Beau Purple (USA)
March 19, 1957 – c. 1969
Beau Gar (USA) x Water Queen (USA), by Johnstown (USA)
Family 8-c
March 19, 1957 – c. 1969
Beau Gar (USA) x Water Queen (USA), by Johnstown (USA)
Family 8-c
Beau Purple was built like a sprinter, but he proved able to carry his considerable speed a long way if he could set his own tempo. He did not appear to be the most courageous of horses when hooked, but if left unmolested on the lead, he was an unholy terror to catch even when chased by horses of the caliber of Kelso, Carry Back, T. V. Lark, and The Axe II. A horse of near championship class when at his best at age 5, he was a great disappointment as a sire in a short stud career.
Race record
32 starts, 12 wins, 4 seconds, 2 thirds, US$445,785
1960:
1962:
1963:
Assessments
Rated at 108 pounds on the Daily Racing Form’s Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1960, 20 pounds below divisional champion and Horse of the Year Kelso.
Rated at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form’s Free Handicap for American older males of 1962, 5 pounds below divisional champion and Horse of the Year Kelso but tied with Intentionally and Prove It for third in the ratings.
Rated at 130 pounds on the Daily Racing Form’s Free Handicap for American older males of 1963, 6 pounds below divisional champion and Horse of the Year Kelso but second overall.
As an individual
A bay horse standing 15.3½ hands, Beau Purple was thick, powerful, and masculine with strong, correct legs. He suffered an injury to his left front shin while in training for the 1960 Kentucky Derby, and while he returned to racing at age 4, he could be only lightly campaigned and did not come back to stakes form until age 5. Once fully healthy, he was sound enough to withstand a 20-race campaign at 5. His great weapon was an extremely high cruising speed, and he was a confirmed front runner. He was a good doer and thrived on hard work. He bowed a tendon after the 1963 Widener Handicap and was retired to stud after an attempt at a mid-season comeback failed.
As a stallion
According to Jockey Club records, Beau Purple sired 82 winners (58.2%) and one stakes winner (0.7%) from 141 named foals.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Beau Purple was bred and owned by Jack Dreyfus, who raced the horse in the name of his Hobeau Farm. Beau Purple was trained by George Odom until mid-1962, when he was transferred to Allen Jerkens; the horse’s three defeats of Kelso helped establish Jerkens’s reputation as the “Giant Killer.” Beau Purple was ridden to most of his major victories by Bill Boland.
Pedigree notes
Sired by the Count Fleet horse Beau Gar, Beau Purple is inbred 5x5x5 to 1916 French and Spanish champion 3-year-old male Teddy, the French champion sire of 1923. He is a full brother to stakes winner Red Gar and to Queen of the Water, second dam of Venezuelan Group 2 winner Toledana and third dam of 1990 Venezuelan champion older female Star Moon.
Beau Purple is out of Water Queen, a half sister to 1952 American champion handicap male Crafty Admiral (by Fighting Fox). Their dam, the War Admiral mare Admiral’s Lady, is a winning half sister to Spring Run (by Menow), the dam of 1956 Richmond Stakes winner and good sire Red God (by Nasrullah) and 1955 Blue Grass Stakes winner Racing Fool (by Jet Pilot) and the second dam of 1969 Sussex Turf Handicap winner Vis-a-Vis. Admiral’s Lady is also a half sister to Balm of Gilead (by Blenheim II), second dam of 1968 San Marino Handicap winner Finance World.
Admiral’s Lady and her siblings were produced from Boola Brook (by Bull Dog), a half sister to claiming stakes winner Playdale (by My Play). The next dam in Beau Purple’s tail-female line is the Peter Pan mare Brookdale, whose dam Sweepaway (by the Kingston horse Wild Mint) is a half sister to two-time American champion Sweep (by Ben Brush).
Books and media:
Fun facts:
Last updated: February 19, 2022
Race record
32 starts, 12 wins, 4 seconds, 2 thirds, US$445,785
1960:
- Won Derby Trial Stakes (USA, 8FD, Churchill Downs)
1962:
- Won Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap (USA, 10FD, Hawthorne)
- Won Brooklyn Handicap (USA, 10FD, Aqueduct; new track record 2:00)
- Won Suburban Handicap (USA, 10FD, Aqueduct; new track record 2:00-3/5)
- Won Man o' War Stakes (USA, 12FT, Belmont; new course record 2:28-3/5)
- Won Appleton Handicap (USA, 9FD, Gulfstream Park)
- 3rd Monmouth Handicap (USA, 10FD, Monmouth)
1963:
- Won Widener Handicap (USA, 10FD, Hialeah)
Assessments
Rated at 108 pounds on the Daily Racing Form’s Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1960, 20 pounds below divisional champion and Horse of the Year Kelso.
