Citation (USA)
April 11, 1945 – August 8, 1970
Bull Lea (USA) x Hydroplane II (GB), by Hyperion (GB)
Family 3-l
April 11, 1945 – August 8, 1970
Bull Lea (USA) x Hydroplane II (GB), by Hyperion (GB)
Family 3-l
The greatest horse ever produced by the legendary Calumet Farm, Citation mowed down his opponents with the smooth efficiency of a machine during his first two seasons, becoming the eighth American Triple Crown winner in the process. Coming back from injury at ages 5 and 6, Citation never quite regained his 3-year-old form but remained a formidable runner and concluded his career by becoming the first equine millionaire in the 1951 Hollywood Gold Cup. He was a disappointing sire.
Race record
45 starts, 32 wins, 10 seconds, 2 thirds, US$1,085,760
1947:
1948:
1950:
1951:
Honors
Citation was rated #3 among American racehorses of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by The Blood-Horse (Thoroughbred Champions, Eclipse Press, 7th printing, 2005).
In their book A Century of Champions (1999, Portway Press Ltd.), British experts John Randall and Tony Morris rated Citation as the second best North American racehorse of the 20th century.
Highweighted at 126 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1947.
As an individual
A handsome, well-made, medium-sized bay horse with a good balance of refinement and substance, Citation was perhaps a trifle long in the back and slightly sickle-hocked but otherwise difficult to fault. He stood 16 hands and had an unusually long, level croup. He possessed an excellent racing temperament and fluid action as well as a robust constitution. He could run well over any surface and could stalk the pace or set it.
As a stallion
According to Jockey Club records, Citation sired 168 winners (62.0%) and 12 stakes winners (4.4%) from 271 named foals. He got off to an excellent start at stud with 1956 Preakness Stakes winner Fabius and five other stakes winners in his first two crops but tailed off badly afterward.
Notable progeny
Fabius (USA), Silver Spoon (USA)
Notable progeny of daughters
Real Good Deal (USA), Ruthie's Native (USA), Swiss Cheese (USA), Table Mate (USA)
Connections
Citation was bred and owned by Calumet Farm. He was trained by Ben A. Jones and his son Horace “Jimmy” Jones. He was ridden to his Triple Crown victories by Eddie Arcaro, his regular pilot. He stood at Calumet Farm, where he was humanely destroyed due to the infirmities of old age in 1970.
Pedigree notes
Citation is inbred 5x5x4 to St. Simon. His full sister Siena Way is the third dam of 1979 champion 3-year-old filly Davona Dale and 1984 Preakness (USA-G1) winner Gate Dancer. Citation's dam Hydroplane II (Hyperion x Toboggan) is closely related to the 1935 Newmarket Stakes winner and useful sire Bobsleigh, a son of Toboggan by Hyperion's sire Gainsborough. Toboggan won the 1928 Oaks Stakes and is a half sister to 1923 Doncaster Cup winner Silurian (by Swynford), a three-time leading sire in Argentina. She is also a half sister to 1924 Yorkshire Oaks winner Blue Ice (by Swynford) and to Crevasse (by Harry of Hereford), a winner of the Liverpool Autumn Cup.
Toboggan's dam Glacier was stakes-placed on the race course. She is out of the juvenile stakes winner Glasalt (by Isinglass), also the dam of the Chester Cup winner Glacis (by Carbine), 1910 Dewhurst Stakes and 1911 Ascot Derby winner King William (by William the Third), and 1916 One Thousand Guineas winner Canyon (by Chaucer). Canyon, in turn, produced 1931 Eclipse Stakes winner Caerleon, 1926 Two Thousand Guineas winner Colorado and 1923 Richmond Stakes winner Halcyon, all by Phalaris.
