Cavalcade (USA)
March 24, 1931 – October 1940
Lancegaye (GB) x Hastily (GB), by Hurry On (GB)
Family 12-g
March 24, 1931 – October 1940
Lancegaye (GB) x Hastily (GB), by Hurry On (GB)
Family 12-g
In a substandard year for American 2-year-old males, Cavalcade was generally considered the best of his class in spite of having won only one minor stakes. He blossomed into the best American runner of any age as a 3-year-old of 1934. Unfortunately, his sun set thereafter. He never fully recovered from an injury suffered in the late summer of his 3-year-old season and was unable to return to winning form at 4 and 5. His stud career was likewise anticlimactic but in fairness to him was not helped by lesser opportunities than would normally be accorded to a racehorse of his caliber.
Race record
22 starts, 8 wins, 5 seconds, 3 thirds, US$127,165
1933:
1934:
Honors
Assessments
Rated at 125 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1933, 1 pound below highweighted First Minstrel.
As an individual
A brown horse standing a shade under 16 hands, Cavalcade possessed an explosive turn of foot and usually came from off the pace in his races. He was well-balanced and handsome with prominent withers and a deep, well-angled shoulder. Known early on as "the English gentleman," he became increasingly resistant to training after his 3-year-old season, suggesting either temperamental issues or unresolved pain. According to veteran trainer Virgil Raines, Cavalcade winged out badly with his left foreleg when galloping; the fault was sufficiently bad that Cavalcade's regular jockey, Mack Garner, routinely took the horse to the outside rather than risk that the wayward foot would strike an object or another runner in close quarters.
As a stallion
According to records kept by The Jockey Club, Cavalcade sired 70 foals, of which 42 (60.0%) won and 3 (4.3%) won stakes races. None were of any great importance.
Connections
Imported in utero and foaled at Meadowbrook Farms in New Jersey, Cavalcade was bred by F. Wallis Armstrong, Sr., who sold the colt for US$1,200 at the 1932 Saratoga yearling sale. The purchaser was Isabel Dodge Sloane's Brookmeade Stable. Cavalcade was trained by Robert Augustus Smith. Cavalcade entered stud in Virginia in 1937 at Brookmeade Stud. He was transferred to Shandon Stud near Lexington, Kentucky, in October 1940 but died there of “shipping fever” (probably pneumonia). Cavalcade was cremated and his ashes were buried at Brookmeade Stud.
Pedigree notes
Cavalcade is outcrossed through five generations. He was sired by the Swynford horse Lancegaye, a good stakes winner who was runner-up in the 1926 Derby Stakes but a stud failure aside from siring Cavalcade. His dam, Hastily, never raced. She was owned by Clarence Hailey at the time of Cavalcade's conception and was sold for 1,100 guineas at the 1930 Newmarket December sales while carrying the future champion. Hastily also produced Hastily Yours (by John P. Grier), dam of the good stakes horse Alerted (by Bull Lea), whose dozen added-money winds included the 1953 Saratoga Handicap and Saratoga Cup. Another daughter of Hastily, Rash Hurry (by John P. Grier), produced juvenile stakes winner Hurriette (by Case Ace).
Hastily was produced from Henley, whose sire Junior won the Manchester Cup and Great Ebor Handicap. The next dam in the tail-female lineage, Helenora, was sired by the 1909 St. Leger Stakes winner, Bayardo, and was out of Helvia, whose sire Cicero won the 1905 Derby Stakes.
