Waquoit
| Waquoit | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Relaunch |
| Grandsire | In Reality |
| Dam | Grey Parlo |
| Damsire | Grey Dawn |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1983 |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Gray |
| Breeder | Frank E. Mackle Jr. |
| Owner | Joseph Federico |
| Trainer | Guido Federico |
| Record | 30: 19-4-3 |
| Earnings | US$2,225,360 |
| Major wins | |
|
Cape Cod Stakes (1985) Miles Standish Stakes (1985) Governor's Stakes (1985) Jamaica Handicap (1986) Yankee Handicap (1986) Brooklyn Handicap (1987, 1988) Michigan Mile And One-Eighth Handicap (1987) Massachusetts Handicap (1987) William Almy Jr. Handicap (1987) Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (1988) Governor's Handicap (Suffolk Downs) (1988) | |
| Honours | |
| Waquoit Stakes at Suffolk Downs | |
Waquoit (1983–2007) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won races at short and long distances en route to career earnings of more than $2.2 million.
Background
Standing close to seventeen hands, Waquoit was sired by Relaunch, a multiple stakes winner who sired several top runners including two Breeders' Cup winners. Waquoit's dam was Grey Parlo, a daughter of Grey Dawn, the French Champion Two-Year-Old Colt who was the only horse to ever beat Sea-Bird and who became the leading broodmare sire in North America in 1990.
Waquoit was purchased at the 1984 Keeneland fall yearling sale for a very modest $15,000 by Joseph Federico, a Boston, Massachusetts building contractor and a native of Sulmona, in the Abruzzo Region of Italy. The colt was given the name of the village of Waquoit on Cape Cod.[1] He was trained by Guido Federico, the owner's cousin.
Racing career
Waquoit became known for his ability to run on muddy dirt tracks. He began racing from a base at Suffolk Downs in Boston. While he won several minor stakes as a two-year-old, during the latter part of his three-year-old campaign he began to show his true ability in October 1986 with wins in the Jamaica Handicap at New York's Belmont Park [2] followed by the Yankee Handicap at Suffolk Downs.[3] As a four-year-old in 1987, Waquoit won the Massachusetts Handicap plus the prestigious Brooklyn Handicap at Belmont Park.[4] He was voted Horse of the Year by members of the New England Turf Writers Association.[5]
Having been injured early in the year, Waquoit did not return to training until April 2, 1988. Making his first start on June 4, the now five-year-old Waquoit won the Governor's Handicap at Suffolk Downs by seven lengths. On July 24, he defeated Personal Flag to win his second consecutive edition of the Brooklyn Handicap.[6] On October 8, 1988, he scored a fifteen-length win in the mile and a half Jockey Club Gold Cup. [7] Waquoit was not nominated for the Breeders' Cup, so his owner paid a $360,000 supplemental fee in order to run him in the 1988 Breeders' Cup Classic. In the final start of his career, Waquoit finished third to Alysheba.[8]
Syndicated to stud
Syndicated for $3 million, beginning with the 1989 breeding season Waquoit stood at stud at the newly established Northview Stallion Station on acreage that had been Windfields Farm's Northview Annex at Chesapeake City, Maryland. [9] He sired 348 winners including thirty stakes race winners. Of his progeny, millionaire Grade 1 winner Halo America was the most successful on the track.[10] Through his daughter, Ice Beauty, Waquoit was the damsire of Sweetnorthernsaint.
Twenty-four-year-old Waquoit was euthanized due to infirmities brought on by old age on June 14, 2007, at Northview Stallion Station.[11]
References
- ↑ Boston Globe - September 7, 1986
- ↑ Boston Globe - October 7, 1986 Waquoit Surprised Big Boys
- ↑ Providence Journal - October 14, 1986 article titled Waquoit romps in Suffolk's Yankee
- ↑ New York Time - July 26, 1987
- ↑ Providence Journal - October 22, 1987
- ↑ Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio) - July 24, 1988
- ↑ Toldo Blade - October 9, 1988
- ↑ USA Today - November 3, 1988
- ↑ Washington Post - November 2, 1988
- ↑ Thoroughbred Times - June 18, 2007
- ↑ Bloodhorse.com - June 20, 2007