From the private collection of Dale Wyatt. Used by permission.
Champion though she was, Dawn Play was a hard-luck horse whose reputation might have been still higher had it not been for “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” Never entirely sound throughout her 3-year-old season, she was literally knocked out of the Saratoga meeting and any further racing laurels by a lightning strike that killed several other horses. Knocked unconscious, Dawn Play survived but was unable to resume training. Adding to her misfortunes, she died of colic after only a short broodmare career.
Race record
14 starts, 4 wins, 5 seconds, 0 thirds, US$50,800
1936:
1937:
As an individual
A brown, Dawn Play was a big, strong filly (seen above winning the American Derby). She was troubled by ankle problems throughout her 3-year-old season and suffered repeated attacks of colic after her barn was struck by lightning at the 1937 Saratoga meeting.
As a producer
Dawn Play produced only three live foals, all colts. The first died young and the others were of no significance as racehorses or sires.
Connections
Dawn Play was bred by Morton L. Schwartz. She was owned by the King Ranch and was trained by Max Hirsch. She died of colic in 1944.
Pedigree notes
Dawn Play is outcrossed through five generations. Sired by the good stakes winner Clock Tower (by the speedy French import Snob II), she is a half sister to Rosy Fingered (by Eight Thirty), dam of multiple juvenile stakes winner Prince Kem (by Prince Charger), second dam of 1971 Knockerbocker Handicap winner Fresh Alibhai and third dam of Grade II winners Any Time Girl, Table Hands and Prospectors Gamble; multiple Grade III winner Pair of Deuces; 1967 Juvenile Stakes winner Kaskaskia; and Mexican Group III winner Lasserre.
Dawn Play's dam Gun Play was unplaced in eight starts. Produced from Scoot II, she is a full sister to Boadicea, dam of 1936 Astoria Stakes winner Manatella and 1939 Lady Baltimore Handicap winner Manie O'Hara, both by The Satrap, an imported son of The Tetrarch. Boadicea is the second dam of 1946 Santa Anita Derby winner Salmagundi.
Scoot II was imported from England in 1919. Her sire Vamose (a son of the excellent racer Orme) won the Imperial Produce Stakes, a juvenile race of some importance, but her dam Squib had little to recommend her. Squib was sired by another fast juvenile, 1893 July Stakes winner Speed, out of Extinct, another undistinguished mare who was sired by the Galopin horse Buckingham.
Books and media
Dawn Play is profiled in Chapter 6 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Race record
14 starts, 4 wins, 5 seconds, 0 thirds, US$50,800
1936:
- 2nd Selima Stakes (USA, 8FD, Laurel)
- 2nd Matron Stakes (USA, 6FD, Belmont)
1937:
- Won Acorn Stakes (USA, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Coaching Club American Oaks (USA, 11FD, Belmont)
- Won American Derby (USA, 10FD, Washington Park)
As an individual
A brown, Dawn Play was a big, strong filly (seen above winning the American Derby). She was troubled by ankle problems throughout her 3-year-old season and suffered repeated attacks of colic after her barn was struck by lightning at the 1937 Saratoga meeting.
As a producer
Dawn Play produced only three live foals, all colts. The first died young and the others were of no significance as racehorses or sires.
Connections
Dawn Play was bred by Morton L. Schwartz. She was owned by the King Ranch and was trained by Max Hirsch. She died of colic in 1944.
Pedigree notes
Dawn Play is outcrossed through five generations. Sired by the good stakes winner Clock Tower (by the speedy French import Snob II), she is a half sister to Rosy Fingered (by Eight Thirty), dam of multiple juvenile stakes winner Prince Kem (by Prince Charger), second dam of 1971 Knockerbocker Handicap winner Fresh Alibhai and third dam of Grade II winners Any Time Girl, Table Hands and Prospectors Gamble; multiple Grade III winner Pair of Deuces; 1967 Juvenile Stakes winner Kaskaskia; and Mexican Group III winner Lasserre.
Dawn Play's dam Gun Play was unplaced in eight starts. Produced from Scoot II, she is a full sister to Boadicea, dam of 1936 Astoria Stakes winner Manatella and 1939 Lady Baltimore Handicap winner Manie O'Hara, both by The Satrap, an imported son of The Tetrarch. Boadicea is the second dam of 1946 Santa Anita Derby winner Salmagundi.
Scoot II was imported from England in 1919. Her sire Vamose (a son of the excellent racer Orme) won the Imperial Produce Stakes, a juvenile race of some importance, but her dam Squib had little to recommend her. Squib was sired by another fast juvenile, 1893 July Stakes winner Speed, out of Extinct, another undistinguished mare who was sired by the Galopin horse Buckingham.
Books and media
Dawn Play is profiled in Chapter 6 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).