Sir Barton (USA)
April 26, 1916 – October 30, 1937
Star Shoot (IRE) x Lady Sterling (USA), by Hanover (USA)
Family 9-g
April 26, 1916 – October 30, 1937
Star Shoot (IRE) x Lady Sterling (USA), by Hanover (USA)
Family 9-g
Still a maiden when he went to the post for the Kentucky Derby, Sir Barton was ostensibly meant to set the pace for his more favored stablemate, Billy Kelly, though jockey Johnny Loftus was given orders to let Sir Barton run on his merits rather than taking up to let Billy Kelly win. Instead of fading in the stretch as many expected him to do, the colt powered away to a 5-length victory. That was the start of a season that saw Sir Barton win eight of 13 races, including a sweep of the races now known as the American Triple Crown. He continued to race well at 4 but, like every other horse racing in 1920, fell into the giant shadow cast by Man o' War. Soundly defeated by the younger champion in their match race at Kenilworth Park, Sir Barton never recovered his former place in the sun. Like other sons of Star Shoot, he proved to be a poor sire and was eventually given to the United States Army Remount Service.
Race record
31 starts, 13 wins, 6 seconds, 5 thirds, US$116,857
1918:
1919:
1920:
Honors
Assessments
Sir Barton was rated #49 among the top 100 American racehorses of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by The Blood-Horse (Thoroughbred Champions, Eclipse Press, 7th printing, 2005).
As an individual
Like many of the get of *Star Shoot, Sir Barton had tender, thin-walled feet, which may have contributed to his irascible disposition; as Marvin Drager put it in The Most Glorious Crown, he “ignored horses, despised humans, and hated pets.” The son of owner J. K. L. Ross was even blunter, describing him as “downright evil” at times. The only human Sir Barton showed any tolerance for was his groom, “Toots” Thompson, who practically worshiped his charge.
A compact, short-coupled, muscular chestnut with a deep chest, Sir Barton stood 15.2-1/2 hands. He required a great deal of work to maintain his form but would not extend himself in workouts unless challenged by relays of fresh horses who could give him the semblance of a race. Persistent rumor said that he normally ran under the influence of cocaine, but this was never proven.
As a stallion
According to The Blood-Horse Silver Aniversary Edition, Sir Barton's highest ranking among American sires was 19th in 1929. According to Jockey Club records, Sir Barton sired 99 winners (45.4%) and 7 stakes winners (3.2%) from 218 named foals.
Notable progeny
Easter Stockings (USA)
Connections
Sir Barton was bred by John E. Madden and Vivian Gooch. Madden bought out Gooch's share when Sir Barton was a weanling and was the colt's owner of record when Sir Barton began racing in 1918. Afterward, Sir Barton was owned by Commander J. K. L. Ross, who purchased the colt for US$10,000 (plus an agreement to split the purse of the Futurity Stakes if Sir Barton won) after his fourth start as a juvenile. Sir Barton was trained by W. S. Walker for his first four starts at 2 and by H. G. "Hard Guy" Bedwell afterwards. After siring a few foals in 1921 as the property of Madden and Audley Stud's B. B. and Montfort Jones, the Jones brothers bought out Madden's share for a reported US$75,000 and moved the stallion to their Audley Farm in Virginia in 1922. In 1933 Sir Barton was turned over to an Army Remount station near Front Royal, Virginia, and was apparently transferred in the same year to a similar station in Nebraska, where he stood for as little as US$5 per mare. From there, he was purchased by Dr. J. B. Hyland, who took the stallion to his La Prele Creek Ranch near Laramie, Wyoming. Sir Barton died there of colic on October 30, 1937, and was buried on the ranch. Thanks to the efforts of local Jaycees, his remains were moved to Washington Park near Douglas, Wyoming, in 1968, and the statue of a horse was placed over the new burial site.
Pedigree notes
Sir Barton is inbred 4x3 to Sterling. He is a half brother to 1908 American champion 2-year-old male Sir Martin (by Ogden). He is also a half brother to Lady Doreen (by Ogden), dam of three-time American champion Princess Doreen (by Spanish Prince II) and the stakes-winning steeplechaser Word of Honor (by Ormondale).
Lady Sterling, the dam of Sir Barton and his siblings, is by Hanover out of English-bred Aquila, an unraced daughter of Sterling who produced nothing else of any note. The next dam in the tail-female line, Eagle (by four-time Argentine champion sire Phoenix, who sired Eagle prior to export), was produced from the See Saw mare Au Revoir, whose half sister Ante Diem (by Musket) founded an important family in Argentina.
