Deputed Testamony (USA)
May 7, 1980 – September 18, 2012
Traffic Cop (USA) x Proof Requested (USA), by Prove It (USA)
Family 21-a
May 7, 1980 – September 18, 2012
Traffic Cop (USA) x Proof Requested (USA), by Prove It (USA)
Family 21-a
The son of a stallion who stood for US$1,000 and a US$5,700 mare that had raced in bargain-basement races at Charles Town, Deputed Testamony had no business being much more than another cheap claimer. Instead, he became a Classic winner. While he went off as a 14-1 longshot in the Preakness Stakes, the victory of the Maryland-bred and locally owned colt was extremely popular with Baltimore natives. Deputed Testamony went on to win the Haskell Invitational Handicap (USA-G1) while staying in his Mid-Atlantic stomping grounds and ended up ranked among the best sophomore colts of 1983. He remained in Maryland throughout his stud career and was modestly successful as a sire.
Race record
20 starts, 11 wins, 3 seconds, 0 thirds, US$674,329
1982:
1983:
1984:
Honors
Assessments
Rated at 121 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1983, 6 pounds below champion Slew o' Gold.
As an individual
A handsome bay horse, Deputed Testamony was muscular and well-balanced with good bone but had legs that seemed just a trifle short for his height, a trait not uncommon among the descendants of his similarly built ancestor Hyperion. He came out of his track record-setting performance in the 1984 City of Baltimore Handicap with a career-ending injury. According to his owner-trainer, Deputed Testamony raced without medication throughout his career. He could act over both fast and sloppy surfaces and was courageous in a drive. His demeanor as a stallion was professional.
As a stallion
According to records kept by The Jockey Club, Deputed Testamony sired 268 winners (63.1%) and 21 stakes winners (4.9%) from 425 named foals. His best runners were Grade 3 winners Gold Fleece, Testafly and Under Oath. Most of his runners were honest and hard-trying on the track.
Notable progeny of daughters
Bellamy Road (USA), Whitmore's Conn (USA)
Connections
Foaled in Maryland, Deputed Testamony was bred by J. William Boniface and Francis P. Sears. He raced as a homebred for Boniface's Bonita Farm and Sears and was trained by Boniface. Syndicated for US$5 million at the end of his 3-year-old season, he entered stud in 1985 at Bonita Farm and was pensioned in 2004. After his death in September 2012, he was buried on the farm next to the graves of his sire and dam.
Pedigree notes
Sired by 1973 Royal Palm Handicap (USA-G3) winner Traffic Cop (by Traffic Judge), Deputed Testamony is inbred 4x5 to 1933 English dual Classic winner and six-time English champion sire Hyperion. He is a half brother to Pal Sal (by Palace Ruler), dam of multiple listed stakes winner Ligature (by McCann).
Proof Requested, dam of Deputed Testamony, won one of her four starts. Sired by the top-class stakes horse Prove It (by Endeavour II), she is a half sister to stakes winners David M. (by Tudor Grey) and Come Up (by Crossing) and to Royal Ginger (by Royal Union), dam of restricted stakes winner Awesome Axe (by Lucy's Axe).
Proof Requested and her siblings were produced from Come On (by Requested), a winning half sister to two-time American champion sprinter Decathlon (by Olympia) and 1961 Hollywood Gold Cup winner Prince Blessed (by Princequillo). Produced from the Bull Dog mare Dog Blessed, Come On is also a half sister to stakes-placed Bless Pat (by Pavot), dam of stakes winner Bless This Horse (by Stage Door Johnny), and to Bless the Bride (by Helioscope), second dam of multiple Grade 2 winner Sixty Sails.
Books and media
Fun facts
Last updated: August 31, 2022
Race record
20 starts, 11 wins, 3 seconds, 0 thirds, US$674,329
1982:
- Won Play the Palace Stakes (USA, 8FD, The Meadowlands; new track record 1:36-1/5)
- 2nd Maryland Juvenile Championship Stakes (USA-R, 8.5FD, Laurel)
- 2nd Smarten Stakes (USA-R, 7FD, Laurel)
1983:
- Won Preakness Stakes (USA-G1, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
- Won Haskell Invitational Handicap (USA-G1, 9FD, Monmouth)
- Won Governor's Cup Handicap (USA-G3, 9FD, Bowie)
- Won Federico Tesio Stakes (USA-L, 8.5FD, Pimlico)
- Won Keystone Stakes (USA, 8F+70yD, Keystone)
1984:
- Won City of Baltimore Handicap (USA-L, 8.5FD, Pimlico; new track record 1:40-4/5)
Honors
- Maryland Thoroughbred Hall of Fame (inducted in 2017)
- Maryland-bred champion 3-year-old male (1983)
Assessments
Rated at 121 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1983, 6 pounds below champion Slew o' Gold.
