Gallahadion (USA)
March 31, 1937 – July 7, 1958
Sir Gallahad III (FR) x Countess Time (USA), by Reigh Count (USA)
Family 4-e
March 31, 1937 – July 7, 1958
Sir Gallahad III (FR) x Countess Time (USA), by Reigh Count (USA)
Family 4-e
Gallahadion was the second of three sons of Sir Gallahad III to win the Kentucky Derby but could hardly have presented a greater contrast to the first such winner, the great Gallant Fox, as he was a rank outsider in the Run for the Roses. Most observers attributed his upset victory over favored Bimelech to that colt's having been mishandled in his training leading up to the race. Their opinion was vindicated as Bimelech won the next two legs of the American Triple Crown with Gallahadion in the beaten field both times. Gallahadion never won another major race and was a failure as a sire.
Race record
36 starts, 6 wins, 6 seconds, 4 thirds, US$92,620
1940:
1941:
Assessments
Ranked fifth among American 3-year-old males of 1940 by The Blood-Horse.
As an individual
Gallahadion was a gangly, light-framed, long-striding bay horse with rather upright pasterns. He stood 16.3 hands.
As a stallion
According to records kept by The Jockey Club, Gallahadion sired 73 winners (none of them stakes winners), which amounted to 48 percent of his 152 named foals.
Connections
Gallahadion was bred by Robert A. Fairbairn. He was owned by Ethel V. Mars, who purchased the colt for US$5,000 from the 1938 Saratoga yearling sale and campaigned Gallahadion in the name of her Milky Way Stable. He was trained by Roy J. Waldron. He entered stud in 1942 at Almahurst Farm near Nicholasville, Kentucky. In 1951 he was purchased by John Holliday (mostly known as a breeder of bird dogs) and moved to Holliday Farrn in Oklahoma. He died in 1958.
Pedigree notes
Gallahadion is inbred 4x4 to the influential English and French sire Bay Ronald. He is a half brother to stakes winner Big Dial (by Big Pebble) and a half brother to Two Bells (by Blenheim II), dam of 1953 Santa Margarita Handicap winner Spanish Cream (by Brown King) and juvenile stakes winner Prophets Bell (by Prophets Thumb); second dam of 1964 Ohio Derby winner National; and third dam of 1967 City of Baltimore Handicap winner First and Finest, 1970 El Dorado Handicap winner Mickey McGuire and 1972 Dade Metropolitan Handicap winner Spanish Riddle. Gallahadion is also a half brother to Countess Molly (by Menow), dam of 1957 San Felipe Handicap winner Joe Price (by Noor).
Countess Time, the dam of Gallahadion, is a half sister to 1922 Blue Grass Stakes winner Busy American (by North Star III); to Resting Time (by Black Toney), dam of juvenile stakes winner Trey (by Sir Barton); to Gala Moment (by Sir Gallahad III), whose son Galactic (by Milkman) was a multiple stakes winner both on the flat and over jumps; and to Gallant Lass (by Sir Gallahad III), third dam of 1960 Louisiana Derby winner Tony Graff. The siblings were produced from Breathing Spell (by Dark Ronald), a half sister to the high-class juvenile Sunny Man (by Sun Briar) and to 1926 Schuylerville Stakes winner Aromagne (by Allumeur). A daughter of the Polymelus mare Romagne, Breathing Spell is also a half sister to Sunmagne, dam of the stakes-winning steeplechaser Dark Magne (by Traumer) and 1931 Pimlico Oaks winner Dark Magnet (by Traumer).
Books and movies
Gallahadion is profiled in Chapter 7 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
Last updated: February 14, 2020
Race record
36 starts, 6 wins, 6 seconds, 4 thirds, US$92,620
1940:
- Won Kentucky Derby (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won San Vicente Handicap (USA, 8FD, Santa Anita)
- 2nd Classic Stakes (USA, 10FD, Arlington Park)
- 2nd Derby Trial Stakes (USA, 8FD, Churchill Downs)
- 3rd Preakness Stakes (USA, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
1941:
- 3rd Clark Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Churchill Downs)
- 3rd Stars and Stripes Handicap (USA, 9FD, Arlington Park)
Assessments
Ranked fifth among American 3-year-old males of 1940 by The Blood-Horse.
As an individual
Gallahadion was a gangly, light-framed, long-striding bay horse with rather upright pasterns. He stood 16.3 hands.
As a stallion
According to records kept by The Jockey Club, Gallahadion sired 73 winners (none of them stakes winners), which amounted to 48 percent of his 152 named foals.
Connections
Gallahadion was bred by Robert A. Fairbairn. He was owned by Ethel V. Mars, who purchased the colt for US$5,000 from the 1938 Saratoga yearling sale and campaigned Gallahadion in the name of her Milky Way Stable. He was trained by Roy J. Waldron. He entered stud in 1942 at Almahurst Farm near Nicholasville, Kentucky. In 1951 he was purchased by John Holliday (mostly known as a breeder of bird dogs) and moved to Holliday Farrn in Oklahoma. He died in 1958.
Pedigree notes
Gallahadion is inbred 4x4 to the influential English and French sire Bay Ronald. He is a half brother to stakes winner Big Dial (by Big Pebble) and a half brother to Two Bells (by Blenheim II), dam of 1953 Santa Margarita Handicap winner Spanish Cream (by Brown King) and juvenile stakes winner Prophets Bell (by Prophets Thumb); second dam of 1964 Ohio Derby winner National; and third dam of 1967 City of Baltimore Handicap winner First and Finest, 1970 El Dorado Handicap winner Mickey McGuire and 1972 Dade Metropolitan Handicap winner Spanish Riddle. Gallahadion is also a half brother to Countess Molly (by Menow), dam of 1957 San Felipe Handicap winner Joe Price (by Noor).
Countess Time, the dam of Gallahadion, is a half sister to 1922 Blue Grass Stakes winner Busy American (by North Star III); to Resting Time (by Black Toney), dam of juvenile stakes winner Trey (by Sir Barton); to Gala Moment (by Sir Gallahad III), whose son Galactic (by Milkman) was a multiple stakes winner both on the flat and over jumps; and to Gallant Lass (by Sir Gallahad III), third dam of 1960 Louisiana Derby winner Tony Graff. The siblings were produced from Breathing Spell (by Dark Ronald), a half sister to the high-class juvenile Sunny Man (by Sun Briar) and to 1926 Schuylerville Stakes winner Aromagne (by Allumeur). A daughter of the Polymelus mare Romagne, Breathing Spell is also a half sister to Sunmagne, dam of the stakes-winning steeplechaser Dark Magne (by Traumer) and 1931 Pimlico Oaks winner Dark Magnet (by Traumer).
Books and movies
Gallahadion is profiled in Chapter 7 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
- Gallahadion was the eighth horse entered in the Kentucky Derby by Ethel V. Mars, who had been trying to win the great race since 1935. Ironically, Mrs. Mars was unable to watch Gallahadion's Derby victory in person as she was kept home by a severe cold. (Trainer Roy Waldron also had a bad head cold but came anyway to saddle his charge.)
- Gallahadion actually outfinished Bimelech in two of their five meetings, as he was second with Bimelech third in the 1940 Classic Stakes. He had been second to the champion in the Derby Trial Stakes prior to the Triple Crown series.
Last updated: February 14, 2020