Kelso (horse)

Kelso
Kelso
Sire	Your Host
Grandsire	Alibhai
Dam	Maid of Flight
Damsire	Count Fleet
Sex	Gelding
Foaled	1957
Country	United States
Colour	Dark Bay
Breeder	Bohemia Stable
Owner	Bohemia Stable (Racing silks: Grey, yellow disc, collar, cuffs and cap)
Trainer	Dr. John Lee; Carl Hanford
Record	63:39–12–2
Earnings	$1,977,896
Major wins
	Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap (1960); Jockey Club Gold Cup; (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964); Suburban Handicap (1961, 1963); Woodward Stakes (1961, 1962, 1963); Whitney Stakes (1961, 1963, 1965); Aqueduct Handicap (1963, 1964); Gulfstream Park Handicap (1963); John B. Campbell Handicap (1963); Nassau County Handicap (1963)
Awards
	Outstanding U.S. 3-Year-Old Male Horse (1960); 3rd New York Handicap Triple Crown (1961); U.S. Champion Older Male Horse (1961–1964); U.S. Horse of the Year (5 times, 1960–1964)
Honours
	U.S. Racing Hall of Hame (1967); Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame (1977); #4 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century; Kelso Stakes at Belmont Park

Kelso (April 4, 1957 – October 16, 1983) was an American thoroughbred race horse considered among the best racehorses of the 20th century. In the list of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century by The Blood-Horse magazine Kelso ranks 4th, behind only Man o' War (1st), Secretariat (2nd) and Citation (3rd). In his long and illustrious career, it is safe to say that Kelso beat more great or very good thoroughbreds than any other horse in the history of American Racing. The list reads like a who's who of the first half of the 1960's, including Carry Back, Gun Bow, Bald Eagle, Tompion, Never Bend, Beau Purple, Quadrangle, Roman Brother, Crimson Satan, Jaipur, Malicious, Ridan, Saidam, Pia Star, Garwol and Guadalcanal, just to name a few, while spotting his opponents many pounds under handicap conditions.

Early races

Kelso's breeding was less than stellar. Born at Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky, he was sired by a well-known racehorse who was an unproven stallion, Your Host. Kelso's dam was the unheralded Maid of Flight (although her sire was Count Fleet and her grandsire was Man o' War. Kelso was her first foal; he was scrawny, runty and hard to handle. He was a maternal grandson of U.S. Triple Crown champion Count Fleet, who is ranked #5 by The Blood-Horse.^[1] Before he set foot on a track, owner Allaire du Pont had him gelded in the hopes of calming him down. According to many, it did not work; Kelso was never a well-mannered horse. He was named for Mrs. du Pont's friend Kelso Everett and, like Mr. Everett who went by the nickname of "Kelly", so did the horse.^[2]

Trained by Dr. John Lee and racing for Ms. du Pont's nom de course Bohemia Stable, Kelso made his two-year-old debut on September 4, 1959 at Atlantic City Race Course (at that time one of the country's premier tracks). Ridden by John Block, Kelso's first race was an ordinary maiden event (which he won). He was lightly regarded in his second start ten days later, when he finished second. The gelding was the favorite in his third race, which was shortly after his second and in which he again placed second. So ended his freshman season.

The Right Rev. Arthur Raymond McKinstry was known as Kelso's chaplain. In talking to reporters McKinstry said, "On the occasion of President Johnson and Mrs. Johnson's 30th wedding anniversary, the White House reporters asked me if I had any other claim to fame. I thought a little while and then had to confess to them that, among my friends in Wilmington, I am casually spoken of as the private chaplain for the great racehorse, Kelso. Taken aback, one reporter turned and asked me, 'Do you mean to say that you direct heavenly words to God on behalf of a racehorse?' 'I don't have to,' I replied. 'Let's say I just sit there with my fingers crossed and hope a little.'"^[3]

Championship seasons

Kelso's three-year-old season began after the Triple Crown^[1] races of 1960 were run. Dr. John Lee had returned to his veterinary practice, and Kelso's new trainer was Carl Hanford (inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2006), who handled him for the remainder of his career. Willie Shoemaker was his jockey for a short time followed by Eddie Arcaro, who rode him from mid-1960 to November 1961 when he retired as a jockey. In 1962, Ismael Valenzuela became Kelso's principal rider for more than three years.

Kelso's first start as a three-year-old (and first win for Hanford) was at Monmouth Park. Hanford said, "He was an extremely determined horse. If he saw a horse in front, he wanted to get to him. You could take him back or send him to the front. He was an extremely sound horse who was light on his feet with incredible balance. Kelso could wheel on a dime, spinning round in a circle and never letting his feet touch each other." After the Monmouth race, he won eight of his next nine starts: a mile race at Aqueduct Racetrack in a record for a three-year-old at that distance, the Choice Stakes, the Jerome Handicap, the Discovery Handicap, the Lawrence Realization Stakes, the Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap and the Jockey Club Gold Cup (the latter against older horses). In the Lawrence Realization, he equaled Man O 'War's time of 2:40-4/5 for 1⅝ miles. In 1960, Kelso was voted Three-Year-Old Champion Male and received the American Horse of the Year award.

At age four in 1961, Kelso won seven of nine starts. That year, he was voted Champion Older Horse and again Horse of the Year.

