Gulch (USA)
April 16, 1984 – January 17, 2016
Mr. Prospector (USA) x Jameela (USA), by Rambunctious (USA)
American Family 4
April 16, 1984 – January 17, 2016
Mr. Prospector (USA) x Jameela (USA), by Rambunctious (USA)
American Family 4
A member of the vintage 1984 crop in the United States, Gulch was tough, sound, honest and blessed with miler speed that he could stretch to nine furlongs. He was a multiple Grade 1 winner every year he raced and finally earned the championship he so richly merited as a 4-year-old, when a victory in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (USA-G1) sealed an Eclipse Award in the sprint division. He was not as consistent as the best sire sons of Mr. Prospector at stud but got some very good runners from time to time, most notably 1995 American champion 3-year-old male Thunder Gulch.
Race record
32 starts, 13 wins, 8 seconds, 4 thirds, US$3,095,521
1986:
1987:
1988:
Honors
Eclipse Award, American champion sprinter (1988)
Assessments
Rated at 123 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1986, 3 pounds below champion Capote but tied for second with Polish Navy and Temperate Sil.
Rated at 120 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1987, 7 pounds below champion Alysheba.
Highweighted at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American male sprinters of 1988, 1 pound above second-rated Mining.
As an individual
A bay horse, Gulch was rather plain but was correct and sound with the straight, strong hind leg typical of the Mr. Prospector tribe. He was most effective as a racehorse when stalking close to the pace. He enjoyed human attention and was described by those who knew him as “a ham.”
As a stallion
Gulch sired 680 winners (61.7%) and 72 stakes winners (6.5%) from 1103 named foals according to records kept by The Jockey Club; The Blood-Horse credits him with 76 stakes winners.
Sire rankings
Per The Blood-Horse:
Per Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (2006, Churchill, Reichard, and Rogers):
Per Thoroughbred Times (previously Thoroughbred Record):
Notable progeny
Court Vision (USA), Eagle Cafe (USA), Great Navigator (USA), Harayir (USA), Nayef (USA), The Cliff's Edge (USA), Thunder Gulch (USA), Torrential (USA), Wallenda (USA)
Notable progeny of daughters
Media Puzzle (USA), Refuse to Bend (IRE)
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Gulch was bred and owned by Peter Brant. He was initially trained by LeRoy Jolley, later going to the barn of D. Wayne Lukas as a 4-year-old. Gulch entered stud in Kentucky in 1989 and stood at Lane's End Farm throughout his stud career. After being pensioned in November 2009 due to declining fertility, he was moved to the Old Friends retirement center near Georgetown, Kentucky, in December of that year. He was humanely destroyed due to complications of cancer in January 2016.
Pedigree notes
Gulch is outcrossed through five generations. He is one of only two foals produced by Jameela; the other is Gulch's full brother Big Mukora, a winner and sire of much more modest standing. Gulch's broodmare sire Rambunctious was a nice juvenile stakes winner and a useful sire in the Mid-Atlantic region.
A multiple Grade 1 winner at ages 5 and 6, Jameela is a half sister to Tender Morsel (by Assert), dam of Brazilian stakes winner Baby Prospector (by Naevus), who in turn is the dam of 2001 Grande Premio Presidente da Republica (Gavea) (BRZ-G1) winner Baby Speedy (by Ariosto). Jameela's dam Asbury Mary is by Seven Corners, a stakes-placed son of Roman, and is a half sister to stakes winner Sarah Percy (by Uncle Percy), second dam of multiple listed stakes winner Kimbralata. Asbury Mary is also a half sister to Agnes Ashley (by Uncle Percy), dam of Grade 2 winner Piedmont Pete (by Son of Bagdad), and to Tibia (by Gray Phantom), second dam of three stakes winners including Grade 3 winner Very True.
Asbury Mary was produced from stakes-placed Snow Flyer, whose sire Snow Boots was a stakes-placed son of Stimulus. The next dam in the tail-female line, Hey Hay, won 13 of 118 starts and continued the chain of undistinguished sires along the dam line as her sire Hilltown was a winning son of Blenheim II.
Photo credit
Photo by Jessica Morgan, taken at Lane's End in 2008. Used by permission.
