Pleasant Colony
Pleasant Colony | |
---|---|
Sire | His Majesty |
Grandsire | Ribot |
Dam | Sun Colony |
Damsire | Sunrise Flight |
Sex | Stallion |
Foaled | 1978 |
Country | United States |
Colour | Dark Bay |
Breeder | Thomas Mellon Evans |
Owner | Buckland Farm |
Trainer | John P. Campo |
Record | 14: 6–3–1 |
Earnings | $965,383 |
Major wins | |
Remsen Stakes (1980) Wood Memorial Stakes (1981) Woodward Stakes (1981) American Triple Crown wins: Kentucky Derby (1981) Preakness Stakes (1981) | |
Awards | |
American Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1981) | |
Honours | |
Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame (1982) | |
Last updated on January 23, 2010 |
Pleasant Colony (May 4, 1978 – December 31, 2002) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1981 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and was named the 1981 American Champion Three-Year-Old.
Background
A big, gangly horse standing just under seventeen hands, Pleasant Colony was a grandson of Ribot. He was bred by Wall Street financier Thomas Mellon Evans and raced under his Buckland Farm banner.[1]
Early racing career
At age two, Pleasant Colony won two of his five starts including the Remsen Stakes. At age three, in the spring of 1981 he was second in the Fountain of Youth Stakes. Pleasant Colony lost 3 of 4 races to Akureyri. He lost the Fountain of Youth Stakes and the Pilgrim Stakes besides finishing behind Akureyri in the Florida Derby. He also was defeated by Akureyri in the Remsen Stakes but was placed first through disqualification. After Pleasant Colony's fifth-place finish in March's Florida Derby, his owner dismissed his trainer and replaced him with John P. Campo.[1] Ridden by jockey Jeffrey Fell, Pleasant Colony then won April's Wood Memorial Stakes by three lengths.[1]
Triple Crown races
In the 1981 Kentucky Derby under regular jockey Jorge Velásquez, Pleasant Colony held off a powerful stretch drive by Woodchopper to win by three-quarters of a length. The expected rivalry with Woodchopper never materialized in the Preakness Stakes. Pleasant Colony came from behind to win by a length over Arkansas Derby winner Bold Ego with Woodchopper far back in eleventh place. In the third and final leg of the Triple Crown series, the Belmont Stakes, Pleasant Colony finished third to winner Summing.[1]
Later racing career
Pleasant Colony won the Grade I Woodward Stakes. After a fourth in the Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap, and a reported leg injury, he was retired to stud duty at Buckland Farm.[1] At year's end, he was voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Male Horse.
As a sire
From 1982 at age 4, until 1998 at age 20, Pleasant Colony stood at Thomas Mellon Evans's Buckland Farm annex outside Lexington, Kentucky on Paris Pike near the Fayette County and Bourbon County line. He became a very significant sire, producing seventy-three stakes race winners including more than a dozen Grade I winners and the following champions:
- Pleasant Stage – the 1991 Champion Two-Year-Old Filly and winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies
- Pleasant Tap – the 1992 Champion Older Male
- St Jovite – winner of the 1992 Irish Derby and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes
- Pleasantly Perfect – winner of the 2003 Breeders' Cup Classic and 2004 Dubai World Cup, and sire of the champion sprinter Whitmore
- Colonial Colony – winner of the 2004 Stephen Foster Handicap
Pleasant Colony's daughters have produced a number of Grade 1 stakes race winners. He is the damsire of Forestry, sire of The Green Monkey sold at the February 2006 Fasig-Tipton Florida auction for a world record price of $16-million. The Green Monkey had almost no success at the racetrack and is now standing at stud.
Following his owner's death in 1997, Pleasant Colony was sent to Blue Ridge Farm in Upperville, Virginia, where he died in 2002 at age 24.
After his death, Pleasant Colony returned to Buckland Farm to be buried in the primary field of Barn 4, the Broodmare Barn, in the field adjacent to the farm's main house site.
