| Iroquois | |
|---|---|
_(14596953399).jpg) FromSport on land and water (1913) | |
| Sire | Leamington |
| Grandsire | Faugh-a-Ballagh |
| Dam | Maggie B. B. |
| Damsire | Australian |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1878 |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Brown |
| Breeder | Aristides Welch |
| Owner | 1)Pierre Lorillard IV 2)Belle Meade Stud (1886) |
| Trainer | Jacob Pincus |
| Record | 26 starts: 12–4–3 |
| Earnings | $101,613 |
| Major wins | |
| Epsom Derby (1881) St. Leger (1881) Payne Stakes (1881) Prince of Wales's Stakes atAscot (1881) St. James's Palace Stakes (1881) Stockbridge Cup (1883) | |
| Awards | |
| Leading sire in North America (1892) | |
| Honours | |
| Iroquois Handicap atBelmont Park Iroquois Stakes atChurchill Downs Iroquois Steeplechase atPercy Warner Park | |
| Last updated on August 27, 2008 | |
Iroquois (1878–September 17, 1899), was the firstAmerican-bredThoroughbredrace horse to win the prestigiousEpsom Derby atEpsom Downs Racecourse,Epsom,Surrey,England. He then went on to win theSt. Leger Stakes atDoncaster Racecourse.
Sired by the notablestallionLeamington, he was bred inPennsylvania by the wealthy stockman,Aristides Welch (the man the winner of the firstKentucky Derby was named forAristides) and foaled on hisErdenheim Stud farm. His dam was themareMaggie B. B. byAustralian. Aside from Iroquois, she foaledHarold, a full brother to Iroquois, who won the 1879Preakness Stakes, and Panique, winner of the 1884Belmont Stakes. Her sire, Australian (who founded theFair Play sire line), was byWest Australian, the first winner of theBritish Triple Crown.
Another millionaire,Pierre Lorillard IV of thetobacco andsnuff family fame, loved the progeny of Leamington so much that in 1879 he bought every Leamington yearling the breederAristides Welch had on offer. One of the yearlings he brought home to hisRancocas Stable inJobstown, New Jersey was Iroquois.
Once before, in 1878,Pierre Lorillard had sent a number of yearlings to England in the hopes of an American horse winning an important English race. The first group includedDuke of Magenta andParole. Due to Parole's sensational wins, that effort proved so successful that in 1880, he sent a second group, including Iroquois. In England, Lorillard's horses were trained byJacob Pincus atNewmarket. Pincus was an American who trained for Lorillard and was sent to England with the second wave of Lorillard's horses.
Iroquois was not particularly tall for a Thoroughbred, maturing at15.2 -1⁄2 hands (61.5 inches, 156 cm). Though he matured slowly, he won four of his two-year-old races that he ran on British soil.
In his first race as a three-year-old, Iroquois placed in the2,000 Guineas. Most horseman (includingSam Hildreth) said he wasn't quite himself at the time. Even so, England's champion jockey,Fred Archer (called "The Tin Man"), was there that day and asked for the mount in the Epsom Derby even though he was contracted to ride the horses ofLord Falmouth. Lord Falmouth allowed Archer to ride the American horse. Iroquois and Archer (in the cherry and black colors of Lorillard) beat the favorite, Peregrine, by a neck on June 1, 1881. (Peregrine had won the 2,000 Guineas.) Archer retained the mount on Iroquois for the St. Leger on September 14, 1881. They won against a field of fourteen. Iroquois' victory made him a byword in the United States; there was an immediate upswing in Americanracetrack attendance.
Iroquois raced seven times as a three-year-old, winning five. As a winner of the Derby and the St. Leger, if Iroquois had won the 2,000 Guineas instead of coming in second, he would have taken England'sTriple Crown.
When Iroquois was four he became a "bleeder," meaning that he bled from his nose when making the kind of effort aracehorse must make to be a successful contender. He also became difficult to train, probably because of this. Therefore, he did not run at four. Lorillard sent him back to the United States in July 1883.
Home again, Iroquois won theStockbridge Cup, placed in theHardwicke Stakes and came in third in theMonmouth Stakes.
In 1886, Iroquois was purchased byWilliam Hicks Jackson, a formerConfederateCivil War general to stand stud at Belle Meade, a thoroughbred horse farm. The horse was transported to theBelle Meade farm nearNashville. Iroquois did well atstud, becoming the leading sire of 1892. Among his notable offspring was the stakes winnerTammany, retrospectiveAmerican Horse of the Year for 1892.
Iroquois died at the age of twenty-two on September 17, 1899.