Round Table (horse)
Encyclopedia
Round Table was an American
Thoroughbred
Hall of Fame
racehorse
. He is considered the greatest turf
horse in American racing history. He was foaled at Claiborne Farm
in Kentucky
, on the night of April 6, 1954. Bold Ruler
was foaled at the same farm, on the same night, and both stallions won American Horse of the Year honors in their respective careers, returning to Claiborne to stand at stud.
, Round Table's most significant win came in October 1956, when the he won the Breeders' Futurity Stakes at Keeneland Race Course. On February 9, 1957, Claiborne Farm
owner Arthur B. Hancock, Jr. sold Round Table after his second start of the three-year-old season to Oklahoma
oilman Travis M. Kerr
. The sale agreement included Round Table standing at stud
at Claiborne when his racing career was over with Claiborne receiving twenty percent of his breeding income. http://books.google.ca/books?id=1tRoGw3-upEC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=Round+Table,+Top+100+Thoroughbred&source=bl&ots=1rU4sjcHhK&sig=B0_05dyqpFnqKY3UGw_5U80pXUI&hl=en&ei=nZrMSpHlKoOisgP6suGeAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Racing at age three, with Kerr having hired William Molter
as his trainer, Round Table won the Blue Grass Stakes
at Keeneland in track record time. He then finished third to Calumet Farm's
Iron Liege
in the Kentucky Derby
, with the heavily favored Bold Ruler
finishing 4th. After the Derby, Round Table was shipped back to race in California, where he scored eleven consecutive wins, several of which later became Grade I stakes races
. He wound up the leading money winner of 1957 and won the first of three straight U.S. Champion Turf Horse
titles.
In 1958, Round Table dominated American Thoroughbred racing. He began the year by capturing the races that are now known as the Strub Series at Santa Anita Park
, becoming the first horse to win the Malibu Stakes
, the San Fernando Stakes
and the Santa Anita Maturity, now the Strub Stakes. He ended the racing season as the winner of every racing award available to him including Horse of the Year
.
Five years old in 1959, he won 9 of his 14 races and his third Champion Turf Horse title. His lifetime earnings were $1,749,869, and he was the third American Thoroughbred to earn more than a million dollars, after Citation
and Nashua
. Of his 66 starts he won 43, placed in 8 and showed in 5, and set or equaled 14 track records during his career, including one world' record and two U.S. records.
at Claiborne Farm, Round Table was the Leading sire in North America
in 1972. He sired 83 stakes winners including Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame
inductee He's A Smoothie
, Apalachee, Advocator, King's Bishop
, and Poker, who was the damsire of two Hall of Fame inductees, Seattle Slew
and Silver Charm
. His daughter Isolt was the dam of Sir Tristram
whose progeny earned him 17 official Leading Australasian sire premierships, plus nine broodmare sire titles.
Among his descendants are Horse of the Year
winners A.P. Indy
and Mineshaft
. His worldwide reputation both in racing and as a sire was so great that when Queen Elizabeth II
visited Kentucky
in 1984, she asked to see the 30-year-old horse. Her father, King George VI
, bred Round Table's dam, Knight's Daughter.
Round Table died at the age of 33 on June 13, 1987. He is buried in the equine cemetery at Claiborne Farm.
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...
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...
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 is considered the greatest turf
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
horse in American racing history. He was foaled at Claiborne Farm
Claiborne Farm
Claiborne Farm is a thoroughbred Horse breeding operation in near Paris, Kentucky. It was established in 1910, by Arthur B. Hancock, owner of Ellerslie Farm in Albemarle County, Virginia, and has been operated by members of his family ever since.-Owners:...
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...
, on the night of April 6, 1954. Bold Ruler
Bold Ruler
Bold Ruler was an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse.Bred by the Wheatley Stable of Gladys Mills Phipps, Bold Ruler was foaled on April 6, 1954 at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky to Nasrullah and Miss Disco by Discovery...
was foaled at the same farm, on the same night, and both stallions won American Horse of the Year honors in their respective careers, returning to Claiborne to stand at stud.
Racing career
Trained by Moody JolleyMoody Jolley
Moody Jolley was an American thoroughbred horse racing owner, breeder and trainer. He began his professional training career in the mid 1930s and by 1940 had his first Kentucky Derby runner. For several years, he trained for Harry Guggenheim's Cain Hoy Stable. After their partnership ended in...
, Round Table's most significant win came in October 1956, when the he won the Breeders' Futurity Stakes at Keeneland Race Course. On February 9, 1957, Claiborne Farm
Claiborne Farm
Claiborne Farm is a thoroughbred Horse breeding operation in near Paris, Kentucky. It was established in 1910, by Arthur B. Hancock, owner of Ellerslie Farm in Albemarle County, Virginia, and has been operated by members of his family ever since.-Owners:...
owner Arthur B. Hancock, Jr. sold Round Table after his second start of the three-year-old season to Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
oilman Travis M. Kerr
Travis M. Kerr
Travis M. Kerr was an American businessman in Oklahoma City and a Thoroughbred racehorse owner. Involved in the oil and uranium business, he was a younger brother of Oklahoma businessman and Senator, Robert S. Kerr....
. The sale agreement included Round Table standing at 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...
at Claiborne when his racing career was over with Claiborne receiving twenty percent of his breeding income. http://books.google.ca/books?id=1tRoGw3-upEC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=Round+Table,+Top+100+Thoroughbred&source=bl&ots=1rU4sjcHhK&sig=B0_05dyqpFnqKY3UGw_5U80pXUI&hl=en&ei=nZrMSpHlKoOisgP6suGeAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Racing at age three, with Kerr having hired William Molter
William Molter
William "Willie" Molter was an American Hall of Fame horse trainer in the sport of Thoroughbred racing.A native of Fredericksburg, Texas, Willie Molter began his career in horse racing as a jockey at racetracks across the Texas border in Mexico...
as his trainer, Round Table won 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....
at Keeneland in track record time. He then finished third to Calumet Farm's
Calumet Farm
Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of Lexington's blue grass country, the finest horse breeding region in...
