One of five stakes winners produced from the excellent broodmare Tea's Over, Dick Welles was widely considered to be the best American sprinter-miler of his time. He was unable to race after his 3-year-old season due to injury but became a good sire.
Race record
25 starts, 20 wins, 1 second, 2 thirds, US$27,065
1902:
1903:
As an individual
A racy-looking, rather lightly built bay horse, Dick Wells typically ran the legs off his field from the start. He did not handle heavy going well. He raced only once at more than a mile, winning a purse race over 9 furlongs. He had a high-strung temperament. He was retired after a shoulder injury suffered in a 1904 stall accident failed to heal sufficiently for him to return to top form. An attempted comeback at age 5 after serving a season at stud ended without Dick Welles' ever having started another race.
As a stallion
Dick Welles ranked among the top 10 American sires five times, reaching his peak at third in 1917. Clio Hogan's Index to Stakes Winners 1865-1967 credits him with 12 stakes winners.
Notable progeny
Billy Kelly (USA), Wintergreen (USA)
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Dick Welles was bred by Kinzea Stone. When a yearling, the colt was purchased for US$250 by John Keating and Paul Hecker. He made one start in the duo's ownership, finishing third, and was then sold for US$4,500 to Jerome B. “Rome” Respess, who owned Dick Welles for the rest of the horse's life. (The sale had a proviso that Respess would pay an additional US$1,500 if the colt won a stakes at the Washington Park meeting later in the year, or US$2,500 if he won two stakes races there, so Respess ended up paying a total of $6,000 for Dick Welles.) Respess later received several lucrative offers for him but refused them all. The horse entered stud in 1905 and died on the night of September 30–October 1, 1921, of what was termed “indigestion.” He was buried at Respess' Highland Stock Farm in Boone County, Kentucky, on land that is now part of the Northern Kentucky Industrial Park.
Pedigree notes
Dick Welles is inbred 3x5 to two-time English champion sire King Tom. He is a full brother to two-time American champion Ort Wells and a half brother to 1915 Tremont Stakes winner Tea Caddy (by Rock Sand), 1905 Great Trial Stakes winner Security (by Sorceror), and the stakes-winning mare Toggery (by Rock Sand). Toggery is the dam of stakes winners Tailor Maid and Mlle. Dazie, both by Fair Play, and, through Mlle. Dazie, is the second dam of 1930 American co-champion 2-year-old male Jamestown and 1928 Youthful Stakes winner Kopeck. Toggery is also the third dam of 1937 Bryan and O'Hara Memorial Handicap winner Busy K. and 1944 Longacres Mile Handicap winner Hard Twist.
Returning to Dick Welles, he is also a half brother to Tea Enough (1911, by Ogden), dam of stakes winner Tetley (by Ormondale) and the second dam of 1932 American Derby winner Gusto, 1931 Washington Handicap winner Clock Tower, 1927 Adirondack Handicap winner One Hour and 1928 Empire City Handicap winner Recreation. Tea Enough is also the third dam of 1935 Selima Stakes winner Split Second, 1938 Lawrence Realization winner Magic Hour, 1941 Inglewood Handicap winner Sir Jeffrey and 1945 Kentucky Derby winner Hoop, Jr. Another half sister to Dick Welles, Tea Biscuit (by Rock Sand) produced 1929 Saranac Handicap and Knickerbocker Handicap winner Hard Tack (by Man o' War), sire of 1938 American Horse of the Year Seabiscuit.
Dick Welles and his siblings were produced from Tea's Over, a daughter of the King Alfonso mare Tea Rose. The next dam in the tail-female line, Tuberose, was sired by Virgil from the Glen Athol mare Buttercup, whose half sister Ivy Leaf (by Australian) produced 1879 American champion older male Bramble (by Bonnie Scotland). Buttercup's dam Bay Flower is a full sister to four stakes winners including the high-class Preakness, generally considered the co-champion American older male of 1875.
