Montrose (USA)
1884 – July 30, 1898
Duke of Montrose (USA) x Patti (USA), by Billet (GB)
American Family 23
1884 – July 30, 1898
Duke of Montrose (USA) x Patti (USA), by Billet (GB)
American Family 23
A great-grandson of Australian, Montrose traced his descent through a branch that is long extinct. In spite of his victory in the 1887 Kentucky Derby, he was never a particularly highly regarded horse, in part because the field for the 1887 Derby was considered one of the weakest assembled up to that time. Nonetheless, he was a stakes winner for four consecutive seasons until being retired from racing in the fall of his 5-year-old season due to splint trouble. A proposed comeback to racing at age 8 apparently came to nothing, and Montrose was not a success at stud.
Race record
51 starts, 14 wins, 11 seconds, 9 thirds, US$27,321
1886:
1887:
1888:
1889:
As an individual
Montrose stood about 15.2 hands in the early spring of his 3-year-old year, later growing to close to 16 hands. According to contemporary accounts, he was lengthy and had a good shoulder, an excellent body, rather light hindquarters, and excellent feet and legs. He was described as having a "free, open gait."
As a stallion
Montrose is known to have stood at stud and to have sired starters, but Clio Hogan's Index to Stakes Winners 1865-1967 does not credit him with any stakes winners.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky at McGrathiana Stud, Montrose was bred by Colonel Milton Young. He was purchased for US$800 as a yearling by Colonel W. S. Barnes, master of Melbourne Stud. Following the colt's juvenile season, Barnes sold him for US$4,100 to Cincinnati distillery owners Alexander and Ike Labold, who raced as the Labold Brothers. Montrose was trained by John McGinty. During Montrose's 5-year-old season, his owners refused an offer of US$10,000 for him, but in September 1890, the Labold Brothers dispersed their racing stable and Montrose was sold to Isaac H. Labold for US$1,000. The horse died July 30, 1898, in Columbus, Ohio, where he had been standing at the farm of Allen W. Thurman.
Pedigree notes
Montrose's pedigree is outcrossed through five generations. He is a full brother to 1889 Latonia Oaks winner Retrieve (dam of 1901 Latonia Derby winner Hernando, by Hanover), 1890 Flash Stakes winner Monterey, and 1891 Spinaway Stakes winner Promenade.
Patti, the dam of Montrose and his siblings, is a half sister to multiple juvenile stakes winner Van Leland (by Volturno). She was produced from the Pat Malloy mare Dora, in turn a daughter of Etta, Jr. (by Bill Alexander). The female line traces back to an animal known as McKinney's Roan Mare (by Old Comet, a son of Meade's Celer), said to have been out of a daughter of Rainbow; nothing more is known of her ancestry.
Fun facts
Race record
51 starts, 14 wins, 11 seconds, 9 thirds, US$27,321
1886:
- Won a handicap sweepstakes (USA, 6FD, Monmouth)
- Won Cotton Exchange Stakes (USA, 6FD, St. Louis)
- 2nd Mechanics Stakes (USA, 6FD, St. Louis)
- 3rd Prospect Stakes (USA, 7FD, Gravesend)
- 3rd Moet and Chandon Champagne Stakes (USA, 6FD, Monmouth)
1887:
- Won Blue Ribbon Stakes (USA, 10FD, Lexington)
- Won Kentucky Derby (USA, 12FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won St. Leger Stakes (USA, 18FD, Churchill Downs)
- 2nd Phoenix Hotel Stakes (USA, 10FD, Lexington)
- 3rd Latonia Derby (USA, 12FD, Latonia)
1888:
- Won Morrissey Stakes (USA, 14FD, Saratoga)
- Won Kearney Stakes (USA, 12FD, Saratoga)
- Won Great Western Handicap (USA, 12FD, Washington Park)
- Won Distillers' and Brewers' Stakes (USA, 8f+500yD, Latonia)
- 2nd Grand Prize of Saratoga (USA, 13FD, Saratoga)
- 2nd Boulevard Stakes (USA, 10FD, Latonia)
- 2nd Merchants' Stakes (USA, 9FD, Latonia)
1889:
- Won Kearney Stakes (USA, 12FD, Saratoga)
- Won Cincinnati Hotel Handicap (USA, 10FD, Latonia)
- 2nd Boulevard Stakes (USA, 10FD, Washington Park)
- 2nd Kentucky Handicap (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- 2nd Merchants' Stakes (USA, 13FD, Saratoga)
- 3rd Excelsior Handicap (USA, 10FD, Saratoga)
- 3rd a handicap sweepstakes (USA, 12FD, Washington Park)
- 3rd Distillers' and Brewers' Stakes (USA, 8f+500yD, Latonia)
As an individual
Montrose stood about 15.2 hands in the early spring of his 3-year-old year, later growing to close to 16 hands. According to contemporary accounts, he was lengthy and had a good shoulder, an excellent body, rather light hindquarters, and excellent feet and legs. He was described as having a "free, open gait."
As a stallion
Montrose is known to have stood at stud and to have sired starters, but Clio Hogan's Index to Stakes Winners 1865-1967 does not credit him with any stakes winners.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky at McGrathiana Stud, Montrose was bred by Colonel Milton Young. He was purchased for US$800 as a yearling by Colonel W. S. Barnes, master of Melbourne Stud. Following the colt's juvenile season, Barnes sold him for US$4,100 to Cincinnati distillery owners Alexander and Ike Labold, who raced as the Labold Brothers. Montrose was trained by John McGinty. During Montrose's 5-year-old season, his owners refused an offer of US$10,000 for him, but in September 1890, the Labold Brothers dispersed their racing stable and Montrose was sold to Isaac H. Labold for US$1,000. The horse died July 30, 1898, in Columbus, Ohio, where he had been standing at the farm of Allen W. Thurman.
Pedigree notes
Montrose's pedigree is outcrossed through five generations. He is a full brother to 1889 Latonia Oaks winner Retrieve (dam of 1901 Latonia Derby winner Hernando, by Hanover), 1890 Flash Stakes winner Monterey, and 1891 Spinaway Stakes winner Promenade.
Patti, the dam of Montrose and his siblings, is a half sister to multiple juvenile stakes winner Van Leland (by Volturno). She was produced from the Pat Malloy mare Dora, in turn a daughter of Etta, Jr. (by Bill Alexander). The female line traces back to an animal known as McKinney's Roan Mare (by Old Comet, a son of Meade's Celer), said to have been out of a daughter of Rainbow; nothing more is known of her ancestry.
Fun facts
- According to a story published December 25, 1892, in the Cincinnati Enquirer, future Hall of Fame jockey Fred Taral, then only an apprentice, was to have ridden Montrose in the Kentucky Derby but was unable to ride due to an arm injury. (Isaac Lewis rode Montrose instead). The only problem with the story was that Taral was supposed to have been hired by Alex Labold in 1877, ten years before Montrose's Derby. According to the Taral's entry in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame's website (https://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/fred-taral), Taral got his initial experience in riding on the Oklahoma bush tracks and began riding Thoroughbreds at Washington Park in 1883. An extremely powerful man for his size, he was reported by contemporary news accounts to have ridden one season with a broken arm.