Last updated: February 27, 2023
Race record
32 starts, 13 wins, 8 seconds, 4 thirds, US$3,095,521
1986:
- Won Hopeful Stakes (USA-G1, 6.5FD, Saratoga)
- Won Futurity Stakes (USA-G1, 7FD, Belmont)
- Won Saratoga Special Stakes (USA-G2, 6FD, Saratoga)
- Won Tremont Stakes (USA-G3, 5.5FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Norfolk Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
1987:
- Won Wood Memorial Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Aqueduct)
- Won Metropolitan Handicap (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Bay Shore Stakes (USA-G2, 7FD, Aqueduct)
- 2nd Woodward Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Whitney Handicap (USA-G1, 9FD, Saratoga)
- 2nd Jamaica Handicap (USA-G3, 8F, Belmont)
- 2nd Belmont Stakes (USA-G1, 12FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Gotham Stakes (USA-G2, 8FD, Aqueduct)
1988:
- Won Breeders' Cup Sprint (USA-G1, 6FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Metropolitan Handicap (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Carter Handicap (USA-G1, 7FD, Aqueduct)
- Won Potrero Grande Handicap (USA-G3, 6.5FD, Santa Anita)
- 2nd Californian Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Hollywood)
- 2nd Whitney Handicap (USA-G1, 9FD, Saratoga)
- 2nd Vosburgh Stakes (USA-G1, 7FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Tom Fool Stakes (USA-G2, 7FD, Belmont)
- 3rd Philip H. Iselin Handicap (USA-G1, 9FD, Monmouth)
- 3rd Oaklawn Handicap (USA-G1, 9FD, Oaklawn)
Honors
Eclipse Award, American champion sprinter (1988)
Assessments
Rated at 123 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1986, 3 pounds below champion Capote but tied for second with Polish Navy and Temperate Sil.
Rated at 120 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1987, 7 pounds below champion Alysheba.
Highweighted at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American male sprinters of 1988, 1 pound above second-rated Mining.
As an individual
A bay horse, Gulch was rather plain but was correct and sound with the straight, strong hind leg typical of the Mr. Prospector tribe. He was most effective as a racehorse when stalking close to the pace. He enjoyed human attention and was described by those who knew him as “a ham.”
As a stallion
Gulch sired 680 winners (61.7%) and 72 stakes winners (6.5%) from 1103 named foals according to records kept by The Jockey Club; The Blood-Horse credits him with 76 stakes winners.
Sire rankings
Per The Blood-Horse:
- 2nd on the American general sire list in 1995; 7th in 2002.
Per Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (2006, Churchill, Reichard, and Rogers):
- 2nd on the American general sire list in 1995; 9th in 2002.
Per Thoroughbred Times (previously Thoroughbred Record):
- 2nd on the American general sire list in 1995 and 2002.
Notable progeny
Court Vision (USA), Eagle Cafe (USA), Great Navigator (USA), Harayir (USA), Nayef (USA), The Cliff's Edge (USA), Thunder Gulch (USA), Torrential (USA), Wallenda (USA)
Notable progeny of daughters
Media Puzzle (USA), Refuse to Bend (IRE)
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Gulch was bred and owned by Peter Brant. He was initially trained by LeRoy Jolley, later going to the barn of D. Wayne Lukas as a 4-year-old. Gulch entered stud in Kentucky in 1989 and stood at Lane's End Farm throughout his stud career. After being pensioned in November 2009 due to declining fertility, he was moved to the Old Friends retirement center near Georgetown, Kentucky, in December of that year. He was humanely destroyed due to complications of cancer in January 2016.
Pedigree notes
Gulch is outcrossed through five generations. He is one of only two foals produced by Jameela; the other is Gulch's full brother Big Mukora, a winner and sire of much more modest standing. Gulch's broodmare sire Rambunctious was a nice juvenile stakes winner and a useful sire in the Mid-Atlantic region.
A multiple Grade 1 winner at ages 5 and 6, Jameela is a half sister to Tender Morsel (by Assert), dam of Brazilian stakes winner Baby Prospector (by Naevus), who in turn is the dam of 2001 Grande Premio Presidente da Republica (Gavea) (BRZ-G1) winner Baby Speedy (by Ariosto). Jameela's dam Asbury Mary is by Seven Corners, a stakes-placed son of Roman, and is a half sister to stakes winner Sarah Percy (by Uncle Percy), second dam of multiple listed stakes winner Kimbralata. Asbury Mary is also a half sister to Agnes Ashley (by Uncle Percy), dam of Grade 2 winner Piedmont Pete (by Son of Bagdad), and to Tibia (by Gray Phantom), second dam of three stakes winners including Grade 3 winner Very True.
Asbury Mary was produced from stakes-placed Snow Flyer, whose sire Snow Boots was a stakes-placed son of Stimulus. The next dam in the tail-female line, Hey Hay, won 13 of 118 starts and continued the chain of undistinguished sires along the dam line as her sire Hilltown was a winning son of Blenheim II.
Photo credit
Photo by Jessica Morgan, taken at Lane's End in 2008. Used by permission.
Last updated: February 27, 2023