Bunty Lawless (CAN)
1935 – 1956
Ladder (USA) x Mintwina (USA), by Traumer (GER) or Mint Briar (USA)
Family 23-b
1935 – 1956
Ladder (USA) x Mintwina (USA), by Traumer (GER) or Mint Briar (USA)
Family 23-b
William Morrissey became the breeder of Bunty Lawless because of a chain of events that began with his claiming the filly Mintwina for CAN$2000 at Fort Erie, an action motivated by spite because the filly’s owner had refused to sell her to Morrissey for a lower price earlier. In her first start for her new owner, Mintwina broke a sesamoid, and it was Morrissey’s veterinarian, Dr. R. K. “Doc” Hodgson, who talked him out of having the filly put down and into breeding her to Ladder, a stakes-winning grandson of the great American sire Fair Play that had just been imported to Canada in 1934. Ladder died in a stable fire later that year, making Bunty Lawless a member of his only crop. The best and most popular Canadian racehorse of his time in spite of bad handling early in his racing career and an injury that had him on the sidelines and serving mares as a 5-year-old, Bunty Lawless was a successful stallion and managed to hand on a tenuous Canadian branch of the Fair Play male line to his son Windfields.
Race record
47 starts, 19 wins, 15 seconds, 3 thirds, CAN$34,379
1937:
1938:
1939:
1941:
Honors
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in the inaugural class of 1976)
Assessments
In a poll conducted by Canadian Press in 1951, Bunty Lawless was voted the best Canadian racehorse of the first half of the 20th century.
As an individual
A smallish, chunky bay horse, Bunty Lawless was tough and durable. He was a quick horse at the break and had fine natural speed.
As a stallion
According to The Jockey Club, Bunty Lawless sired 140 winners (70.7%) and 26 stakes winners (13.1%) from 198 named foals.
Notable progeny
Epic (CAN), McGill (CAN), Windfields (CAN)
Notable progeny of daughters
Whistling Sea (CAN)
Connections
Foaled in Ontario, Bunty Lawless was bred and owned by William Morrissey. He was trained by Jack Anderson, a notoriously brutal trainer, at ages 2 and 3 and was trained by Gordon "Pete" McCann at 4 and older. He stood in Ontario throughout his stud career, first at Dr. Hodgson's farm and later at Morrissey's own farm. He died in 1956.
Pedigree notes
Bunty Lawless is inbred 4x4 to two-time American Horse of the Year Commando and 5x5 to the important broodmare Mavourneen. He is a half brother to 1940 King’s Plate winner Willie the Kid (by Roselyon), 1946 Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Casa Camara (by Siete Colores), and Canadian stakes winner The Brat (by Filisteo). Casa Camara, in turn, produced 1957 Coronation Futurity winner Stole the Ring (by Bull Page; dam of multiple Canadian stakes winner Mink Stole, by Nearctic).
A daughter of juvenile stakes winner Mint Briar (a half brother to 1917 American champion 2-year-old male Sun Briar by the Spearmint horse Assagai), Mintwina was stakes-placed on the track as a 2-year-old and is a half sister to 1928 Jerome Handicap winner Sun Edwin (by Sun Briar). She is also a half sister to 1933 Adirondack Handicap winner Sun Celtic (by Sun Briar), dam of 1946 Queens County Handicap winner Helioptic (by Heliopolis), and to Beauedwina (by Sun Beau), dam of multiple Canadian stakes winner Arbor Vita (by the Hourless horse Hillsborough). In addition, Mintwina is a half sister to Sun Edna (by Sun Briar), dam of stakes winner Grey Wolf (by Gino), and to Dark Edwina (by Traumer), second dam of 1948 Haggin Stakes winner Audacious Man.
Mintwina and her siblings were produced from multiple stakes winner Edwina (by Celt), whose full sister Celiva is the dam of 1931 Remsen Handicap winner Cambal (by Campfire). Another full sister to Edwina, Celtiva, is the dam of multiple steeplechase stakes winner Celeritas (by Zeus). The dam of Edwina and her siblings, Lady Godiva (by Hanover), is a half sister to stakes winner Goodrich (by Patron) and is out of Edith Gray, by the great Ten Broeck out of Alice Gray (by Enquirer) and so a full sister to 1886 Tennessee Derby winner Jim Gray.
