Clyde Van Dusen (USA)
1926 – 1948
Man o' War (USA) x Uncle's Lassie (USA), by Uncle (USA)
American Family 4
1926 – 1948
Man o' War (USA) x Uncle's Lassie (USA), by Uncle (USA)
American Family 4
A small, weedy individual, Clyde Van Dusen bore little physical resemblance to his famous sire. Nonetheless, he could run, though his upset of Blue Larkspur in the 1929 Kentucky Derby owed as much to improper shoeing on Blue Larkspur as to Clyde Van Dusen's tactical speed and superior ability as a mudder. Clyde Van Dusen never won another stakes race and, as a gelding, had no opportunity to contribute to future generations.
Race record
42 starts, 12 wins, 7 seconds, 8 thirds, US$122,402
1928:
1929:
Assessments
Ranked fourth among American 2-year-old males of 1928 by The Blood-Horse.
Ranked second among American 3-year-old males of 1929 by The Blood-Horse.
As an individual
A chestnut, Clyde Van Dusen was so small that when jockey Linus “Pony” McAtee first saw him in the paddock prior to the Kentucky Derby, his jaw dropped. The gelding weighed no more than 900 pounds, but in spite of his small size, he had plenty of spunk and character.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Clyde Van Dusen was bred and owned by Herbert P. Gardner. He was trained by his namesake, Clyde Van Dusen. After the equine Clyde Van Dusen's retirement, he was initially pensioned at Fair Acres Farm, where his pasture buddy was his old lead pony, Bill. Bill eventually died, and the human Clyde Van Dusen brought his equine counterpart back to the track as a stable pony. The gelding was humanely destroyed in 1948 due to the infirmities of old age.
Pedigree notes
Clyde Van Dusen is inbred 5x4 to nine-time English champion sire St. Simon, who was unbeaten during his own racing career. He is a half brother to stakes winners Seventeen Sixty (by The Finn), Sixteen Sixty (by Pennant), Ted Clark (by Chatterton) and Betty Derr (by Sir Gallahad III). The last-named mare won the 1931 Latonia Oaks and is the dam of stakes winners Betty Sweep (by Sweep), Iron Maiden (by War Admiral) and Judy-Rae (by Nasrullah). Both Iron Maiden and Judy-Rae founded important branches of American Family 4.
The dam of Clyde Van Dusen, Uncle's Lassie, is a stakes-winning full sister to juvenile stakes winner Tracksend and a half sister to Mexican stakes winner Paavo (by The Finn). She is also a half sister to Queen of the Water (by Waterboy), dam of stakes winners Heeltaps and Salacia (both by Ultimus). Heeltaps, in turn, produced two-time Carter Handicap winner Flying Heels (by Flying Ebony), while Salacia produced the good sprinter Sation (by Galetian).
Fun facts
Photo credit
Kentucky Derby winner's circle photo, photographer unknown. From the private collection of Dale Wyatt; used by permission.
Last updated: March 19, 2022
Race record
42 starts, 12 wins, 7 seconds, 8 thirds, US$122,402
1928:
- Won Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (USA, 8FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Idle Hour Stakes (USA)
- Won Valley Stakes (USA)
- Won Orphanage Stakes (USA)
- 2nd American National Futurity (USA)
- 3rd Breeders' Futurity (USA, about 5.75FD, Lexington)
1929:
- Won Kentucky Derby (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- 2nd Latonia Derby (USA, 12FD, Latonia)
- 3rd Classic Stakes (USA, 10FD, Arlington Park)
- 3rd Grainger Memorial Handicap (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
Assessments
Ranked fourth among American 2-year-old males of 1928 by The Blood-Horse.
Ranked second among American 3-year-old males of 1929 by The Blood-Horse.
As an individual
A chestnut, Clyde Van Dusen was so small that when jockey Linus “Pony” McAtee first saw him in the paddock prior to the Kentucky Derby, his jaw dropped. The gelding weighed no more than 900 pounds, but in spite of his small size, he had plenty of spunk and character.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Clyde Van Dusen was bred and owned by Herbert P. Gardner. He was trained by his namesake, Clyde Van Dusen. After the equine Clyde Van Dusen's retirement, he was initially pensioned at Fair Acres Farm, where his pasture buddy was his old lead pony, Bill. Bill eventually died, and the human Clyde Van Dusen brought his equine counterpart back to the track as a stable pony. The gelding was humanely destroyed in 1948 due to the infirmities of old age.
Pedigree notes
Clyde Van Dusen is inbred 5x4 to nine-time English champion sire St. Simon, who was unbeaten during his own racing career. He is a half brother to stakes winners Seventeen Sixty (by The Finn), Sixteen Sixty (by Pennant), Ted Clark (by Chatterton) and Betty Derr (by Sir Gallahad III). The last-named mare won the 1931 Latonia Oaks and is the dam of stakes winners Betty Sweep (by Sweep), Iron Maiden (by War Admiral) and Judy-Rae (by Nasrullah). Both Iron Maiden and Judy-Rae founded important branches of American Family 4.
The dam of Clyde Van Dusen, Uncle's Lassie, is a stakes-winning full sister to juvenile stakes winner Tracksend and a half sister to Mexican stakes winner Paavo (by The Finn). She is also a half sister to Queen of the Water (by Waterboy), dam of stakes winners Heeltaps and Salacia (both by Ultimus). Heeltaps, in turn, produced two-time Carter Handicap winner Flying Heels (by Flying Ebony), while Salacia produced the good sprinter Sation (by Galetian).
Fun facts
- 1.19 inches of rain fell on Derby Day, May 18, making the 1929 Kentucky Derby the wettest on record. The track conditions were reflected in Clyde Van Dusen's final time of 2:10-4/5, tied with Exterminator's victory in 1918 as the slowest 10-furlong Derby time since Stone Street won the 1908 Derby in 2:15-1/5 over a heavy track.
- The 1929 Derby was the last to go off without a starting gate.
- Clyde Van Dusen was the seventh gelding to win the Kentucky Derby, but it would be 74 years before another gelding, Funny Cide, got the job done in 2003.
- Clyde Van Dusen started from post 20, which did not produce another Kentucky Derby winner until Big Brown won the race from that post in 2008.
- In a rare lapse of sportsmanship, Blue Larkspur's owner, Colonel Edward Riley Bradley, described Clyde Van Dusen as “the worst horse to win the Derby in twenty years.”
- After leaving the racetrack following a brief 4-year-old campaign, Clyde Van Dusen attempted a comeback at age 7. He started 10 times, all in claiming races, but failed to win any and was again retired.
- According to Kentucky Derby historian Jim Bolus, Clyde Van Dusen may have had a reason for his loss of form after the Kentucky Derby due to having been kicked by his lead pony on the inside of a hind leg while at exercise. The leg reportedly became badly swollen, and though the swelling eventually went down, the gelding was never the same afterward.
- Clyde Van Dusen made his last public appearance on April 20, 1937, when he was paraded under his old racing silks with six other noted geldings--Sarazen, Mike Hall, Osmand, Jolly Roger, Cherry Pie, and Merrick—at the old Lexington race track prior to the first race of the day.
- As of 2022, the whereabouts of Clyde Van Dusen's Derby trophy remain unknown.
Photo credit
Kentucky Derby winner's circle photo, photographer unknown. From the private collection of Dale Wyatt; used by permission.
Last updated: March 19, 2022