Pleasant Colony's veterinarian Dr. Janice Runkle, 27 at the time, was the first female vet ever to care for a Derby entrant or winner. Later in the summer of 1981 her body was found in a bushy beach area on the shore of Lake Michigan north of Chicago, the ruling of suicide remains controversial decades later.[1]
Breeding
Sire His Majesty bay 1968 | Ribot bay 1952 | Tenerani | Bellini |
---|---|---|---|
Tofanella | |||
Romanella | El Greco | ||
Barbara Burrini | |||
Flower Bowl bay 1952 | Alibhai | Hyperion | |
Teresina | |||
Flower Bed | Beau Pere | ||
Boudoir | |||
Dam Sun Colony bay 1968 | Sunrise Flight drk.brn. 1959 | Double Jay | Balladier |
Broomshot | |||
Misty Morn | Princequillo | ||
Grey Flight | |||
Colonia bay 1959 | Cockrullah | Nasrullah | |
Summerleaze | |||
Nalga | Guatan | ||
Nagoya |
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f Wertheim, Jon (27 April 2021). "Pleasant Colony and the Crown of Thorns". Sports Illustrated. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- Pleasant Colony's pedigree and racing stats
- 2003 Churchill Downs story on Pleasant Colony and trainer John Campo
- Pleasant Colony's Kentucky Derby
- Henriques, Diana B. The White Sharks of Wall Street: Thomas Mellon Evans & the Original Corporate Raiders (2000) Scribner ISBN 978-0-684-83399-6
- v
- t
- e
- 1875 Aristides
- 1876 Vagrant
- 1877 Baden-Baden
- 1878 Day Star
- 1879 Lord Murphy
- 1880 Fonso
- 1881 Hindoo
- 1882 Apollo
- 1883 Leonatus
- 1884 Buchanan
- 1885 Joe Cotton
- 1886 Ben Ali
- 1887 Montrose
- 1888 Macbeth II
- 1889 Spokane
- 1890 Riley
- 1891 Kingman
- 1892 Azra
- 1893 Lookout
- 1894 Chant
- 1895 Halma
- 1896 Ben Brush
- 1897 Typhoon II
- 1898 Plaudit
- 1899 Manuel
- 1900 Lieut. Gibson
- 1901 His Eminence
- 1902 Alan-a-Dale
- 1903 Judge Himes
- 1904 Elwood
- 1905 Agile
- 1906 Sir Huon
- 1907 Pink Star
- 1908 Stone Street
- 1909 Wintergreen
- 1910 Donau
- 1911 Meridian
- 1912 Worth
- 1913 Donerail
- 1914 Old Rosebud
- 1915 Regret ♥
- 1916 George Smith
- 1917 Omar Khayyam
- 1918 Exterminator
- 1919 Sir Barton ₩
- 1920 Paul Jones
- 1921 Behave Yourself
- 1922 Morvich
- 1923 Zev
- 1924 Black Gold
- 1925 Flying Ebony
- 1926 Bubbling Over
- 1927 Whiskery
- 1928 Reigh Count
- 1929 Clyde Van Dusen
- 1930 Gallant Fox ₩
- 1931 Twenty Grand
- 1932 Burgoo King
- 1933 Brokers Tip
- 1934 Cavalcade
- 1935 Omaha ₩
- 1936 Bold Venture
- 1937 War Admiral ₩
- 1938 Lawrin
- 1939 Johnstown
- 1940 Gallahadion
- 1941 Whirlaway ₩
- 1942 Shut Out
- 1943 Count Fleet ₩
- 1944 Pensive
- 1945 Hoop Jr.
- 1946 Assault ₩
- 1947 Jet Pilot
- 1948 Citation ₩
- 1949 Ponder
- 1950 Middleground
- 1951 Count Turf
- 1952 Hill Gail
- 1953 Dark Star
- 1954 Determine
- 1955 Swaps
- 1956 Needles
- 1957 Iron Liege
- 1958 Tim Tam
- 1959 Tomy Lee
- 1960 Venetian Way
- 1961 Carry Back
- 1962 Decidedly
- 1963 Chateaugay
- 1964 Northern Dancer
- 1965 Lucky Debonair
- 1966 Kauai King
- 1967 Proud Clarion
- 1968 Forward Pass (Dancer's Image disqualified)
- 1969 Majestic Prince
- 1970 Dust Commander
- 1971 Canonero II
- 1972 Riva Ridge
- 1973 Secretariat ₩
- 1974 Cannonade
- 1975 Foolish Pleasure
- 1976 Bold Forbes
- 1977 Seattle Slew ₩
- 1978 Affirmed ₩
- 1979 Spectacular Bid
- 1980 Genuine Risk ♥
- 1981 Pleasant Colony
- 1982 Gato Del Sol
- 1983 Sunny's Halo
- 1984 Swale
- 1985 Spend a Buck
- 1986 Ferdinand
- 1987 Alysheba
- 1988 Winning Colors ♥
- 1989 Sunday Silence
- 1990 Unbridled
- 1991 Strike the Gold
- 1992 Lil E. Tee
- 1993 Sea Hero
- 1994 Go for Gin
- 1995 Thunder Gulch
- 1996 Grindstone
- 1997 Silver Charm
- 1998 Real Quiet
- 1999 Charismatic
- 2000 Fusaichi Pegasus
- 2001 Monarchos
- 2002 War Emblem
- 2003 Funny Cide
- 2004 Smarty Jones
- 2005 Giacomo
- 2006 Barbaro
- 2007 Street Sense
- 2008 Big Brown
- 2009 Mine That Bird
- 2010 Super Saver
- 2011 Animal Kingdom
- 2012 I'll Have Another
- 2013 Orb
- 2014 California Chrome
- 2015 American Pharoah ₩
- 2016 Nyquist
- 2017 Always Dreaming
- 2018 Justify ₩
- 2019 Country House (Maximum Security disqualified)
- 2020 Authentic
- 2021 Mandaloun (Medina Spirit disqualified)
- 2022 Rich Strike
- 2023 Mage
- 2024 Mystik Dan
Legend – ₩ = Triple Crown winners, ♥ = Filly