Triplicate was 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...

. He was sired by the 1928 American Horse of the Year and 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, Reigh Count

Reigh Count

Reigh Count was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1928 Kentucky Derby and the 1929 Coronation Cup in England....

. His dam was Fairday, a daughter of another Hall of Fame inductee, Fair Play

Fair Play (horse)

Fair Play was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who was successful on the track, but even more so as a sire.His grandsire was Spendthrift, whose grandsire was the English Triple Crown champion West Australian....

. http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=69

Triplicate was purchased as an unsuccessful three-year-old for $6,000 by actor/dancer Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...

 who owned Blue Valley Ranch, a Thoroughbred breeding farm in the San Fernando Valley

San Fernando Valley

The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...

. Under veteran trainer Clyde Phillips, Triplicate had his best year in 1946 at age five. In March he defeated Howard Hawks'

Howard Hawks

Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era...

 won the 1½ mile San Juan Capistrano Handicap in track record time and on July 27th beat the best horses on the West Coast in the $100,000 Hollywood Gold Cup

Hollywood Gold Cup

The Hollywood Gold Cup is an American Grade I stakes race for thoroughbred horses inaugurated in 1938 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. It was run as a handicap race until 1997 when it was switched to weight-for-age conditions...

.

Trainer Clyde Phillips died on December 17, 1946 and Triplicate's race conditioning was taken over by Lloyd Campion. In 1947, Triplicate's most important win came under superstar jockey Johnny Longden

Johnny Longden

John Eric Longden was an American Hall of Fame jockey. He was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England but his father wanted to build a better life for his family so in 1909 emigrated to Canada, settling in Taber, Alberta. By 1912 Longden Sr. had saved enough money to send for his wife and young son...

 in the $75,000 Golden Gate Handicap at Golden Gate Fields

Golden Gate Fields

Golden Gate Fields is an American horse racing track straddling both Albany, California and Berkeley, California along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the Eastshore Freeway in the San Francisco Bay Area...

. In his last year of racing at age seven in 1949, he met with only modest success.