Books and media
Fun facts
Photo credit
Photographer unknown. From the private collection of Dale Wyatt; used by permission.
Last updated: October 7, 2022
Race record
31 starts, 13 wins, 6 seconds, 5 thirds, US$116,857
1918:
- 2nd Futurity Stakes (USA, 6FD, Belmont)
1919:
- Won Kentucky Derby (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Preakness Stakes (USA, 9FD, Pimlico)
- Won Belmont Stakes (USA, 11FD, Belmont; new American record 2:17-2/5)
- Won Withers Stakes (USA, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Potomac Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Havre de Grace)
- Won Maryland Handicap (USA, 10FD, Laurel)
- Won Weight-For-Age Fall Serial #2 (USA, 8FD, Pimlico)
- Won Weight-For-Age Fall Serial #3 (USA, 9FD, Pimlico)
- 2nd Dwyer Stakes (USA, 9FD, Aqueduct)
- 3rd Havre de Grace Handicap (USA, 9FD, Havre de Grace)
- 3rd Autumn Handicap (USA, 10FD, Pimlico)
1920:
- Won Rennert Handicap (USA, 8FD, Pimlico)
- Won Saratoga Handicap (USA, 10FD, Saratoga; new track record 2:01-4/5)
- Won Dominion Handicap (CAN, 10FD, Fort Erie)
- Won Merchants' and Citizens' Handicap (USA, 9.5FD, Saratoga; new American record 1:55-3/5)
- 2nd Kenilworth Park Gold Cup (match race with Man o' War) (CAN, 10FD, Kenilworth Park)
- 2nd Weight-For-Age Fall Serial #3 (USA, 9FD, Pimlico)
- 3rd Marathon Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Havre de Grace)
- 3rd Laurel Stakes (USA, 8FD, Laurel)
- 3rd Weight-For-Age Fall Serial #2 (USA, 8FD, Pimlico)
Honors
- National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1957)
- Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1976 as part of the inaugural class)
- American Horse of the Year (1919)
- American champion 3-year-old male (1919)
Assessments
Sir Barton was rated #49 among the top 100 American racehorses of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by The Blood-Horse (Thoroughbred Champions, Eclipse Press, 7th printing, 2005).
As an individual
Like many of the get of *Star Shoot, Sir Barton had tender, thin-walled feet, which may have contributed to his irascible disposition; as Marvin Drager put it in The Most Glorious Crown, he “ignored horses, despised humans, and hated pets.” The son of owner J. K. L. Ross was even blunter, describing him as “downright evil” at times. The only human Sir Barton showed any tolerance for was his groom, “Toots” Thompson, who practically worshiped his charge.
A compact, short-coupled, muscular chestnut with a deep chest, Sir Barton stood 15.2-1/2 hands. He required a great deal of work to maintain his form but would not extend himself in workouts unless challenged by relays of fresh horses who could give him the semblance of a race. Persistent rumor said that he normally ran under the influence of cocaine, but this was never proven.
As a stallion
According to The Blood-Horse Silver Aniversary Edition, Sir Barton's highest ranking among American sires was 19th in 1929. According to Jockey Club records, Sir Barton sired 99 winners (45.4%) and 7 stakes winners (3.2%) from 218 named foals.
Notable progeny
Easter Stockings (USA)
Connections
Sir Barton was bred by John E. Madden and Vivian Gooch. Madden bought out Gooch's share when Sir Barton was a weanling and was the colt's owner of record when Sir Barton began racing in 1918. Afterward, Sir Barton was owned by Commander J. K. L. Ross, who purchased the colt for US$10,000 (plus an agreement to split the purse of the Futurity Stakes if Sir Barton won) after his fourth start as a juvenile. Sir Barton was trained by W. S. Walker for his first four starts at 2 and by H. G. "Hard Guy" Bedwell afterwards. After siring a few foals in 1921 as the property of Madden and Audley Stud's B. B. and Montfort Jones, the Jones brothers bought out Madden's share for a reported US$75,000 and moved the stallion to their Audley Farm in Virginia in 1922. In 1933 Sir Barton was turned over to an Army Remount station near Front Royal, Virginia, and was apparently transferred in the same year to a similar station in Nebraska, where he stood for as little as US$5 per mare. From there, he was purchased by Dr. J. B. Hyland, who took the stallion to his La Prele Creek Ranch near Laramie, Wyoming. Sir Barton died there of colic on October 30, 1937, and was buried on the ranch. Thanks to the efforts of local Jaycees, his remains were moved to Washington Park near Douglas, Wyoming, in 1968, and the statue of a horse was placed over the new burial site.
