Hill Gail

Thoroughbred racehorse infobox
horsename = Hill Gail


caption =
sire = Bull Lea
grandsire = Bull Dog
dam = Jane Gail
damsire = Blenheim
sex = Stallion
foaled = 1949
country = United States
colour = Bay
breeder = Calumet Farm
owner = Calumet Farm
trainer = Ben A. Jones & Horace A. Jones
record = 32: 11-5-3
earnings = $335,625
race = Arlington Futurity (1951)
Phoenix Handicap (1952)
San Vicente Stakes (1952)
Santa Anita Derby (1952)
Derby Trial (1952)

American Classic Race wins:
Kentucky Derby (1952)
awards =
honours =
updated= CURRENTTIME, CURRENTDAYNAME CURRENTMONTHNAME CURRENTDAY CURRENTYEAR (UTC)

Hill Gail (1949–1968) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred and raced by the renowned Calumet Farm of Lexington, Kentucky, the son of Champion sire, Bull Lea, Hill Gail is best known as the winner of the 1952 Kentucky Derby.

Hill Gail was trained by Ben Jones for races in the East while his son Jimmy handled the colt's conditioning in California. En route to his Derby win, at age two, Hill Gail set a new Arlington Park track record for six furlongs while defeating Tom Fool to win the 1951 Arlington Futurity. At age three, the colt equaled the Keeneland track record for six furlongs in winning the 1952 Phoenix Handicap and set a new Churchill Downs track record for 8 furlongs in his Derby Trial victory.

Sent off as the heavy betting favorite in the Kentucky Derby, Hill Gail did not disappoint and won the first leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series by two lengths. An injury kept Hill Gail out of the ensuing two Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

Racing at age four and again at age five, Hill Gail met with modest success, but did not win a significant Graded stakes race. At the end of the 1954 racing season, he was retired to stud duty and sent to breeders in Ireland for the 1955 season. As a sire, his son Martial won the 1959 Coventry Stakes and one of the 1960 British Classic Races, the 2,000 Guineas. However, Hill Gail's other offspring met with only limited success in racing on European grass surfaces. He died there in 1968. A plaque to his memory is in the Calumet Farm horse cemetery.

References

* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/hill+gail Hill Gail's pedigree and partial racing stats]
* [http://www.tbcprojects.com/career.php?search=2775 Hill Gail's offspring at the Triple Crown database by Kathleen Irwin and Joy Reeves]