One of the best colts of his crop, The Finn was no match for the filly Regret but was the acknowledged champion of his division at age 3 and was one of the better older males running at 4 and 5. He was a successful sire in a short stud career.
Race record
50 starts, 19 wins, 10 seconds, 6 thirds, US$38,965
1914:
1915:
1916:
1917:
Honors
American champion 3-year-old male (1915)
Assessments
Ranked 3rd among American older males of 1916 by The Blood-Horse.
Ranked 5th among American older males of 1917 by The Blood-Horse.
As an individual
A black horse, The Finn was a strongly made animal with good bone, good balance, a good shoulder and hindquarters, and short cannons. He was particularly effective in heavy going. He went sour and refused to extend himself following his third-place finish in the Suburban Handicap as a 5-year-old. His last race was a month later in the 1917 Brookdale Handicap, from which he pulled up lame.
As a stallion
According to The Blood-Horse Silver Anniversary Edition (Blood-Horse), The Finn sired 78 winners (60.0%) and 17 stakes winners (13.1%) from 130 named foals, but according to Sires and Dams of Stakes Winners 1925-1985 (Blood-Horse), The Finn sired 134 foals but only 16 stakes winners (11.9%).
Sire rankings
Per The Blood-Horse:
Notable progeny
Flying Ebony (USA), Zev (USA)
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, The Finn was bred and owned by John E. Madden, who trained him while the horse was a juvenile. The Finn was sold to Louis Winans prior to an unplaced run in the 1914 Futurity Stakes, when he lost his rider. The New York Times of April 3, 1915, reported The Finn's sale to H. C. Hallenbeck as part of a US$35,000 package deal with Iron Duke, and The Finn raced in Hallenbeck's colors for the rest of his career. He was trained by Edward Heffner at ages 3 to 5. The Finn entered stud at Madden's Hamburg Place near Lexington, Kentucky, in 1918. Madden purchased The Finn from Hallenbeck's estate following Hallenbeck's death in 1922, then sold a half interest to Montfort and B. B. Jones of Audley Farm. Madden apparently reacquired full ownership of The Finn the following year, for he is recorded as having sold The Finn to W. R. Coe in 1923 for US$110,000. The Finn was at Coe's Glen Helen Stud at the time of his death on September 4, 1925.
Pedigree notes
The Finn is inbred 4x5 to La Favorite and 5x5 to two-time leading English sire Newminster, winner of the 1851 St. Leger Stakes. His dam Livonia was a multiple stakes winner at 2 but bred nothing else of importance. Her dam Woodray (by Rayon d'Or) is out of Wood-Nymph (by The Ill-Used), a full sister to 1882 Belmont Stakes winner Forester and to Woodflower, second dam of 1897 Kentucky Oaks winner White Frost and third dam of 1909 Kentucky Derby winner Wintergreen. Wood-Nymph is also a half sister to Woodvine (by Magnetizer), dam of stakes winners Woodsaw (by Octagon), Woolwich (by Hastings), Woodlane (by Octagon; dam of multiple juvenile stakes winner Harry Kelly, by Ultimus) and Woodtrap (by Trap Rock).
Woodbine (by Censor or Kentucky), the dam of Wood-Nymph and her siblings, was a high-class race mare who won the 1872 Alabama Stakes and Monmouth Oaks among other good races. Produced from the imported Newminster mare Fleur des Champs, she is a half sister to Nellie James (by Dollar), dam of 1883 Preakness Stakes winner Jacobus (by The Ill-Used), 1889 St. Louis Oaks winner Queen of Trumps (by The Ill-Used) and 1893 Great Eastern Handicap winner Jack of Spades (by Magnetizer).
Books and media
Fun facts
Last updated: February 16, 2021
Race record
50 starts, 19 wins, 10 seconds, 6 thirds, US$38,965
1914:
- Set a new track record of :59-2/5 for 5 furlongs on dirt in a maiden race at Aqueduct
1915:
- Won Withers Stakes (USA, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Belmont Stakes (USA, 11FD, Belmont)
- Won Southampton Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Jamaica)
- Won Hamilton Derby (CAN, 10FD, Hamilton)
- Won Huron Handicap (USA, 9.5FD, Saratoga)
- Won Baltimore Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Laurel)
- Won Ellicott City Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Laurel)
- Won Dixie Handicap (USA, 10FD, Laurel)
- 2nd Littleneck Handicap (USA, 5.5FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Canadian Derby (CAN, 10FD, Fort Erie)
- 2nd Autumn Handicap (USA, 9FD, Belmont)
1916:
- Won Metropolitan Handicap (USA, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Champlain Handicap (USA, 9FD, Saratoga)
- Won Merchants' and Citizens' Handicap (USA, 9.5FD, Saratoga; equaled track record 1:58)
- Won Chesterbrook Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Havre de Grace)
- Won Manhattan Handicap (USA, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Havre de Grace Handicap (USA, 9FD, Havre de Grace)
- 2nd Kings County Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Jamaica)
- 3rd Saratoga Cup (USA, 14FD, Saratoga)
1917:
- Won Long Beach Handicap (USA, 9FD, Jamaica; equaled track record 1:52)
- 2nd King's County Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Jamaica)
- 3rd Suburban Handicap (USA, 10FD, Belmont)
- 3rd Carter Handicap (USA, 7FD, Aqueduct)
Honors
American champion 3-year-old male (1915)
Assessments
Ranked 3rd among American older males of 1916 by The Blood-Horse.
