Cleopatra (USA)
1917 – May 15, 1932
Corcyra (GB) x Gallice (GB), by Gallinule (GB)
Family 3-j
1917 – May 15, 1932
Corcyra (GB) x Gallice (GB), by Gallinule (GB)
Family 3-j
Like every other American racehorse of 1920, Cleopatra raced in the giant shadow cast by Man o' War. Nonetheless, she had the advantage of being able to evade the champion's path in events reserved for fillies and mares, and she made enough of those opportunities as well as two victories against good colts to be rated the best sophomore filly of her year. Following her retirement from racing, she did well as a broodmare.
Race record
26 starts, 8 wins, 6 seconds, 4 thirds, US$55,937
1919:
1920:
Honors
American champion 3-year-old filly (1920)
Assessments
Rated fifth among American juvenile fillies of 1919 by The Blood-Horse.
As an individual
Cleopatra was a rangy, gracefully made chestnut mare of the staying type. She was said to have had a placid temperament.
As a producer
Cleopatra produced eight named foals; all started and seven won. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Cleopatra was imported to the United States in utero and was bred by Arthur B. Hancock, Sr., at Claiborne Farm. She was owned by W. R. Coe, who bought her for US$4,100 at the 1918 Saratoga yearling sale, and produced all her foals for his Shoshone Stud. She was trained by William Karrick. She died suddenly in her stall on May 15, 1932.
Pedigree notes
Cleopatra is inbred 5x3 to two-time Ascot Gold Cup winner Isonomy, 4x4 to nine-time English champion sire St. Simon and 5x5x5 to St. Simon's sire Galopin, a three-time English champion sire and winner of the 1875 Derby Stakes. A daughter of Polymelus' good son Corcyra, she was the only foal produced by her dam Gallice, an unattractive mare that Hancock purchased for just 95 guineas. Gallice's pedigree was her primary attraction, as her sire Gallinule was a two-time English champion sire and five-time champion broodmare sire, while her dam St. Cecilia was by St. Simon's good son St. Serf out of the useful stakes winner Melody (by Tynedale) and so was a half sister to 1900 One Thousand Guineas winner Winifreda (by St. Simon) and to Red Lily (by Persimmon), dam of 1913 Goodwood Cup winner Catmint (by Spearmint).
Books and media
Cleopatra is profiled in Chapter 5 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
Last updated: August 7, 2021
Race record
26 starts, 8 wins, 6 seconds, 4 thirds, US$55,937
1919:
- Won Champagne Stakes (USA, 7FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Hopeful Stakes (USA, 6FD, Saratoga)
- 2nd Grab Bag Handicap (USA, 6FD, Saratoga)
- 2nd Nursery Handicap (USA, 6FD, Belmont)
1920:
- Won Pimlico Oaks (USA, 8.5FD, Pimlico)
- Won Coaching Club American Oaks (USA, 11FD, Belmont)
- Won Alabama Stakes (USA, 10FD, Saratoga)
- Won Latonia Championship Stakes (USA, 14FD, Latonia; new track record 2:56-4/5)
- Won Huron Handicap (USA, 9.5FD, Saratoga)
- 2nd Aqueduct Handicap (USA, 10.5FD, Aqueduct)
Honors
American champion 3-year-old filly (1920)
Assessments
Rated fifth among American juvenile fillies of 1919 by The Blood-Horse.
As an individual
Cleopatra was a rangy, gracefully made chestnut mare of the staying type. She was said to have had a placid temperament.
As a producer
Cleopatra produced eight named foals; all started and seven won. Her important foals are as follow:
- Pompey (1923, by Sun Briar) is generally considered the American champion 2-year-old male of 1925. He was a good sire, getting 31 stakes winners from 299 named foals.
- Caesarion (1925, by Man o' War) won the 1930 Champlain Handicap but died later that year.
- Laughing Queen (1929, by Sun Briar) won the 1931 Selima Stakes and was third in the 1932 Alabama Stakes. She is the second dam of the good juvenile Algasir and 1953 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Gaga and the third dam of 1953 American Horse of the Year Tom Fool, 1950 American champion 2-year-old filly Aunt Jinny, and the good stakes winner Ambiopoise.
- Sunny Queen (1930, by Sun Briar) produced the good Midwestern sprinter Kings Blue (by Blue Larkspur).
Connections
Cleopatra was imported to the United States in utero and was bred by Arthur B. Hancock, Sr., at Claiborne Farm. She was owned by W. R. Coe, who bought her for US$4,100 at the 1918 Saratoga yearling sale, and produced all her foals for his Shoshone Stud. She was trained by William Karrick. She died suddenly in her stall on May 15, 1932.
Pedigree notes
Cleopatra is inbred 5x3 to two-time Ascot Gold Cup winner Isonomy, 4x4 to nine-time English champion sire St. Simon and 5x5x5 to St. Simon's sire Galopin, a three-time English champion sire and winner of the 1875 Derby Stakes. A daughter of Polymelus' good son Corcyra, she was the only foal produced by her dam Gallice, an unattractive mare that Hancock purchased for just 95 guineas. Gallice's pedigree was her primary attraction, as her sire Gallinule was a two-time English champion sire and five-time champion broodmare sire, while her dam St. Cecilia was by St. Simon's good son St. Serf out of the useful stakes winner Melody (by Tynedale) and so was a half sister to 1900 One Thousand Guineas winner Winifreda (by St. Simon) and to Red Lily (by Persimmon), dam of 1913 Goodwood Cup winner Catmint (by Spearmint).
Books and media
Cleopatra is profiled in Chapter 5 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
- In history, Cleopatra was a queen of Egypt and the last ruler from the Ptolemaic dynasty. Although Cleopatra's Greek forebears had ruled Egypt for over a century, she was apparently the only member of her dynasty to learn Egyptian. While her intrigues with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony made her notorious, they also served to maintain her hold on power and to maintain Egyptian independence from Rome until Antony's downfall and her own suicide.
- Cleopatra was the only filly in the field for the 1920 Kentucky Derby, which drew 17 starters in the absence of Man o' War. She finished 15th.
- According to Brooklyn Daily Eagle writer W. C. Vreeland, Cleopatra rejected her first foal, a 1922 colt by Sun Briar, and kicked it immediately after birth. The foal did not survive to be named and the birth apparently was not reported to The Jockey Club.
- The Cleopatra Stakes was a race for fillies and mares at Arlington Park, usually at one mile on dirt.
Last updated: August 7, 2021