Hastings (USA)
1893 – June 17, 1917
Spendthrift (USA) x Cinderella (GB), by Blue Ruin (GB) or Tomahawk (GB)
Family 21-a
1893 – June 17, 1917
Spendthrift (USA) x Cinderella (GB), by Blue Ruin (GB) or Tomahawk (GB)
Family 21-a
Hastings was a mama's boy when it came to temperament---regrettably so, as his dam Cinderella was a notoriously evil-dispositioned mare. Nonetheless she was a great producer, and Hastings was among the best of her progeny. While he won the 11-furlong Belmont Stakes as a 3-year-old, he was essentially a sprinter-miler and as such was one of the best of his time, capable of carrying high weights as far as he went. His temper became even more savage as he aged and was often transmitted to his offspring, making the “Hastings temperament” a byword among his descendants. Through his son Fair Play, he successfully continued the male line of his grandfather Australian, which persists today through the descendants of In Reality.
Race record
21 starts, 10 wins, 8 seconds, 0 thirds, US$16,340
1895:
1896:
1897:
As an individual
A well-made, short-coupled, attractive brown horse, Hastings had the rather upright shoulders of his sire along with upright pasterns. He could also be faulted for somewhat sickled, curby hocks. By his 4-year-old season, he was becoming nearly unmanageable at the track, fighting being saddled and showing every sign of resenting training. His temperament became so fierce after he retired to stud that a runway was built between his stall and his paddock to reduce the need for contact with him as much as possible. When it was necessary to handle him, the stallion men at Nursery Stud carried long sticks or cudgels with which to subdue him.
As a stallion
Except through Fair Play, Hastings was primarily an influence for speed and precocity. Clio Hogan's Index to Stakes Winners 1865-1967 credits Hastings with 39 stakes winners.
Sire rankings
Per The Blood-Horse:
Notable progeny
Don Enrique (USA), Fair Play (USA), Flamma (USA), Glorifier (USA), Gunfire (USA), Masterman (USA)
Notable progeny of daughters
Rock View (USA)
Connections
Hastings was bred by Dr. J. D. Neet. He was purchased for US$2,800 as a yearling by David Gideon and John Daly. Following victories in his first three races as a juvenile, Gideon and Daly decided to dissolve their partnership and put their horses up at auction. Hastings topped the dispersal at US$37,000, going to August Belmont II. He remained in Belmont's ownership for the rest of his life and stood at Belmont's Nursery Stud in Kentucky. He was humanely destroyed June 17, 1917, after developing paralysis of his hindquarters. He was buried in an unmarked grave near fellow Nursery Stud stallions The Ill-Used and St. Blaise.
Pedigree notes
Hastings is inbred 3x5 to West Australian, the first winner of the English Triple Crown. He is also inbred 4x5 to four-time leading American sire Glencoe, winner of the 1834 Two Thousand Guineas in his native England. He is a half brother to 1898 Kentucky Derby winner Plaudit (by Himyar) and the juvenile stakes winners Handsome and Glenheim, both by Hanover. He is also a half brother to Slippers (by Meddler), dam of 1913 Preakness Stakes winner Buskin (by Hamburg) and juvenile stakes winner Slipshod (by Hamburg's son Burgomaster). Slippers is further distinguished as the second dam of five stakes winners including 1922 Coaching Club American Oaks winner Prudish and two-time American champion filly Prudery, dam of 1927 Kentucky Derby winner Whiskery and 1928 Preakness Stakes winner Victorian.
Cinderella, the dam of Hastings, was imported to the United States as a yearling. Her dam Manna (by Brown Bread) did not race and produced nothing else of any importance. Manna's dam Tartlet (by Birdcatcher) is out of an unnamed Don John mare, a half sister to 1869 Doncaster Cup winner Sweetmeat.
Fun facts:
Photo credit
Photo from the estate of Walter Vosburgh; photographer unknown. From the private collection of Dale Wyatt; used by permission.