Career highlights

Championships:
- 1960 Champion 3-yr-old Male, Horse of the Year
- 1961 Champion Handicap Male, Horse of the Year
- 1962 Champion Handicap Male, Horse of the Year
- 1963 Champion Handicap Male, Horse of the Year
- 1964 Champion Handicap Male, Horse of the Year
- Only five-time Horse of the Year in history (as of 2011)
Won five consecutive runnings of the then-two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup (the most consecutive wins of a major stakes by any horse in history as of 2011)
Won three consecutive Woodward Stakes
Three-time winner of the Whitney Stakes
Two-time winner of the Aqueduct Handicap
Two-time winner of the Suburban Handicap
Won eight of nine races (7 of them stakes) in 1960
Won eight consecutive races (his last six of 1960 and first two of 1961)
Carried 130 pounds on 24 occasions, winning 13, placing in 5, and finishing third once
Won 62% of his starts (39 out of 63 starts)
Finished in the money in 84% of his starts (53 out of 63)
In 1961, Kelso joined Whisk Broom II and Tom Fool as the third horse in history to win the New York Handicap Triple, made up of the Metropolitan Handicap – in which he carried 130 pounds (59 kg), the Suburban Handicap – in which he carried 133 pounds (60 kg) – and the Brooklyn Handicap, in which he carried 136 pounds (62 kg).^[4]
Set a new American record for 1½ miles on the turf in the 1964 Washington, D.C. International
Won The Stymie Handicap at age five in 1962, and at age eight in 1965
Still holds the World Record time for two miles on dirt of 3:19.1 set in the 1964 Jockey Club Gold Cup

Long career

Unlike many top racehorses, Kelso took a while to warm up his career. The gelding^[2] competed for eight seasons, from 1959 to 1966. As his career reached its zenith, so did his popularity, and huge crowds flocked to see him. Kelso competed on fourteen tracks, won in six states, set nine track records (plus two American records), was the all-time leading money-winner with $1,977,896 at his retirement^[2] and was beloved by racing fans for his courage and consistency. In a simulated race featuring the top champions of American racing, Kelso beat Man O' War by a half-length.

In 1965 during a workout, Kelso suffered a hairline fracture of the inside sesamoid of his right hind foot. Though he had planned for another year's racing, Hanford retired him at age nine. Kelso left the track as racing's all-time leading money winner with lifetime earnings of $1,977,896. This earnings record held for 14 years, until it was surpassed by Affirmed in 1979. Of Kelso's 63 starts, he won 39, placed 12 times and finished third twice. He was out of the money 10 times.

Accepting his Hall of Fame award in August 2006, Carl Hanford said, "I am here today because of one horse and one horse only. Although I've had a few stakes horses before, they didn't compare with Kelso. There is an old saying on the racetrack that 'a good horse is dangerous in anybody's hands.' How true that is. Of all the top trainers in the past that have had this honor, I may be a little bit prejudiced, but I don't think any one of them had their hands on a horse like Kelso."

Retirement

As a gelding, Kelso could not be retired to stud. Instead, he went on to a second career as a hunter and show jumper. In 1967, he was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Kelso died on October 16, 1983. He is buried in the equine cemetery at Allaire du Pont's Woodstock Farm in Chesapeake City, Maryland.^[5]

Footnotes

^ - A male horse who has been castrated for any number of reasons. In Kelso's case, it was cantankerousness. (As a counterpoint to this theory, in his book, A Sound of Horses, David Alexander, the noted racing columnist, who knew Kelso, and his human entourage, stated that Dr. Lee, his trainer and veterinarian, recommended that he be gelded to correct a problem with his stride. It was also hoped it would help him put on weight. Mr. Alexander said that Kelso was a rather shy, even introverted horse, and that when he seemed to be feeling particularly insecure, Mrs. DuPont would give him a chocolate sundae, of which he was inordinately fond. She kept specially wrapped sugar cubes in her pocket for those times when chocolate sundaes were not available.)
^ That year, Venetian Way won the Kentucky Derby, Bally Ache won the Preakness, and Celtic Ash won the Belmont Stakes.

References

^ Kelso's five-generation pedigree and race record Retrieved 2011-06-26.
^ ^a ^b "Mid-Atlantic region: Grande dame of Woodstock". Thoroughbred Times, September 29, 2001 Retrieved 2011-06-26.
^ Whitney Tower, "Faith and Form at Saratoga". Sports Illustrated, August 16, 1965 Retrieved 2011-06-26.
^ Racing Hall of Fame Retrieved 2011-06-26.
^ Kelso's headstone at Woodstock Farm Retrieved 2011-06-26.

External links

[1] Kelso's five-generation pedigree and race record Retrieved 2011-06-26.

[Thoroughbred_Times-2] "Mid-Atlantic region: Grande dame of Woodstock". Thoroughbred Times, September 29, 2001 Retrieved 2011-06-26.

[3] Whitney Tower, "Faith and Form at Saratoga". Sports Illustrated, August 16, 1965 Retrieved 2011-06-26.

[4] Racing Hall of Fame Retrieved 2011-06-26.

[5] Kelso's headstone at Woodstock Farm Retrieved 2011-06-26.

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