Fun facts
Race record
25 starts, 20 wins, 1 second, 2 thirds, US$27,065
1902:
- Won Hyde Park Stakes (USA, 6FD, Washington Park)
- 2nd Kenwood Stakes (USA, 5FD, Washington Park)
- 3rd White Plains Handicap (USA, 6FD, Jamaica)
1903:
- Won Drexel Handicap (USA, 8FD, Washington Park)
- Won Chicago Stakes (USA, 8FD, Harlem)
- Won Speed Handicap (USA, 6FD, Harlem)
- Won Brewer's Exchange Handicap (USA, 6FD, Latonia)
- Won Speculation Stakes (USA, 8FD, Hawthorne)
- Won Premier Stakes (USA, 8FD, Hawthorne)
- Also set a world record of 1:11-4/5 for 6FD around a turn in an allowance race at Washington Park
- Also set a world record record of 1:37-2/5 for 8FD around two turns in a match race with Grand Opera
As an individual
A racy-looking, rather lightly built bay horse, Dick Wells typically ran the legs off his field from the start. He did not handle heavy going well. He raced only once at more than a mile, winning a purse race over 9 furlongs. He had a high-strung temperament. He was retired after a shoulder injury suffered in a 1904 stall accident failed to heal sufficiently for him to return to top form. An attempted comeback at age 5 after serving a season at stud ended without Dick Welles' ever having started another race.
As a stallion
Dick Welles ranked among the top 10 American sires five times, reaching his peak at third in 1917. Clio Hogan's Index to Stakes Winners 1865-1967 credits him with 12 stakes winners.
Notable progeny
Billy Kelly (USA), Wintergreen (USA)
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Dick Welles was bred by Kinzea Stone. When a yearling, the colt was purchased for US$250 by John Keating and Paul Hecker. He made one start in the duo's ownership, finishing third, and was then sold for US$4,500 to Jerome B. “Rome” Respess, who owned Dick Welles for the rest of the horse's life. (The sale had a proviso that Respess would pay an additional US$1,500 if the colt won a stakes at the Washington Park meeting later in the year, or US$2,500 if he won two stakes races there, so Respess ended up paying a total of $6,000 for Dick Welles.) Respess later received several lucrative offers for him but refused them all. The horse entered stud in 1905 and died on the night of September 30–October 1, 1921, of what was termed “indigestion.” He was buried at Respess' Highland Stock Farm in Boone County, Kentucky, on land that is now part of the Northern Kentucky Industrial Park.
Pedigree notes
Dick Welles is inbred 3x5 to two-time English champion sire King Tom. He is a full brother to two-time American champion Ort Wells and a half brother to 1915 Tremont Stakes winner Tea Caddy (by Rock Sand), 1905 Great Trial Stakes winner Security (by Sorceror), and the stakes-winning mare Toggery (by Rock Sand). Toggery is the dam of stakes winners Tailor Maid and Mlle. Dazie, both by Fair Play, and, through Mlle. Dazie, is the second dam of 1930 American co-champion 2-year-old male Jamestown and 1928 Youthful Stakes winner Kopeck. Toggery is also the third dam of 1937 Bryan and O'Hara Memorial Handicap winner Busy K. and 1944 Longacres Mile Handicap winner Hard Twist.
Returning to Dick Welles, he is also a half brother to Tea Enough (1911, by Ogden), dam of stakes winner Tetley (by Ormondale) and the second dam of 1932 American Derby winner Gusto, 1931 Washington Handicap winner Clock Tower, 1927 Adirondack Handicap winner One Hour and 1928 Empire City Handicap winner Recreation. Tea Enough is also the third dam of 1935 Selima Stakes winner Split Second, 1938 Lawrence Realization winner Magic Hour, 1941 Inglewood Handicap winner Sir Jeffrey and 1945 Kentucky Derby winner Hoop, Jr. Another half sister to Dick Welles, Tea Biscuit (by Rock Sand) produced 1929 Saranac Handicap and Knickerbocker Handicap winner Hard Tack (by Man o' War), sire of 1938 American Horse of the Year Seabiscuit.
Dick Welles and his siblings were produced from Tea's Over, a daughter of the King Alfonso mare Tea Rose. The next dam in the tail-female line, Tuberose, was sired by Virgil from the Glen Athol mare Buttercup, whose half sister Ivy Leaf (by Australian) produced 1879 American champion older male Bramble (by Bonnie Scotland). Buttercup's dam Bay Flower is a full sister to four stakes winners including the high-class Preakness, generally considered the co-champion American older male of 1875.
Fun facts
- Dick Welles was named for Richard Welles, an inventor and friend of Respess' who was the father of Hollywood actor and director Orson Welles. In turn, the horse was the namesake for a popular brand of cheap cigars.
- On October 29, 1903, Dick Welles ran in a time trial at Latonia with the intent of trying to break his own American record for the mile. While he failed to do so, his time of 1:38 bettered the Latonia track record by 1¾ seconds.