducted in the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

References

* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,830598-1,00.html September 04, 1964 TIME magazine article on Gun Bow]
* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/gun+bow Gun Bow's pedigree and partial racing stats]
* [http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=340 Gun Bow at the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame] .
* Bowen, Edward L.. "At the Wire: Horse Racing's Greatest Moments" (2001) Eclipse Press ISBN 978-1581500707