| Genuine Risk | |
|---|---|
 Genuine Risk before the 1980 Belmont Stakes | |
| Sire | Exclusive Native |
| Grandsire | Raise a Native |
| Dam | Virtuous |
| Damsire | Gallant Man |
| Sex | Mare |
| Foaled | February 15, 1977[1] |
| Died | August 18, 2008(2008-08-18) (aged 31) |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Chestnut |
| Breeder | Sally Humphrey |
| Owner | Diana M. Firestone |
| Trainer | LeRoy Jolley |
| Record | 15:10-3-2 |
| Earnings | $646,587 |
| Major wins | |
| Demoiselle Stakes (1979) Tempted Stakes (1979) Ruffian Handicap (1980) American Classic Race wins: Kentucky Derby (1980) | |
| Awards | |
| U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Filly (1980) | |
| Honours | |
| U.S. Racing Hall of Fame (1986) #91 – Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century Genuine Risk Handicap atBelmont Park Genuine Risk has been ranked in the top ten female horses of the 20th century | |
| Last updated on 25 July 2006 | |
Genuine Risk (February 15, 1977 – August 18, 2008) was an AmericanThoroughbred racehorse and broodmare best known for winning the 1980Kentucky Derby.
Genuine Risk was a chestnut mare bred in Kentucky by Sally Humphrey. She was sired byExclusive Native, a top-class track performer who was even better as a breeding stallion, siring the Triple Crown winnerAffirmed. Her dam Virtuous was descended from the British broodmare Iona, a half-sister toOcean Swell and the grandmother ofTomy Lee.[2]
The first filly to win the Kentucky Derby wasRegret who won the 1915 Derby 65 years earlier. Genuine Risk was the second in 1980. Since then, the fillyWinning Colors won in 1988.
Ridden byJacinto Vásquez, Genuine Risk finished second in a very controversialPreakness Stakes, after being bumped and carried wide by the winnerCodex, after Codex threw a cross-body block at Genuine Risk, and after Codex's jockeyÁngel Cordero Jr. hit Genuine Risk in the face with his whip but didn't get disqualified.
Genuine Risk also finished second in theBelmont Stakes toTemperence Hill. The only other filly to compete in all of the triple crown legs wasWinning Colors in 1988, who won the Kentucky Derby, placed 3rd in the Preakness Stakes, and 6th in the Belmont Stakes.
.jpg)
Genuine Risk's first mating was to the Triple Crown winnerSecretariat in 1982. While in Kentucky she was boarded at Waterford Farm but foaled at the Firestone's Catoctin Stud in Virginia. The resulting foal expected in 1983 would have made history as the first offspring of two Kentucky Derby winners. Genuine Risk, however, delivered astillborn colt due todystocia during foaling. Though scheduled to be bred toNijinsky II in 1983, she was rebred to Secretariat without success.
Over the next 17 years, she produced only two living foals: Genuine Reward, a chestnutcolt byRahy in 1993, and Count Our Blessing, a chestnut colt by Chief Honcho foaled in 1996. Neither colt ever raced. Genuine Reward went to stud in 1997, sired 47 horses with 13 winners, and was in Wyoming until July 2015 when he was moved toOld Friends Equine inGeorgetown, Kentucky, due to the philanthropic efforts of author Laura Hillenbrand. He died in 2018 at the age of 25.[3] Count Our Blessing was eventuallygelded and became ashow horse under the name of Westley.
Genuine Risk was inducted into theNational Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1986. In theBlood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century, she is ranked #91.
Retired from breeding in 2000 after losing several foals or failing toconceive, Genuine Risk spent the rest of her life at the Firestone'sNewstead Farm inUpperville, Virginia. During Memorial Day Weekend in 2007, several hundred visitors visited Genuine Risk at Newstead during the annual Hunt Country Stable Tour, on what was to be her last public appearance.
At the age of 31, she died in her paddock at the Firestone family'sVirginia-based Newstead Farm on Monday, August 18, 2008.[4]
| Sire Exclusive Native (USA) 1965 | Raise a Native (USA) 1961 | Native Dancer | Polynesian |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geisha | |||
| Raise You | Case Ace | ||
| Lady Glory | |||
| Exclusive (USA) 1953 | Shut Out | Equipoise | |
| Goose Egg | |||
| Good Example | Pilate | ||
| Parade Girl | |||
| Dam Virtuous (USA) 1971 | Gallant Man (GB) 1954 | Migoli | Bois Roussel |
| Mah Iran | |||
| Majideh | Mahmoud | ||
| Qurrat-Al-Ain | |||
| Due Respect (GB) 1958 | Zucchero | Nasrullah | |
| Castagnola | |||
| Auld Alliance | Brantome | ||
| Iona (family: 1-n)[2] |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)