For the metaphor see Alphabet soup (linguistics), for the TV Series see Alphabet Soup (TV series)

Alphabet Soup (TV series)

Alphabet Soup is a Canadian children's television series which aired on CBC Television between October 5, 1971 and December 4, 1973. Each week, Trudy Young, Marc Stone, Lynn Griffin and puppet Arbuckle the Alligator would invite a guest who would talk about a subject beginning with a letter of the...

.

Alphabet Soup (foaled 1991 in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 best known for setting a new track record for 1¼ miles at Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack is a Canadian racetrack for Thoroughbred horse races located at 555 Rexdale Blvd. in the city of Toronto, Ontario. It is the only horseracing track in North America which stages, or is capable of staging, thoroughbred and standardbred horseracing programs on the same day...

 when he won the 1996 Breeders' Cup Classic

Breeders' Cup Classic

The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 year olds and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships...

, defeating both the great Cigar

Cigar (horse)

Cigar , is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse, who in 1995 and 1996 became the first American racehorse racing against top-class competition to win 16 consecutive races since the Triple Crown winner, Citation did so in 1948 and 1950...

 and Preakness Stakes

Preakness Stakes

The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

 winner, Louis Quatorze

Louis Quatorze (horse)

Louis Quatorze is an American thoroughbred stallion racehorse. He was sired by Sovereign Dancer, who in turn was a son of the great 1964 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner, Northern Dancer out of the mare, On To Royalty....

.

Alphabet Soup was bred by Southeast Associates, a group led by Roy S. Lerman, and purchased by California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

n, Georgia B. Ridder. A descendant of Nearco

Nearco

Nearco was an Italian bred Thoroughbred racehorse described by Thoroughbred Heritage as "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century" and "one of the most important sires of the century." He was not only unbeaten, winning 14 races at distances from 5 furlongs to 1 mile 7 furlongs ,...

, his damsire was U.S. Racing Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

 inductee, Arts and Letters

Arts and Letters

Arts and Letters was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.Owned and bred by American sportsman and noted philanthropist Paul Mellon, and trained by future Hall of Famer Elliott Burch, the colt began racing at age two...

. Purchased privately as a two-year-old by Georgia B. Ridder, Alphabet Soup was late in developing. Mrs. Ridder raced the colt in California where he began to come into his own at the age of four, winning the 1995 Native Diver

Native Diver Handicap

The Native Diver Handicap is an American Grade III stakes race for Thoroughbred race horses run in early December at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California...

 and Del Mar Breeders' Cup Handicap

Del Mar Breeders' Cup Handicap

The Del Mar Mile Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at the end of August at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The Grade II event is open to horses age three and up willing to race one mile on the turf. As part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series, the winner...

s. In 1996, en route to his spectacular triumph in that year's Breeders' Cup Classic, he won four important graded stakes race

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

s: the San Antonio Handicap

San Antonio Handicap

The San Antonio Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the first week of February at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California...

, the Pat O'Brien Handicap

Pat O'Brien Handicap

The Pat O'Brien Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. In 2009, this race will become a Grade I event..The race was named in honor of actor and Del Mar Racetrack co-founder, Pat O'Brien...

, the San Pasqual Handicap

San Pasqual Handicap

The San Pasqual Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the first part of January at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California...

 in which he defeated Best Pal

Best Pal

Best Pal was an American Hall of Fame champion racehorse, who to this day holds the record for purses of any California-bred racehorse, earning his owners, the Golden Eagle Farm, US$5.6 million over his lifetime.A descendant of Princequillo on both his sire's and dam's line, Best Pal won the first...

, and the Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap

Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap

The Goodwood Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race run annually since 1982 during the Oak Tree Racing Association at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California....

 but was disqualified and set back to third.

Alphabet Soup raced in 1997 at age six, his best effort coming in defense of the San Antonio Handicap when he finished second to Gentlemen

Gentlemen (horse)

Gentlemen is a Thoroughbred racehorse who was the Champion Three-Year-Old Colt in Argentina and then raced successfully in the United States....

.

Retired to stud

Horse breeding

Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...

 duty, he stands at Adena Springs in Midway, Kentucky

Midway, Kentucky

Midway is a city in Woodford County, Kentucky, United States. Its population was 1,620 at the 2000 census. It is located midway between Frankfort and Lexington along the single-track railroad between them. It is part of the Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is home to a...

. Among his progeny is Our New Recruit, winner of the 2004 Dubai Golden Shaheen

Dubai Golden Shaheen

The Dubai Golden Shaheen is a Group 1 flat horse race in the United Arab Emirates for three-year-old and above thoroughbreds run over a distance of 1,200 metres on the dirt course at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai in late March....

.