Stagehand with trainer Earl Sande. From the private collection of Dale Wyatt. Used by permission.
For a 3-year-old to beat his elders in the spring is a rare feat; for a 3-year-old to do so in a race at a mile and a quarter against top-class competition is virtually unheard of. Yet that is exactly what Stagehand accomplished at the Santa Anita winter/spring meeting of 1938, when he overhauled Seabiscuit to win the Santa Anita Handicap by a nose, setting a new track record into the bargain. He also won the Santa Anita Derby at the same meeting, making himself a hot favorite for the Kentucky Derby, but did not start in the great race due to a fever. The rest of Stagehand's season had a more up-and-down character, but his overall record was good enough to convince the voters that he deserved the championship of his division. He was stopped by injury at 4 and was not a success at stud.
Race record:
25 starts, 9 wins, 3 seconds, 6 thirds, US$200,110
1938:
1939:
Honors
American champion 3-year-old male (1938)
As an individual
A bay, Stagehand was a handsome, well-balanced horse more in the mold of his maternal grandsire Fair Play than his sire Sickle. He had a long stride and never won at less than a mile. He was injured at the start of the 1939 Widener Handicap, bowed a tendon and was never able to return to the races.
As a stallion
Stagehand sired 102 winners (63.4%) and three stakes winners (1.9%) from 160 named foals according to records kept by The Jockey Club. None of his progeny achieved any marked significance on the track or in the paddocks.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Stagehand was bred by Joseph E. Widener, who sold him to Maxwell Howard for US$8,000 after the colt had gone winless in eight starts at 2. Stagehand was trained by Hall of Fame jockey Earl Sande. He entered stud in 1941 in Kentucky at Runnymede Farm. He later transferred to California and was last in the ownership of Chet Root. Stagehand died of an apparent heart attack in June 1952 at Starlet Farm, Pacoima, California.
Pedigree notes
Stagehand is outcrossed through five generations. He is a full brother to 1937 Belmont Stakes runner-up Sceneshifter and to Stage Sister, dam of 1949 Washington Park Futurity winner Curtice (by Roman) and 1951 Bashford Manor Stakes winner Red Curtice (by Requested). Stage Sister is also the second dam of 1955 Arlington Matron Handicap winner Arab Actress and the third dam of Grade III winner Stulcer.
Stagecraft, the dam of Stagehand, won the 1931 Astoria Stakes and Beldame Handicap. She is a full sister to Gamonia, second dam of 1952 Butler Handicap winner Marcador. She is also a half sister to St. Francis (by Stefan the Great), a stakes winner both on the flat and over jumps, and to Colonia (by Stefan the Great), dam of multiple Canadian stakes winner Be Brief (by Brevity).
Stagecraft is out of Franconia (by Sweep), whose half sister Tamarisk (by Ultimus) produced stakes winners Toki (by Donnaconna) and On Tap (by On Watch) and is the second dam of 1931 Hopeful Stakes winner Tick On. Franconia is also a half sister to Hoodwink (by Disguise), who is primarily remembered as the sacrificial lamb in Man o' War's record 100-length romp in the 1920 Lawrence Realization. The next dam in Stagehand's tail-female line, Tamanamass, was imported to the United States in 1915. She was sired by 1894 City and Suburban Handicap winner Grey Leg out of Amphoraria, a daughter of 1890 Champion Stakes winner Amphion.
Fun facts
Race record:
25 starts, 9 wins, 3 seconds, 6 thirds, US$200,110
1938:
- Won Santa Anita Handicap (USA, 10FD, Santa Anita; new track record 2:01-3/5)
- Won Santa Anita Derby (USA, 9FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Empire City Handicap (USA, 9FD, Empire City; equaled track record 1:51)
- Won Narragansett Special (USA, 9.5FD, Narragansett Park)
- Won Governor's Handicap (USA, 9FD, Narragansett Park; new track record 1:49-2/5)
- 2nd Brooklyn Handicap (USA, 9FD, Aqueduct)
- 3rd Dwyer Stakes (USA, 9FD, Aqueduct)
- 3rd James C. Thornton Memorial Handicap (USA, 9FD, Narragansett Park)
- 3rd Derby Trial (USA, 8FD, Churchill Downs)
1939:
- Won McLennan Memorial Handicap (USA, 9FD, Hialeah; equaled track record 1:48-1/5)
- 3rd Widener Handicap (USA, 10FD, Hialeah)
Honors
American champion 3-year-old male (1938)
As an individual
A bay, Stagehand was a handsome, well-balanced horse more in the mold of his maternal grandsire Fair Play than his sire Sickle. He had a long stride and never won at less than a mile. He was injured at the start of the 1939 Widener Handicap, bowed a tendon and was never able to return to the races.
As a stallion
Stagehand sired 102 winners (63.4%) and three stakes winners (1.9%) from 160 named foals according to records kept by The Jockey Club. None of his progeny achieved any marked significance on the track or in the paddocks.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Stagehand was bred by Joseph E. Widener, who sold him to Maxwell Howard for US$8,000 after the colt had gone winless in eight starts at 2. Stagehand was trained by Hall of Fame jockey Earl Sande. He entered stud in 1941 in Kentucky at Runnymede Farm. He later transferred to California and was last in the ownership of Chet Root. Stagehand died of an apparent heart attack in June 1952 at Starlet Farm, Pacoima, California.
Pedigree notes
Stagehand is outcrossed through five generations. He is a full brother to 1937 Belmont Stakes runner-up Sceneshifter and to Stage Sister, dam of 1949 Washington Park Futurity winner Curtice (by Roman) and 1951 Bashford Manor Stakes winner Red Curtice (by Requested). Stage Sister is also the second dam of 1955 Arlington Matron Handicap winner Arab Actress and the third dam of Grade III winner Stulcer.
Stagecraft, the dam of Stagehand, won the 1931 Astoria Stakes and Beldame Handicap. She is a full sister to Gamonia, second dam of 1952 Butler Handicap winner Marcador. She is also a half sister to St. Francis (by Stefan the Great), a stakes winner both on the flat and over jumps, and to Colonia (by Stefan the Great), dam of multiple Canadian stakes winner Be Brief (by Brevity).
Stagecraft is out of Franconia (by Sweep), whose half sister Tamarisk (by Ultimus) produced stakes winners Toki (by Donnaconna) and On Tap (by On Watch) and is the second dam of 1931 Hopeful Stakes winner Tick On. Franconia is also a half sister to Hoodwink (by Disguise), who is primarily remembered as the sacrificial lamb in Man o' War's record 100-length romp in the 1920 Lawrence Realization. The next dam in Stagehand's tail-female line, Tamanamass, was imported to the United States in 1915. She was sired by 1894 City and Suburban Handicap winner Grey Leg out of Amphoraria, a daughter of 1890 Champion Stakes winner Amphion.
Fun facts
- Maxwell Howard is said to have purchased Stagehand mostly because he liked the colt's older brother, Sceneshifter.
- Stagehand was the first horse to win both the Santa Anita Derby and the Santa Anita Handicap and remains the only 3-year-old to have won the Santa Anita Handicap. Because he was a maiden at the time the weights were assigned, he got in with the minimum weight of 100 pounds, but it should be noted that this was considered equivalent to 122 pounds on a 4-year-old or 123 pounds on a horse aged 5 or older at the scale of weights then extant.
- Stagehand was the first colt since In Memoriam in 1923 to be generally acknowledged as American champion or co-champion 3-year-old male without having won one of the races that are now part of the Triple Crown.
- Stagehand broke a leg not long after transferring to California but survived thanks to a specially designed sling which supported his weight until the leg healed.