Fun facts
Last updated: December 23, 2021
Race record
47 starts, 19 wins, 15 seconds, 3 thirds, CAN$34,379
1937:
- Won Clarendon Plate (CAN, 6FD, Thorncliffe Park)
- 2nd Coronation Stakes (CAN-R, 6FD, Old Woodbine)
1938:
- Won King's Plate (CAN-R, 9FD, Old Woodbine)
- Won Hare Memorial Handicap (CAN, 9FD, Dufferin Park)
- Won Long Branch Championship (CAN, 8.5FD. Long Branch)
- 2nd Breeders' Stakes (CAN, 8.5FD, Old Woodbine)
1939:
- Won McIntyre and Loudon Memorial Handicap (CAN, 8.5FD, Hamilton)
- 2nd Orpen Memorial Handicap (CAN-R, 8.5FD, Long Branch)
- 2nd William Hendrie Memorial Handicap (CAN, 8.5FD, Old Woodbine)
1941:
- Won Canadian Championship Stakes (CAN, 8.5FD, Long Branch)
Honors
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in the inaugural class of 1976)
Assessments
In a poll conducted by Canadian Press in 1951, Bunty Lawless was voted the best Canadian racehorse of the first half of the 20th century.
As an individual
A smallish, chunky bay horse, Bunty Lawless was tough and durable. He was a quick horse at the break and had fine natural speed.
As a stallion
According to The Jockey Club, Bunty Lawless sired 140 winners (70.7%) and 26 stakes winners (13.1%) from 198 named foals.
Notable progeny
Epic (CAN), McGill (CAN), Windfields (CAN)
Notable progeny of daughters
Whistling Sea (CAN)
Connections
Foaled in Ontario, Bunty Lawless was bred and owned by William Morrissey. He was trained by Jack Anderson, a notoriously brutal trainer, at ages 2 and 3 and was trained by Gordon "Pete" McCann at 4 and older. He stood in Ontario throughout his stud career, first at Dr. Hodgson's farm and later at Morrissey's own farm. He died in 1956.
Pedigree notes
Bunty Lawless is inbred 4x4 to two-time American Horse of the Year Commando and 5x5 to the important broodmare Mavourneen. He is a half brother to 1940 King’s Plate winner Willie the Kid (by Roselyon), 1946 Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Casa Camara (by Siete Colores), and Canadian stakes winner The Brat (by Filisteo). Casa Camara, in turn, produced 1957 Coronation Futurity winner Stole the Ring (by Bull Page; dam of multiple Canadian stakes winner Mink Stole, by Nearctic).
A daughter of juvenile stakes winner Mint Briar (a half brother to 1917 American champion 2-year-old male Sun Briar by the Spearmint horse Assagai), Mintwina was stakes-placed on the track as a 2-year-old and is a half sister to 1928 Jerome Handicap winner Sun Edwin (by Sun Briar). She is also a half sister to 1933 Adirondack Handicap winner Sun Celtic (by Sun Briar), dam of 1946 Queens County Handicap winner Helioptic (by Heliopolis), and to Beauedwina (by Sun Beau), dam of multiple Canadian stakes winner Arbor Vita (by the Hourless horse Hillsborough). In addition, Mintwina is a half sister to Sun Edna (by Sun Briar), dam of stakes winner Grey Wolf (by Gino), and to Dark Edwina (by Traumer), second dam of 1948 Haggin Stakes winner Audacious Man.
Mintwina and her siblings were produced from multiple stakes winner Edwina (by Celt), whose full sister Celiva is the dam of 1931 Remsen Handicap winner Cambal (by Campfire). Another full sister to Edwina, Celtiva, is the dam of multiple steeplechase stakes winner Celeritas (by Zeus). The dam of Edwina and her siblings, Lady Godiva (by Hanover), is a half sister to stakes winner Goodrich (by Patron) and is out of Edith Gray, by the great Ten Broeck out of Alice Gray (by Enquirer) and so a full sister to 1886 Tennessee Derby winner Jim Gray.
Fun facts
- Ladder, the sire of Bunty Lawless, died in a stable fire at Thorncliffe Park not long after Bunty Lawless was conceived. Most of the mares in foal to him were also lost in the fire, and Bunty Lawless was one of only three Ladder foals produced the following spring. All eventually became winners, although Bunty Lawless was much the best of the trio.
- Bunty Lawless was named for James “Bunty” Lawless, a friend of the colt’s owner.
- Bunty Lawless was popularly known as “the little guy’s horse.”
- Besides his purse earnings and assorted trophies, Bunty Lawless also won a pair of solid gold horseshoes for his victory in the 1941 Canadian Championship.
Last updated: December 23, 2021