Pedigree notes
Sir Barton is inbred 4x3 to Sterling. He is a half brother to 1908 American champion 2-year-old male Sir Martin (by Ogden). He is also a half brother to Lady Doreen (by Ogden), dam of three-time American champion Princess Doreen (by Spanish Prince II) and the stakes-winning steeplechaser Word of Honor (by Ormondale).
Lady Sterling, the dam of Sir Barton and his siblings, is by Hanover out of English-bred Aquila, an unraced daughter of Sterling who produced nothing else of any note. The next dam in the tail-female line, Eagle (by four-time Argentine champion sire Phoenix, who sired Eagle prior to export), was produced from the See Saw mare Au Revoir, whose half sister Ante Diem (by Musket) founded an important family in Argentina.
Books and media
- Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown is a 2019 release by Jennifer S. Kelly with a foreword by Steve Haskins. It was published by the University Press of Kentucky.
- Sir Barton is the first of the 13 American Triple Crown winners featured in Ed Bowen's The Lucky 13: The Winners of America's Triple Crown of Horse Racing (2019, Lyons Press).
- “Sir Barton” is the first chapter in Marvin Drager's The Most Glorious Crown (2005, Triumph Books).
- Sir Barton is profiled in Chapter 4 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
- “Greener Pastures for Sir Barton: The First Triple Crown Winner” is the second chapter in Jim Bolus' Remembering the Derby (1994, Pelican Publishing Company).
Fun facts
- Sir Barton's first-ever sweep of what later became known as the American Triple Crown was ranked #63 in Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments, a review of racing in the 20th century compiled by The Blood-Horse and released in 2006.
- Sir Barton's Derby was the first in which horses owned by the same person finished 1-2, as second-place Billy Kelly was also owned by Commander Ross.
- Sir Barton was the second of five Kentucky Derby winners bred or co-bred by John E. Madden and the second of six to be foaled at Madden's farm, Hamburg Place. (The sixth, Alysheba, was foaled when Madden's grandson Preston Madden owned the farm.) Sir Barton was also the third of five Belmont Stakes winners bred or co-bred by Madden; the others were Joe Madden (1909), The Finn (1915), Grey Lag (1921) and Zev (1923).
- Sir Barton was named for a notorious Scottish sea captain, Sir Andrew Barton, whose activities skirted the line between pirate and privateer.
- Sir Barton's barn name was “Sammy.”
- Charles Hatton of the Daily Racing Form opined that part of Sir Barton's unsociable personality could be traced to his early days, when he was kept alone in a small paddock with his dam because of her blindness and had no opportunity to socialize with other foals.
- Sir Barton's trainer, "Hard Guy" Bedwell, was no exception to the rule regarding Sir Barton's general detestation for humans. On one occasion, the horse chased the trainer into a tack room, forcing Bedwell to take refuge behind a trunk.
- At the time of Sir Barton's Triple Crown sweep, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness were staged just four days apart, on May 10 and May 14. In between the Preakness and the Belmont on June 11, Sir Barton went to the post for the Withers Stakes on May 24—and won.
- Because of difficulty in getting nails to hold in his thin hoof walls and the fact that he had to wear a pad of piano felt between shoe and hoof to tolerate the pain of pounding his tender feet on the track, Sir Barton often came back from a race missing one or more shoes. In one race, he managed to lose all four.
- The statue marking Sir Barton's final resting place is not of Sir Barton but is simply a generic horse, as the Jaycees who arranged for the horse's reburial could not afford to have a bronze statue made in his likeness. The plaque at the monument was contributed by Preston Madden. Another statue of the horse depicting him as a mature stallion, stands at Audley Farm, which remains in operation.
- According to Kentucky Derby historian Jim Bolus, a Chamber of Commerce guide to notable sites in Douglas, Wyoming, described Sir Barton as “the first quarter-horse Triple Crown winner.” The error was corrected in later editions of the guide.
- Sir Barton became the namesake for stakes races at Pimlico and Woodbine. The former is contested on the Preakness Stakes undercard and is carded for 3-year-olds at a mile and one-sixteenth on dirt. The latter is part of the Ontario Sires Stakes series and is carded for 3-year-olds at a mile and one-sixteenth on the main track.
Photo credit
Photographer unknown. From the private collection of Dale Wyatt; used by permission.
Last updated: October 7, 2022