Rated at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form’s Free Handicap for American older males of 1962, 5 pounds below divisional champion and Horse of the Year Kelso but tied with Intentionally and Prove It for third in the ratings.
Rated at 130 pounds on the Daily Racing Form’s Free Handicap for American older males of 1963, 6 pounds below divisional champion and Horse of the Year Kelso but second overall.
As an individual
A bay horse standing 15.3½ hands, Beau Purple was thick, powerful, and masculine with strong, correct legs. He suffered an injury to his left front shin while in training for the 1960 Kentucky Derby, and while he returned to racing at age 4, he could be only lightly campaigned and did not come back to stakes form until age 5. Once fully healthy, he was sound enough to withstand a 20-race campaign at 5. His great weapon was an extremely high cruising speed, and he was a confirmed front runner. He was a good doer and thrived on hard work. He bowed a tendon after the 1963 Widener Handicap and was retired to stud after an attempt at a mid-season comeback failed.
As a stallion
According to Jockey Club records, Beau Purple sired 82 winners (58.2%) and one stakes winner (0.7%) from 141 named foals.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Beau Purple was bred and owned by Jack Dreyfus, who raced the horse in the name of his Hobeau Farm. Beau Purple was trained by George Odom until mid-1962, when he was transferred to Allen Jerkens; the horse’s three defeats of Kelso helped establish Jerkens’s reputation as the “Giant Killer.” Beau Purple was ridden to most of his major victories by Bill Boland.
Pedigree notes
Sired by the Count Fleet horse Beau Gar, Beau Purple is inbred 5x5x5 to 1916 French and Spanish champion 3-year-old male Teddy, the French champion sire of 1923. He is a full brother to stakes winner Red Gar and to Queen of the Water, second dam of Venezuelan Group 2 winner Toledana and third dam of 1990 Venezuelan champion older female Star Moon.
Beau Purple is out of Water Queen, a half sister to 1952 American champion handicap male Crafty Admiral (by Fighting Fox). Their dam, the War Admiral mare Admiral’s Lady, is a winning half sister to Spring Run (by Menow), the dam of 1956 Richmond Stakes winner and good sire Red God (by Nasrullah) and 1955 Blue Grass Stakes winner Racing Fool (by Jet Pilot) and the second dam of 1969 Sussex Turf Handicap winner Vis-a-Vis. Admiral’s Lady is also a half sister to Balm of Gilead (by Blenheim II), second dam of 1968 San Marino Handicap winner Finance World.
Admiral’s Lady and her siblings were produced from Boola Brook (by Bull Dog), a half sister to claiming stakes winner Playdale (by My Play). The next dam in Beau Purple’s tail-female line is the Peter Pan mare Brookdale, whose dam Sweepaway (by the Kingston horse Wild Mint) is a half sister to two-time American champion Sweep (by Ben Brush).
Books and media:
- The New York Racing Association’s footage of Beau Purple’s win in the 1962 Brooklyn Handicap can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEEAtXKiLiM.
- The New York Racing Association’s footage of Beau Purple’s win in the 1962 Suburban Handicap can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8lXX8hO384.
Fun facts:
- Beau Purple was the first Thoroughbred ever bred by Jack Dreyfus, who made his money developing mutual funds on Wall Street.
- Beau Purple’s win in the Suburban Handicap on July 4, 1962, was the first for future National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens in a race valued at US$100,000 or more.
- Although most observers chalked up Beau Purple’s tendency to stop when hooked to a lack of courage, Jack Dreyfus stoutly maintained that the horse’s problem was caused by an imbalance of red and white corpuscles in the animal’s blood, causing him to run out of oxygen if he could not simply maintain a high cruising speed.
- In honor of jockey Bill Boland’s services aboard Beau Purple, Dreyfus named a 1965 full brother to Beau Purple for the rider. The equine Bill Boland wasn’t in the same league as his elder brother but was a good allowance runner who won 14 of 78 starts and set a track record of 1:15-3/5 for 6½ furlongs on the main track at Aqueduct.
Last updated: February 19, 2022