One of the best horses in a vintage crop, Twenty Grand won the Kentucky Derby in record time and seemed poised for still greater things when injury intervened late in his 3-year-old season. After a brief campaign at 4, he was retired to stud but proved sterile and was put back into training. He failed to show any trace of his former brilliance in five starts in the United States and England at 7 and was retired again, living out his days as one of Greentree Farm's “Gas House Gang” of notable pensioners.
Race record
25 starts, 14 wins, 4 seconds, 3 thirds, US$261,790
1930:
1931:
Honors
Assessments
Twenty Grand was rated #52 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).
Ranked second among American juveniles of 1930 by The Blood-Horse.
As an individual
A bright bay, Twenty Grand was big and powerful with a plain head. He had an excellent turn of foot and plenty of stamina. He proved game and determined on the track.
Connections
Twenty Grand was bred and owned by Greentree Stable. He was trained by T. W. Murphy as a juvenile and by James Rowe, Jr., at 3. Following Rowe's death in late 1931, Twenty Grand passed to the care of William Brennan. He was trained by Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort while in England.
Pedigree notes
Twenty Grand is inbred 5x3 to Persimmon and 5x4 to Persimmon's sire, St. Simon. He is a half brother to 1939 Pimlico Oaks winner Alms (by St, Germans' son St. Brideaux), second dam of 1958 American champion 2-year-old filly Quill and third dam of 1975 Irish St. Leger (IRE-G1) winner Caucasus and 1971 Canadian champion turf horse One for All. Twenty Grand's dam Bonus is a half sister to stakes winners Reminder (by Chicle), Token (by Pennant) and Stars and Bars (by Pennant) and is out of Remembrance (by Hamburg or Broomstick), a full or half sister to six stakes winners including the high-class gelding Borrow (by Hamburg).
Books and media
Fun facts
Last updated: April 1, 2023
Race record
25 starts, 14 wins, 4 seconds, 3 thirds, US$261,790
1930:
- Won Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (USA, 8FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Junior Champion Stakes (USA, 8FD, Aqueduct)
- 2nd Pimlico Futurity (USA, 8.5FD, Pimlico)
- 3rd Walden Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Pimlico)
1931:
- Won Wood Memorial Stakes (USA, 8f+70yD, Jamaica)
- Won Kentucky Derby (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs; new track record 2:01-4/5)
- Won Belmont Stakes (USA, 12FD, Belmont)
- Won Dwyer Stakes (USA, 12FD, Aqueduct)
- Won Travers Mid-Summer Derby (USA, 10FD, Saratoga)
- Won Saratoga Cup (USA, 14FD, Saratoga)
- Won Lawrence Realization (USA, 13FD, Belmont)
- Won Jockey Club Gold Cup (USA, 16FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Preakness Stakes (USA, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
- 3rd Classic Stakes (USA, 10FD, Arlington Park)
Honors
- National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1957)
- American Horse of the Year (1931)
- American champion 3-year-old colt (1931)
Assessments
Twenty Grand was rated #52 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).
Ranked second among American juveniles of 1930 by The Blood-Horse.
As an individual
A bright bay, Twenty Grand was big and powerful with a plain head. He had an excellent turn of foot and plenty of stamina. He proved game and determined on the track.
Connections
Twenty Grand was bred and owned by Greentree Stable. He was trained by T. W. Murphy as a juvenile and by James Rowe, Jr., at 3. Following Rowe's death in late 1931, Twenty Grand passed to the care of William Brennan. He was trained by Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort while in England.
Pedigree notes
Twenty Grand is inbred 5x3 to Persimmon and 5x4 to Persimmon's sire, St. Simon. He is a half brother to 1939 Pimlico Oaks winner Alms (by St, Germans' son St. Brideaux), second dam of 1958 American champion 2-year-old filly Quill and third dam of 1975 Irish St. Leger (IRE-G1) winner Caucasus and 1971 Canadian champion turf horse One for All. Twenty Grand's dam Bonus is a half sister to stakes winners Reminder (by Chicle), Token (by Pennant) and Stars and Bars (by Pennant) and is out of Remembrance (by Hamburg or Broomstick), a full or half sister to six stakes winners including the high-class gelding Borrow (by Hamburg).
Books and media
- Twenty Grand's rivalry with Equipoise was featured as the third chapter of Horse Racing's Greatest Rivalries (2008, Eclipse Press), a compilation produced by the staff of The Blood-Horse.
- Twenty Grand is profiled in Chapter 6 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
- Twenty Grand's time of 1:36 in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes was the fastest for a mile by a juvenile up to that time.
- Twenty Grand's Kentucky Derby time of 2:01-3/5 was a new stakes and track record, but it wasn't the only outstanding performance on the Derby card. Gallant Knight, runner-up to Gallant Fox in the 1930 Derby, blazed 6½ furlongs in 1:16-1/5, setting a new world record for the distance.
- Twenty Grand was one of a number of male-line descendants of St. Germans who proved sterile or subfertile at stud. Others included Bold Venture, Assault, Middleground, Top Knight, and Malacate. Capot, a maternal grandson of St. Germans, had similar issues.
Last updated: April 1, 2023