Count Fleet

Count Fleet

Trainer:Don Cameron
Owner: Mrs. John D. Hertz
Foaling Date: 1940-03-24
Pedigree: Right Count and Quickly of Haste
Dosage: 0-2-1-1-0
Dosage Index / CD: 2 / 0

Notes: Count Fleet is one of the US Triple Crown Champions, which is still remembered because of its flashing speed and style of run. He was born and died at Stoner Creek Stud farm in Paris, United States. The wife of John D. Hertz owned him: initially Hertz did not think much of Count Fleet and wanted to sell it off. Ultimately jockey Johnny Longden convinced him to keep the colt with her. Count Fleet was trained by Don Cameron and was ridden by Hall of Fame inductee Longden. When it started off at two, he lost several times before posting his first win. His first remarkable victory came in the Champagne Stakes, which brought him into limelight of the public. On that season, he captured ten wins from fifteen starts. At three, Count Fleet raced authoritat ively and never lost a single race on that season. He won the Kentucky Derby and won the important Wood Memorial Stakes – in the process he injured himself but recovered soon to clinch the United States’ most prestigiou s event at Baltimore, Maryland. He ran brilliantl y at the Preakness Stakes and won the race by eight lengths. Before snatching victory in the Belmont Stakes, he registered win in the Withers Stakes. At the end of the season, Count Fleet was voted Champion 3-Year-Old and was named American Horse of the Year. It was in 1961, when Count Fleet was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. He died on December 3, 1973 and was buried at Stoner Creek Farm in Paris, Kentucky.

Facts

Important Racing Wins: — · Champagne Stakes (1942) · Pimlico Futurity (1942) · Wood Memorial (1943)

American Classic Wins: — · Kentucky Derby (1943) · Preakness Stakes (1943) · Belmont Stakes (1943)

Racing Awards: — · U.S. Champion 2-Yr-Old Colt · 6th U.S. Triple Crown Champion (1943) · U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1943) · United States Horse of the Year (1943) · Leading sire in North America (1951) · Leading broodmare sire in North America (1963)

Honours: — · U.S. Racing Hall of Fame (1961) · #5 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century · Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack