Elocutionist (March 4, 1973 – 1995) was an AmericanThoroughbredracehorse best known for winning the second leg of theU.S. Triple Crown series.

Bred byJosephine Abercrombie and foaled at herVersailles, Kentucky, farm, Elocutionist was sired by multiple stakes winner Gallant Romeo, a son ofU.S. Racing Hall of Fame inducteeGallant Man. He was out of themare Strictly Speaking, whose sire was the very fast Fleet Nasrullah, a multiple stakes winner who broke two track records.

Elocutionist was purchased at the July 1974Fasig-Tiptonyearling sale inLexington, Kentucky byGene Cashman, aChicago native who established a large Thoroughbred racing stable. At the auction, Cashman and his trainer,Paul Adwell, narrowed their selection to two yearling colts they liked. However, unable to decide which one to buy, theyflipped a coin, and Elocutionist wound up being the one Cashman bought.

A late bloomer, Elocutionist made his first start on October 13, 1975. The two-year-old's racing debut was a winning one, and he won all four of his ensuing starts that year including the 49th running of theHawthorne Juvenile Stakes at Chicago'sHawthorne Race Course.

At age three in 1976, Elocutionist began the year with a third and a second in his first two outings, then won three races in a row including theForerunner Stakes atKeeneland and the April 3Arkansas Derby atOaklawn Park. His performances earned him entry into the first of the Triple Crown races, a first for his owner, his trainer, and for his jockey,John Lively. The colt ran third in theKentucky Derby behind winnerBold Forbes, who had been the yearling Cashman and Adwell did not buy at the auction as a result of the coin toss. However, Elocutionist came back to win thePreakness Stakes by three and a half lengths, beating runner-up Play The Red and Bold Forbes, who finished third.

Elocutionist was scheduled to run in the third leg of the Triple Crown. However, a week before the race, Paul Adwell announced the colt had suffered an injury to his right foreleg and would not run in theBelmont Stakes. Elocutionist never recovered from his injury and on September 8, owner Cashman announced that the horse was being retired and would be syndicated tostud.

During a career that spanned seven months, Elocutionist finished on the board in all twelve of his starts, winning nine, running second once, and taking third in the remaining two.

Retired to stud duty, Elocutionist met with modest success as a sire. The best of his progeny wasDemons Begone, who won the 1987Arkansas Derby forLoblolly Stable. He was the heavy favorite going into the Kentucky Derby but began bleeding profusely during the race and had to be pulled up. Through his daughter Haute Authorite, Elocutionist is thedamsire of 1993American Horse of the YearKotashaan.

* Elocutionist isinbred 3S x 4D to the stallionCount Fleet, meaning that he appears third generation on the sire side of his pedigree and fourth generation on the dam side of his pedigree.

• Elocutionist's pedigree and partial racing stats
• May 16, 1976St. Petersburg Times article on Elocutionist^{[dead link]}

• 1973 racehorse births
• 1995 racehorse deaths
• Racehorses bred in Kentucky
• Racehorses trained in the United States
• Preakness Stakes winners
• American Grade 1 Stakes winners
• Thoroughbred family 2-s

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