Books and media
Fun facts
Last updated: May 7, 2022
Race record
45 starts, 32 wins, 10 seconds, 2 thirds, US$1,085,760
1947:
- Won Futurity Stakes (USA, 6.5FD, Belmont)
- Won Pimlico Futurity (USA, 8.5FD, Pimlico)
- Won Elementary Stakes (USA, 6FD, Washington Park)
- 2nd Washington Park Futurity (USA, 6FD, Washington Park)
1948:
- Won Kentucky Derby (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Preakness Stakes (USA, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
- Won Belmont Stakes (USA, 12FD, Belmont)
- Won Jockey Club Gold Cup (USA, 16FD, Belmont)
- Won Gold Cup (USA, 13FD, Empire City)
- Won American Derby (USA, 10FD, Washington Park)
- Won Jersey Stakes (USA, 10FD, Garden State; new track record 2:03)
- Won Flamingo Stakes (USA, 9FD, Hialeah)
- Won Tanforan Handicap (USA, 10FD, Tanforan; new track record 2:02-4/5)
- Won Stars and Stripes Handicap (USA, 9FD, Arlington Park; equaled track record 1:49-1/5)
- Won Chesapeake Stakes (USA, 8.5FD, Havre de Grace)
- Won Sysonby Mile (USA, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Pimlico Special (USA, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
- Won Seminole Handicap (USA, 7FD, Hialeah)
- Won Everglades Handicap (USA, 9FD, Hialeah)
- Won Derby Trial (USA, 8FD, Churchill Downs)
- 2nd Chesapeake Trial (USA, 6FD, Havre de Grace)
1950:
- Won Golden Gate Mile Handicap (USA, 8FD, Golden Gate; new world record 1:33-3/5)
- 2nd Santa Anita Handicap (USA, 10FD, Santa Anita)
- 2nd Golden Gate Handicap (USA, 8FD, Golden Gate)
- 2nd San Juan Capistrano Handicap (USA, about 14FT, Santa Anita)
- 2nd San Antonio Handicap (USA, 9FD, Santa Anita)
- 2nd Forty-Niners Handicap (USA, 9FD, Golden Gate)
1951:
- Won Hollywood Gold Cup (USA, 10FD, Hollywood)
- Won American Handicap (USA, 9FD, Hollywood)
- 2nd Argonaut Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Hollywood)
Honors
- National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1959)
- Arcadia Historical Society's Racing Walk of Champions (inducted as part of the inaugural class in 2014)
- American Horse of the Year (1948)
- American champion 2-year-old male (1947)
- American champion 3-year-old male (1948)
- American co-champion handicap male (1948, 1951)
Citation was rated #3 among American racehorses of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by The Blood-Horse (Thoroughbred Champions, Eclipse Press, 7th printing, 2005).
In their book A Century of Champions (1999, Portway Press Ltd.), British experts John Randall and Tony Morris rated Citation as the second best North American racehorse of the 20th century.
Highweighted at 126 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1947.
As an individual
A handsome, well-made, medium-sized bay horse with a good balance of refinement and substance, Citation was perhaps a trifle long in the back and slightly sickle-hocked but otherwise difficult to fault. He stood 16 hands and had an unusually long, level croup. He possessed an excellent racing temperament and fluid action as well as a robust constitution. He could run well over any surface and could stalk the pace or set it.
As a stallion
According to Jockey Club records, Citation sired 168 winners (62.0%) and 12 stakes winners (4.4%) from 271 named foals. He got off to an excellent start at stud with 1956 Preakness Stakes winner Fabius and five other stakes winners in his first two crops but tailed off badly afterward.
Notable progeny
Fabius (USA), Silver Spoon (USA)
Notable progeny of daughters
Real Good Deal (USA), Ruthie's Native (USA), Swiss Cheese (USA), Table Mate (USA)
Connections
Citation was bred and owned by Calumet Farm. He was trained by Ben A. Jones and his son Horace “Jimmy” Jones. He was ridden to his Triple Crown victories by Eddie Arcaro, his regular pilot. He stood at Calumet Farm, where he was humanely destroyed due to the infirmities of old age in 1970.
Pedigree notes
Citation is inbred 5x5x4 to St. Simon. His full sister Siena Way is the third dam of 1979 champion 3-year-old filly Davona Dale and 1984 Preakness (USA-G1) winner Gate Dancer. Citation's dam Hydroplane II (Hyperion x Toboggan) is closely related to the 1935 Newmarket Stakes winner and useful sire Bobsleigh, a son of Toboggan by Hyperion's sire Gainsborough. Toboggan won the 1928 Oaks Stakes and is a half sister to 1923 Doncaster Cup winner Silurian (by Swynford), a three-time leading sire in Argentina. She is also a half sister to 1924 Yorkshire Oaks winner Blue Ice (by Swynford) and to Crevasse (by Harry of Hereford), a winner of the Liverpool Autumn Cup.
Toboggan's dam Glacier was stakes-placed on the race course. She is out of the juvenile stakes winner Glasalt (by Isinglass), also the dam of the Chester Cup winner Glacis (by Carbine), 1910 Dewhurst Stakes and 1911 Ascot Derby winner King William (by William the Third), and 1916 One Thousand Guineas winner Canyon (by Chaucer). Canyon, in turn, produced 1931 Eclipse Stakes winner Caerleon, 1926 Two Thousand Guineas winner Colorado and 1923 Richmond Stakes winner Halcyon, all by Phalaris.
