Career Boy
Encyclopedia
Career Boy was an American
Champion
Thoroughbred
racehorse
. He was bred and raced by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
, a member of the prominent horse-racing Whitney family
. Out of the mare Swanky whose damsire Mahmoud
won the 1936 Epsom Derby
, he was sired by Whitney's Phalanx
, the 1947 Belmont Stakes
winner and American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse.
Trained by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
inductee, Sylvester Veitch
, at age two Career Boy won important races such as the Grand Union Hotel Stakes
and the United States Hotel Stakes
. He ran second to Needles
in the Hopeful Stakes then had another second-place result in the Garden State Stakes to winner Prince John
but ahead of third-place finisher, Needles.
Going into his three-year-old season in 1956, Career Boy was assigned the Experimental Free Handicap's 126 pound high-weight. Under jockey Eric Guerin
, Career Boy won the Gotham Stakes
and ran second in the Blue Grass Stakes
en route to a sixth-place finish in the 1956 Kentucky Derby
. Career Boy did not run in the Preakness Stakes
but in the ensuing Belmont Stakes
, the third leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series, he made a powerful stretch run to narrowly lose to Needles with Preakness winner Fabius
in third.
In 1956 Career Boy showed an affinity for racing on the grass with a win under jockey Sam Boulmetis
in the United Nations Handicap
at Monmouth Park Racetrack
. Owner C. V. Whitney then decided to send his top two runners to Longchamp Racecourse in Paris
, France
to run in the prestigious Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
. Entered with stablemate, Fisherman
, Eddie Arcaro
rode Career Boy to a fourth place finish in the 1956 Arc won by one of the best horses in European racing history, Ribot
. Career Boy's 1956 performances earned him American Champion Male Turf Horse honors.
Retired to stud
duty, Career Boy stood in the United States until age thirteen when he was sent to a breeding operation in Argentina
. He was not successful as a sire.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Champion
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...
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...
. He was bred and raced by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney was an American businessman, film producer, writer, and government official, as well as the owner of a leading stable of thoroughbred racehorses....
, a member of the prominent horse-racing Whitney family
Whitney family
The Whitney family is an American family notable for their social prominence, wealth, business enterprises and philanthropy, founded by John Whitney who came from London, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635.-Rise to prominence:...
. Out of the mare Swanky whose damsire Mahmoud
Mahmoud (horse)
Mahmoud was an French-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1936 won England's most prestigious race, the Epsom Derby and who became a Champion sire in the United States....
won the 1936 Epsom Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
, he was sired by Whitney's Phalanx
Phalanx (horse)
Phalanx was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was sired by Pilate, a son of the 1916 Belmont Stakes winner, Friar Rock. His dam was the outstanding runner, Jacola, the American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly of 1937 who beat the great Seabiscuit by two lengths in the 1938 Laurel Stakes....
, the 1947 Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
winner and American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse.
Trained by future 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, Sylvester Veitch
Sylvester Veitch
Sylvester E. Veitch was a Hall of Fame thoroughbred horse trainer.Veitch began his career in racing as a jockey and trainer in Steeplechase racing. In 1939 he moved to flat racing when he began employment as a trainer with Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney in Kentucky...
, at age two Career Boy won important races such as the Grand Union Hotel Stakes
Grand Union Hotel Stakes
The Grand Union Hotel Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. A sprint race, it was open to two-year-old horses and run on dirt over a distance of six furlongs....
and the United States Hotel Stakes
United States Hotel Stakes
The United States Hotel Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in the late summer or early autumn until 1955 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It was run on dirt over a distance of six furlongs...
. He ran second to Needles
Needles (horse)
Needles was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred and raced in Florida, the descendant of Blenheim II and a son and grandson of Kentucky Derby winners Ponder and Pensive, Needles was a sickly foal who was given his name because of the numerous veterinary injections he was...
in the Hopeful Stakes then had another second-place result in the Garden State Stakes to winner Prince John
Prince John (horse)
Prince John was an American Thoroughbred racehorse whom Bloodhorse magazine called "one of the greatest broodmare sires of all time." Bred in Kentucky, he was sired by Princequillo, a two-time leading sire in North America and a nine-time leading broodmare sire. He was out of the mare, Not...
but ahead of third-place finisher, Needles.
Going into his three-year-old season in 1956, Career Boy was assigned the Experimental Free Handicap's 126 pound high-weight. Under jockey Eric Guerin
Eric Guerin
Oliver Eric Guerin is an American Hall of Fame jockey.Eric Guerin was born in Maringouin, Louisiana, in Cajun backwater country, twenty-four miles west of Baton Rouge...
, Career Boy won the Gotham Stakes
Gotham Stakes
The Gotham Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses run in early March at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. A Grade III event with a purse of $250,000, it is set at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt...
and ran second in the Blue Grass Stakes
Blue Grass Stakes
The Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, currently sponsored by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is an American Grade 1 horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in mid April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky....
en route to a sixth-place finish in the 1956 Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
. Career Boy did not run in the 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...
but in the ensuing Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
, the third leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series, he made a powerful stretch run to narrowly lose to Needles with Preakness winner Fabius
Fabius (horse)
Fabius was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1956 Preakness Stakes.-Background:Bred and raced by Lexington, Kentucky's Calumet Farm, Fabius was out of the mare Shameen, a daughter of the British Eclipse Stakes winner Royal Minstrel who was a son of the 2,000 Guineas...
in third.
In 1956 Career Boy showed an affinity for racing on the grass with a win under jockey Sam Boulmetis
Sam Boulmetis, Sr.
Samuel A. Boulmetis, Sr. is a retired American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey who was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1973...
in the United Nations Handicap
United Nations Handicap
The United Nations Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in July at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey. The race is open to horses, age three and up, going one and three-eighths miles on the turf. A Grade I event, it currently offers a purse of $750,000...
at Monmouth Park Racetrack
Monmouth Park Racetrack
Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.Monmouth Park's marquee event...
. Owner C. V. Whitney then decided to send his top two runners to Longchamp Racecourse in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to run in the prestigious Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year, usually on the first Sunday in October.Popularly referred to as the...
. Entered with stablemate, Fisherman
Fisherman (horse)
Fisherman was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred and raced by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, a member of the prominent horse-racing Whitney family. He was out of the mare Crawfish and sired by Whitney's Phalanx, the winner of the 1947 Belmont Stakes voted American Champion...
, Eddie Arcaro
Eddie Arcaro
George Edward Arcaro , known professionally as Eddie Arcaro, was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who won more American classic races than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Triple Crown twice...
rode Career Boy to a fourth place finish in the 1956 Arc won by one of the best horses in European racing history, Ribot
Ribot (horse)
Ribot was an Italian bay Thoroughbred racehorse, considered the strongest horse of all time.Undefeated in 16 races, he won over distances ranging from 5 furlongs to 1m 7f , in three different countries and in all types of track conditions...
. Career Boy's 1956 performances earned him American Champion Male Turf Horse honors.
Retired to stud
Stud (animal)
A stud animal is a registered animal retained for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species usually imply that the animal is entire—that is, not castrated—and therefore capable of siring offspring...
duty, Career Boy stood in the United States until age thirteen when he was sent to a breeding operation in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. He was not successful as a sire.