Books and media
Cavalcade is profiled in Chapter 6 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
Last updated: March 2, 2024
Race record
22 starts, 8 wins, 5 seconds, 3 thirds, US$127,165
1933:
- Won Hyde Park Stakes (USA, 5.5FD, Arlington Park)
- 2nd Eastern Shore Handicap (USA, 6FD, Havre de Grace)
- 2nd Sanford Stakes (USA, 6FD, Saratoga)
- 2nd Spalding Lowe Jenkins Handicap (USA, 8FD, Laurel)
- 3rd Saratoga Sales Stakes (USA, 5.5FD, Saratoga)
- 3rd Walden Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Pimlico)
1934:
- Won Kentucky Derby (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won American Derby (USA, 10FD, Washington Park)
- Won Classic Stakes (USA, 10FD, Arlington Park)
- Won Detroit Derby (USA, 9.5FD, Detroit; new track record 1:58-1/5)
- Won Chesapeake Stakes (USA, 8.5FD, Havre de Grace)
- 2nd Preakness Stakes (USA, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
Honors
- National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1993)
- American Horse of the Year (1934)
- American champion 2-year-old male (1933)
- American champion 3-year-old male (1934)
Assessments
Rated at 125 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1933, 1 pound below highweighted First Minstrel.
As an individual
A brown horse standing a shade under 16 hands, Cavalcade possessed an explosive turn of foot and usually came from off the pace in his races. He was well-balanced and handsome with prominent withers and a deep, well-angled shoulder. Known early on as "the English gentleman," he became increasingly resistant to training after his 3-year-old season, suggesting either temperamental issues or unresolved pain. According to veteran trainer Virgil Raines, Cavalcade winged out badly with his left foreleg when galloping; the fault was sufficiently bad that Cavalcade's regular jockey, Mack Garner, routinely took the horse to the outside rather than risk that the wayward foot would strike an object or another runner in close quarters.
As a stallion
According to records kept by The Jockey Club, Cavalcade sired 70 foals, of which 42 (60.0%) won and 3 (4.3%) won stakes races. None were of any great importance.
Connections
Imported in utero and foaled at Meadowbrook Farms in New Jersey, Cavalcade was bred by F. Wallis Armstrong, Sr., who sold the colt for US$1,200 at the 1932 Saratoga yearling sale. The purchaser was Isabel Dodge Sloane's Brookmeade Stable. Cavalcade was trained by Robert Augustus Smith. Cavalcade entered stud in Virginia in 1937 at Brookmeade Stud. He was transferred to Shandon Stud near Lexington, Kentucky, in October 1940 but died there of “shipping fever” (probably pneumonia). Cavalcade was cremated and his ashes were buried at Brookmeade Stud.
Pedigree notes
Cavalcade is outcrossed through five generations. He was sired by the Swynford horse Lancegaye, a good stakes winner who was runner-up in the 1926 Derby Stakes but a stud failure aside from siring Cavalcade. His dam, Hastily, never raced. She was owned by Clarence Hailey at the time of Cavalcade's conception and was sold for 1,100 guineas at the 1930 Newmarket December sales while carrying the future champion. Hastily also produced Hastily Yours (by John P. Grier), dam of the good stakes horse Alerted (by Bull Lea), whose dozen added-money winds included the 1953 Saratoga Handicap and Saratoga Cup. Another daughter of Hastily, Rash Hurry (by John P. Grier), produced juvenile stakes winner Hurriette (by Case Ace).
Hastily was produced from Henley, whose sire Junior won the Manchester Cup and Great Ebor Handicap. The next dam in the tail-female lineage, Helenora, was sired by the 1909 St. Leger Stakes winner, Bayardo, and was out of Helvia, whose sire Cicero won the 1905 Derby Stakes.
Books and media
Cavalcade is profiled in Chapter 6 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
- Cavalcade was named for a successful English movie. Directed by Frank Lloyd, Cavalcade portrayed English life in the period of 1900-1933 as seen through the eyes of a well-to-do London couple.
- In English, a cavalcade is a procession or parade on horseback.
- Cavalcade was featured on the cover of the August 20, 1934, issue of Time magazine.
- At the height of Cavalcade's fame, proposals were made for an international race pitting him against 1934 English champion 3-year-old male Windsor Lad and 1934 French champion 3-year-old male Admiral Drake, but plans never became reality.
- Among horsemen of the 1930s, Cavalcade was known as "The Side Wheeler" because of his winging action in front.
- In the 1930s, the Selchow & Righter Company manufactured a horse racing board game called “Cavalcade.”
- The Cavalcade Handicap was a stakes race for 3-year-olds contested at the now-defunct Atlantic City Race Track.
Last updated: March 2, 2024