Iron Liege
Iron Liege
Iron Liege was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1957 Kentucky Derby. A son of Calumet Farm's leading sire Bull Lea, and out of the mare Iron Maiden, his damsire was the 1937 U.S...
in 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...
, with the heavily favored Bold Ruler
Bold Ruler
Bold Ruler was an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse.Bred by the Wheatley Stable of Gladys Mills Phipps, Bold Ruler was foaled on April 6, 1954 at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky to Nasrullah and Miss Disco by Discovery...
finishing 4th. After the Derby, Round Table was shipped back to race in California, where he scored eleven consecutive wins, several of which later became Grade I stakes races
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...
. He wound up the leading money winner of 1957 and won the first of three straight U.S. Champion Turf Horse
Eclipse Award for Outstanding Male Turf Horse
The American Champion Male Turf Horse award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor. In 1971 it became part of the Eclipse Awards program and is awarded annually to a Colt or Gelding, regardless of age, for their performance on grass race courses....
titles.
In 1958, Round Table dominated American Thoroughbred racing. He began the year by capturing the races that are now known as the Strub Series at Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring. With its backdrop of the purple San Gabriel Mountains, it is considered by many as the world's most beautiful race...
, becoming the first horse to win the Malibu Stakes
Malibu Stakes
The Malibu Stakes is a race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses of either gender held each December at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California...
, the San Fernando Stakes
San Fernando Breeders' Cup Stakes
The San Fernando Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in mid January at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Open to four-year-old horses, it is contested on at a distance of 11/16 miles on Pro-Ride synthetic dirt...
and the Santa Anita Maturity, now the Strub Stakes. He ended the racing season as the winner of every racing award available to him including Horse of the Year
Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....
.
Five years old in 1959, he won 9 of his 14 races and his third Champion Turf Horse title. His lifetime earnings were $1,749,869, and he was the third American Thoroughbred to earn more than a million dollars, after Citation
Citation (horse)
Citation was the eighth American Triple Crown winner, and one of three major North American Thoroughbreds to win at least 16 consecutive races in major stakes race competition...
and Nashua
Nashua (horse)
Nashua was an American-born thoroughbred racehorse, perhaps best remembered for a 1955 match race against the horse that had defeated him in the Kentucky Derby.Nashua's sire was the good, but temperamental, European champion Nasrullah...
. Of his 66 starts he won 43, placed in 8 and showed in 5, and set or equaled 14 track records during his career, including one world' record and two U.S. records.
Stud record
Retired at the end of the 1959 racing season to stand at studHorse 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...
at Claiborne Farm, Round Table was the Leading sire in North America
Leading sire in North America
The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won by the sire's progeny during the year...
in 1972. He sired 83 stakes winners including Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame
The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 at the Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario to honor those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and thoroughbred horse racing in Canada....
inductee He's A Smoothie
He's A Smoothie
He's A Smoothie was a Canadian Thoroughbred Champion and Hall of Fame racehorse who set track records on both dirt and turf. Bred and raced by William R. Beasley, his sire was the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Round Table. His dam was Ratine, a daughter of Bahram, the Aga Khan's 1935 British...
, Apalachee, Advocator, King's Bishop
King's Bishop
King's Bishop was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred in Kentucky by Warner L. Jones, Jr., he was sired by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Round Table. He was out of the mare Spearfish, a descendant of the very important sire Nearco....
, and Poker, who was the damsire of two Hall of Fame inductees, Seattle Slew
Seattle Slew
Seattle Slew was an American Thoroughbred race horse who won the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in 1977, the tenth of eleven horses to accomplish the feat. He remains the only horse to win the Triple Crown while undefeated. In the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S...
and Silver Charm
Silver Charm
Silver Charm is an American Champion Thoroughbred race horse. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Gary Stevens, Silver Charm will be remembered most for winning the 1997 Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in the Triple Crown....
. His daughter Isolt was the dam of Sir Tristram
Sir Tristram
For the Knight of the Round Table, see Tristan.For the ship of the same name see RFA Sir Tristram Sir Tristram was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who stood at stud in New Zealand, where he sired an extraordinary 45 Group One winners, including three Melbourne Cup winners...
whose progeny earned him 17 official Leading Australasian sire premierships, plus nine broodmare sire titles.
Among his descendants are Horse of the Year
Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....
winners A.P. Indy
A.P. Indy
A.P. Indy is a champion stallion Thoroughbred racehorse bred in Kentucky, USA, by William Farish III and William Kilroy. He is known for his ancestry, his own record, and his successful progeny. He was sired by Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew through mare Weekend Surprise, who herself was sired...
and Mineshaft
Mineshaft (horse)
Mineshaft was a multi-millionaire American thoroughbred racehorse and successful stallion. He was sired by 1992 U.S. Horse of the Year and U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee A.P. Indy, who in turn was a son of 1977 U.S. Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. His dam, Prospectors Delite, is by the...
. His worldwide reputation both in racing and as a sire was so great that when Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
visited 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...
in 1984, she asked to see the 30-year-old horse. Her father, King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
, bred Round Table's dam, Knight's Daughter.
Round Table died at the age of 33 on June 13, 1987. He is buried in the equine cemetery at Claiborne Farm.