Oil Capitol was an American 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...

 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...

 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...

. Bred by the Widener family's

Widener family

The American Widener family of Peter Arrell Brown Widener and his wife Hannah Josephine Dunton were from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and were one of the wealthiest families in the United States...

 Elmendorf Farm

Elmendorf Farm

Elmendorf Farm is a Kentucky Thoroughbred horse farm in Fayette County, Kentucky, and has been involved with horse racing since the early 19th century...

 in Fayette County, Kentucky

Fayette County, Kentucky

Fayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 295,083 in the 2010 Census. Its territory, population and government are coextensive with the city of Lexington, which also serves as county seat....

, he was sired by the French

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...

-bred runner 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....

, the 1936 winner of England's

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 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...

. Out of the mare Never Again II, his damsire was the very important Pharos

Pharos (horse)

Pharos was a British bred Thoroughbred racehorse and a Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland.-Pedigree:Bred and raced by Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, he was a brother to the stakeswinners, Fair Isle and Fairway who won 31 races and ₤71,635 between them...

, the leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland

Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland

The list below shows the leading sire of racehorses in Great Britain and Ireland for each year since 1751. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the season.----- References :* -See also:...

 in 1931 and the leading sire in France

Leading sire in France

The list below shows the leading Thoroughbred sire of racehorses in France for each year since 1887. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won by the sire's progeny during the season .-----References:* -See also:*...

 in 1939, who also sired the great 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 ,...

.

Oil Capitol was owned by the wife of trainer Harry Trotsek in partnership with Thomas Gray of Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...

. Gray gave the colt the name, which, spelled with an "o" instead of an "a," was taken from the common reference to the city of Tulsa as the "Oil Capital of the World

Oil Capital of the World

The title of "Oil Capital of the World" is often used to refer to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and more recently to Houston, Texas.In mid-19th century, when Pennsylvania was the first center of petroleum production, Pittsburgh and Titusville were considered oil capitals...

."

At age two, Oil Capitol had his best year in racing. Ridden by Kenneth Church

Kenneth Church

Kenneth Church is a retired jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing.In his early teens, Church began riding ponies and in 1946 got a job as an exercise rider at Old Woodbine Race Course in Toronto, Ontario. The following year, he was offered a chance to apprentice for future U.S...

, the colt notably won the important 1949 Pimlico Futurity in Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 and the Breeders' Futurity in Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

. He equaled the Keeneland

Keeneland

Keeneland is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and sales complex in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. Operated by the Keeneland Association, Inc., it is also known for its reference library on the sport, which contains more than 10,000 volumes, an extensive videocassette collection, and a substantial...

 track record for 6½ furlong

Furlong

A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to 220 yards, 660 feet, 40 rods, or 10 chains. The exact value of the furlong varies slightly among English-speaking countries....

s and shared 1949 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt honors with Hill Prince

Hill Prince

Hill Prince was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who earned Champion honors in his first three years of racing. Trained by Casey Hayes for owner Christopher Chenery, at age two Hill Prince won six of the first seven races he entered and was the American Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, sharing the...

.

As a three-year-old in 1950, at Hialeah Park Race Track

Hialeah Park Race Track

The Hialeah Park Race Track is a historic site in Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenue, and from East 22nd Street on the south to East 32nd Street on the north. On March 5, 1979, it was added to the U.S...

 in Hialeah, Florida

Hialeah, Florida

Hialeah is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 226,419. As of 2009, the population estimate by the U. S...

, Oil Capitol won the Everglades Stakes

Everglades Stakes

The Everglades Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Hialeah Park in Hialeah, Florida. For three-year-old horses, the 1 1/8 mile race was run on dirt until 1994 when it was converted to a race on turf...

 and the Flamingo Stakes

Flamingo Stakes

The Flamingo Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in March at the Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida. Run over a distance of nine furlongs, the inaugural race took place in 1926 at the Tampa, Florida racetrack...

, which were important prep races for the 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...

. He then finished 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....

 before going on to the Derby, where he deadheated for fifth. Thomas Gray sold his interest in Oil Capitol during the latter part of 1951 to Allie Reuben's Hasty House Farm. The horse continued to win important races until he retired after the 1953 racing season.

Oil Capitol met with limited success as a sire. He died on March 9, 1959, at Crown Crest Farm near Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

, from enterolith

Enterolith

An enterolith is a mineral concretion or calculus formed anywhere in the gastrointestinal system. Enteroliths are uncommon and usually incidental findings but, once found, they require at a minimum watchful waiting...

.