As an individual
A handsome bay horse, Deputed Testamony was muscular and well-balanced with good bone but had legs that seemed just a trifle short for his height, a trait not uncommon among the descendants of his similarly built ancestor Hyperion. He came out of his track record-setting performance in the 1984 City of Baltimore Handicap with a career-ending injury. According to his owner-trainer, Deputed Testamony raced without medication throughout his career. He could act over both fast and sloppy surfaces and was courageous in a drive. His demeanor as a stallion was professional.
As a stallion
According to records kept by The Jockey Club, Deputed Testamony sired 268 winners (63.1%) and 21 stakes winners (4.9%) from 425 named foals. His best runners were Grade 3 winners Gold Fleece, Testafly and Under Oath. Most of his runners were honest and hard-trying on the track.
Notable progeny of daughters
Bellamy Road (USA), Whitmore's Conn (USA)
Connections
Foaled in Maryland, Deputed Testamony was bred by J. William Boniface and Francis P. Sears. He raced as a homebred for Boniface's Bonita Farm and Sears and was trained by Boniface. Syndicated for US$5 million at the end of his 3-year-old season, he entered stud in 1985 at Bonita Farm and was pensioned in 2004. After his death in September 2012, he was buried on the farm next to the graves of his sire and dam.
Pedigree notes
Sired by 1973 Royal Palm Handicap (USA-G3) winner Traffic Cop (by Traffic Judge), Deputed Testamony is inbred 4x5 to 1933 English dual Classic winner and six-time English champion sire Hyperion. He is a half brother to Pal Sal (by Palace Ruler), dam of multiple listed stakes winner Ligature (by McCann).
Proof Requested, dam of Deputed Testamony, won one of her four starts. Sired by the top-class stakes horse Prove It (by Endeavour II), she is a half sister to stakes winners David M. (by Tudor Grey) and Come Up (by Crossing) and to Royal Ginger (by Royal Union), dam of restricted stakes winner Awesome Axe (by Lucy's Axe).
Proof Requested and her siblings were produced from Come On (by Requested), a winning half sister to two-time American champion sprinter Decathlon (by Olympia) and 1961 Hollywood Gold Cup winner Prince Blessed (by Princequillo). Produced from the Bull Dog mare Dog Blessed, Come On is also a half sister to stakes-placed Bless Pat (by Pavot), dam of stakes winner Bless This Horse (by Stage Door Johnny), and to Bless the Bride (by Helioscope), second dam of multiple Grade 2 winner Sixty Sails.
Books and media
- Deputed Testamony is profiled in Chapter 11 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
- Deputed Testamony is one of the older Thoroughbreds profiled in photographs and essays in Barbara Livingston's Old Friends: Visits With My Favorite Thoroughbreds (2002, The Blood-Horse, Inc.).
Fun facts
- As of 2022, Deputed Testamony is the last Maryland-bred horse to have won the Preakness Stakes (USA-G1). He was owned and trained by Maryland horseman J. William “Billy” Boniface, his sire Traffic Cop stood at Bonita Farm, and, adding to the all-Maryland theme of his victory, his jockey for the race was the young Marylander Donnie Miller, who picked up the mount after the colt's previous jockey, Herb McCauley, elected to ride stablemate Parfaitement in the Preakness. Another strand of Maryland racing history connected to the colt was Boniface's father Bill Boniface, who had been a longtime racing editor at the Baltimore Sun.
- One of Deputed Testamony's beaten rivals in the Preakness was Flag Admiral, a longshot who nonetheless attracted a lot of attention due to the fact that his co-owner was ex-President Jimmy Carter (who had served as a U. S. Navy officer). Flag Admiral finished up the track in tenth place.
- Deputed Testamony was the last male-line descendant of Hyperion to win an American Triple Crown race.
- Deputed Testamony raced three times in claiming races as a juvenile, running for tags from US$22,500 to US$40,000. There were no takers.
- Proof Requested, dam of Deputed Testamony, was a US$5,700 purchase for Francis Sears as a juvenile. Sears entered into a foal sharing arrangement with Billy Boniface, who owned Traffic Cop, to breed the Preakness winner.
- Deputed Testamony was known as “D. T.” to his fans.
- Deputed Testamony headed one of the deepest foal crops in the history of Maryland's Thoroughbred breeding industry, as the horses he beat out for his state-bred championship were 1983 Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner Caveat and 1983 Irish Sweeps Derby (IRE-G1) winner Shareef Dancer. The last-named colt was the champion 3-year-old male of 1983 in both England and Ireland. Another member of this class of Maryland-bred colts was Dixieland Band, who became a a multiple Grade 2 winner on the track and was later an important sire; he defeated both Deputed Testamony (second) and Caveat (third) in the 1983 Maryland Juvenile Championship Stakes.
- Deputed Testamony's name was meant to be a play on the names of both his sire and dam but was accidentally misspelled.
- The Deputed Testamony Stakes is an open stakes race at Laurel Park. As of 2022, it is carded for horses 3 years old and up on the main track over 9 furlongs.
Last updated: August 31, 2022