Ranked 5th among American older males of 1917 by The Blood-Horse.
As an individual
A black horse, The Finn was a strongly made animal with good bone, good balance, a good shoulder and hindquarters, and short cannons. He was particularly effective in heavy going. He went sour and refused to extend himself following his third-place finish in the Suburban Handicap as a 5-year-old. His last race was a month later in the 1917 Brookdale Handicap, from which he pulled up lame.
As a stallion
According to The Blood-Horse Silver Anniversary Edition (Blood-Horse), The Finn sired 78 winners (60.0%) and 17 stakes winners (13.1%) from 130 named foals, but according to Sires and Dams of Stakes Winners 1925-1985 (Blood-Horse), The Finn sired 134 foals but only 16 stakes winners (11.9%).
Sire rankings
Per The Blood-Horse:
- Led the American general sire list in 1923
Notable progeny
Flying Ebony (USA), Zev (USA)
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, The Finn was bred and owned by John E. Madden, who trained him while the horse was a juvenile. The Finn was sold to Louis Winans prior to an unplaced run in the 1914 Futurity Stakes, when he lost his rider. The New York Times of April 3, 1915, reported The Finn's sale to H. C. Hallenbeck as part of a US$35,000 package deal with Iron Duke, and The Finn raced in Hallenbeck's colors for the rest of his career. He was trained by Edward Heffner at ages 3 to 5. The Finn entered stud at Madden's Hamburg Place near Lexington, Kentucky, in 1918. Madden purchased The Finn from Hallenbeck's estate following Hallenbeck's death in 1922, then sold a half interest to Montfort and B. B. Jones of Audley Farm. Madden apparently reacquired full ownership of The Finn the following year, for he is recorded as having sold The Finn to W. R. Coe in 1923 for US$110,000. The Finn was at Coe's Glen Helen Stud at the time of his death on September 4, 1925.
Pedigree notes
The Finn is inbred 4x5 to La Favorite and 5x5 to two-time leading English sire Newminster, winner of the 1851 St. Leger Stakes. His dam Livonia was a multiple stakes winner at 2 but bred nothing else of importance. Her dam Woodray (by Rayon d'Or) is out of Wood-Nymph (by The Ill-Used), a full sister to 1882 Belmont Stakes winner Forester and to Woodflower, second dam of 1897 Kentucky Oaks winner White Frost and third dam of 1909 Kentucky Derby winner Wintergreen. Wood-Nymph is also a half sister to Woodvine (by Magnetizer), dam of stakes winners Woodsaw (by Octagon), Woolwich (by Hastings), Woodlane (by Octagon; dam of multiple juvenile stakes winner Harry Kelly, by Ultimus) and Woodtrap (by Trap Rock).
Woodbine (by Censor or Kentucky), the dam of Wood-Nymph and her siblings, was a high-class race mare who won the 1872 Alabama Stakes and Monmouth Oaks among other good races. Produced from the imported Newminster mare Fleur des Champs, she is a half sister to Nellie James (by Dollar), dam of 1883 Preakness Stakes winner Jacobus (by The Ill-Used), 1889 St. Louis Oaks winner Queen of Trumps (by The Ill-Used) and 1893 Great Eastern Handicap winner Jack of Spades (by Magnetizer).
Books and media
- The Finn is profiled in Chapter 83 of Abram Hewitt's Sire Lines (1977, The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association; updated and re-released by Eclipse Press in 2006)
- The Finn is profiled in Chapter 4 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
- The Finn was the second of five Belmont Stakes winners bred or co-bred by John E. Madden. The others were Joe Madden (1909), Sir Barton (1919), Grey Lag (1921) and Zev (1923).
- According to the Thoroughbred Record of February 24, 1923, Louis Winans had been considering sending The Finn to England to race as a 3-year-old, but the colt was badly enough cut up when crowded into the rail during the running of the 1914 Futurity Stakes that plans to send him across the Atlantic were scrapped.
Last updated: February 16, 2021