Books and media
- Pohla Smith's biography Citation was the third book in the Thoroughbred Legends series from Eclipse Press and was published in 2000.
- Veteran race caller Phil Georgeff wrote Citation: In a Class by Himself, a book released by Taylor Trade Publishing in 2003.
- “Citation” is chapter 8 of The Most Glorious Crown by Martin Drager (2005, Triumph Books).
- Citation is the eighth of the 13 American Triple Crown winners featured in Edward Bowen's The Lucky 13: The Winners of America's Triple Crown of Horse Racing (2019, Lyon Press).
- Citation's performance in the 1948 Kentucky Derby is the subject of “Money in the Bank,” the fifth chapter in The 10 Best Kentucky Derbies. Written by the staff and correspondents of The Blood-Horse, the book was released by Eclipse Press in 2005.
- Citation is profiled in Chapter 7 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
- Citation is one of 50 Thoroughbreds profiled in Royal Blood: Fifty Years of Classic Thoroughbreds. Written by racing historian Jim Bolus with illustrations and commentary by noted equine artist Richard Stone Reeves, the book was released by The Blood-Horse, Inc., in 1994.
Fun facts
- Citation was the third of a record eight homebred Kentucky Derby winners for Calumet Farm. The others were Whirlaway (1941), Pensive (1944), Ponder (1949), Hill Gail (1952), Iron Liege (1957), Tim Tam (1958) and Forward Pass (1968). The first five of this group were officially trained by Ben Jones, setting a Kentucky Derby record of six as the most wins for a single trainer as he had previously trained the 1938 winner, Lawrin. (Jones' record was tied in 2020, when Bob Baffert scored his sixth Derby win with Authentic; an apparent seventh win for Baffert with Medina Spirit in 2021 was taken away via disqualification after the colt tested positive for the corticosteroid bethmethasone.) Calumet later bred 1991 Kentucky Derby winner Strike the Gold and 2022 winner Rich Strike, but these colt raced for other owners.
- Citation was the fourth Kentucky Derby winner for Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro, who had previously won the race with Lawrin (1938), Whirlaway (1941) and Hoop, Jr. (1945). "The Master" later won the race with Hill Gail (1952), setting a Kentucky Derby record for victories by a jockey that was not tied until Bill Hartack won his fifth Kentucky Derby aboard Majestic Prince (1969).
- Citation was the second of Eddie Arcaro's record six Preakness Stakes winners. The others were Whirlaway (1941), Hill Prince (1950), Bold (1951), Nashua (1955) and Bold Ruler (1957).
- Citation was the fourth of a record eight Preakness Stakes winners for Calumet Farm. The others were Whirlaway (1941), Pensive (1944), Faultless (1947), Fabius (1956), Tim Tam (1958), Forward Pass (1968), and Oxbow (2013). All but the last were homebreds.
- Citation's Belmont Stakes was the first American Triple Crown race to be aired on national television. CBS' historic telecast took place on June 12, 1948.
- Citation set a modern American record of 16 consecutive wins in 1948-1950. His record was finally equaled by Cigar in 1995-1996 and Hallowed Dreams in 1999-2000 and was broken by Peppers Pride in 2005-2008. (Mister Frisky also won 16 consecutive races in 1989-1990, but his first 13 starts were in Puerto Rico.)
- Eminent handicapper John B. Campbell estimated that, as a 3-year-old, Citation was at least 15 pounds better than any other member of his crop.
- In a computerized “Race of the Century” created in 1968, Citation was declared the winner by a neck over Man o' War, with Buckpasser, Exterminator, Kelso, Swaps, Nashua, Tom Fool, War Admiral, Native Dancer, Equipoise, and Count Fleet in the beaten field.
- ESPN ranked Citation 97th among the top 100 North American athletes of the 20th century, making him one of only three non-humans on the list.
- Citation's becoming the first equine millionaire was ranked #43 in Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments, a review of racing in the 20th century compiled by The Blood-Horse and released in 2006. Citation's 16-race win streak also made the list at #67.
- Citation's performance in the 1948 Kentucky Derby was ranked fifth in The 10 Best Kentucky Derbies, a Blood-Horse compilation released by Eclipse Press in 2005.
- Former Cessna chairman Dwayne Wallace was a great fan of Citation's and named a line of business jets after him. The first Cessna Citation took to the air on September 15, 1969, and the line continues to the present day.
- A statue of Citation created by Italian sculptor Thomas Famiglietti was unveiled near the saddling paddock at Florida's Hialeah Park in 1965. Still considered one of the world's most beautiful racing plants, Hialeah was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 5, 1979, ensuring the survival of this memorial to “Big Cy.”
Last updated: May 7, 2022