Last updated: June 28, 2024
Race record
21 starts, 10 wins, 8 seconds, 0 thirds, US$16,340
1895:
- Won Surf Stakes (USA, 5FD, Sheepshead Bay)
1896:
- Won Belmont Stakes (USA, 11FD, Morris Park)
- Won Toboggan Handicap (USA, 6FD, Morris Park)
- 2nd Tidal Stakes (USA, 8FD, Morris Park; his stablemate Margrave had been declared to win and did)
- 2nd Withers Stakes (USA, 8FD, Morris Park)
1897:
- Won Kearney Handicap (USA, 6FD; Saratoga; dead heat with Clifford)
- Won Westchester Highweight Handicap (USA, 7FD, Morris Park)
- 2nd First Special (USA, 8.5FD, Gravesend)
- 2nd Omnium Handicap (USA, 9FD, Sheepshead Bay)
- 2nd Culver Handicap (USA, 6FD, Gravesend)
- 2nd Ocean Handicap (USA, 8FD, Sheepshead Bay)
As an individual
A well-made, short-coupled, attractive brown horse, Hastings had the rather upright shoulders of his sire along with upright pasterns. He could also be faulted for somewhat sickled, curby hocks. By his 4-year-old season, he was becoming nearly unmanageable at the track, fighting being saddled and showing every sign of resenting training. His temperament became so fierce after he retired to stud that a runway was built between his stall and his paddock to reduce the need for contact with him as much as possible. When it was necessary to handle him, the stallion men at Nursery Stud carried long sticks or cudgels with which to subdue him.
As a stallion
Except through Fair Play, Hastings was primarily an influence for speed and precocity. Clio Hogan's Index to Stakes Winners 1865-1967 credits Hastings with 39 stakes winners.
Sire rankings
Per The Blood-Horse:
- Led the American general sire list in 1902 and 1908; 2nd in 1910; 3rd in 1907, 1911, and 1912; 6th in 1904-1906 and 1915; 7th in 1903 and 1916; 9th in 1909 and 1914; 10th in 1917.
- 9th on the American broodmare sire list in 1924.
- Led the American juvenile sire list by number of winners in 1915 (no statistics available for progeny earnings).
Notable progeny
Don Enrique (USA), Fair Play (USA), Flamma (USA), Glorifier (USA), Gunfire (USA), Masterman (USA)
Notable progeny of daughters
Rock View (USA)
Connections
Hastings was bred by Dr. J. D. Neet. He was purchased for US$2,800 as a yearling by David Gideon and John Daly. Following victories in his first three races as a juvenile, Gideon and Daly decided to dissolve their partnership and put their horses up at auction. Hastings topped the dispersal at US$37,000, going to August Belmont II. He remained in Belmont's ownership for the rest of his life and stood at Belmont's Nursery Stud in Kentucky. He was humanely destroyed June 17, 1917, after developing paralysis of his hindquarters. He was buried in an unmarked grave near fellow Nursery Stud stallions The Ill-Used and St. Blaise.
Pedigree notes
Hastings is inbred 3x5 to West Australian, the first winner of the English Triple Crown. He is also inbred 4x5 to four-time leading American sire Glencoe, winner of the 1834 Two Thousand Guineas in his native England. He is a half brother to 1898 Kentucky Derby winner Plaudit (by Himyar) and the juvenile stakes winners Handsome and Glenheim, both by Hanover. He is also a half brother to Slippers (by Meddler), dam of 1913 Preakness Stakes winner Buskin (by Hamburg) and juvenile stakes winner Slipshod (by Hamburg's son Burgomaster). Slippers is further distinguished as the second dam of five stakes winners including 1922 Coaching Club American Oaks winner Prudish and two-time American champion filly Prudery, dam of 1927 Kentucky Derby winner Whiskery and 1928 Preakness Stakes winner Victorian.
Cinderella, the dam of Hastings, was imported to the United States as a yearling. Her dam Manna (by Brown Bread) did not race and produced nothing else of any importance. Manna's dam Tartlet (by Birdcatcher) is out of an unnamed Don John mare, a half sister to 1869 Doncaster Cup winner Sweetmeat.
Fun facts:
- In history, the Battle of Hastings in 1066 marked the defeat of the Anglo-Saxon army of Harold Godwinson by Duke William II of Normandy, thereafter known as "William the Conqueror" and the first Norman king of England. According to famed sportswriter and sportscaster Clem McCarthy, however, the horse Hastings was not named for the historical battle but for Jim Hastings, a Cincinnati sportswriter.
- According to the Daily Racing Form's venerable racing writer Charles Hatton, trainer J. Simon Healy hid Hastings away as a yearling in order to avoid orders to peddle the colt to a livery stable owner without papers.
- According to Hastings' entry in the "Grave Matters" section at www.tbheritage.com, the stallion was buried at Nursery Stud minus his hide, which was tanned and made into a robe.
Photo credit
Photo from the estate of Walter Vosburgh; photographer unknown. From the private collection of Dale Wyatt; used by permission.
Last updated: June 28, 2024