One of the best American 2-year-olds of 1953, Hasty Road trained on to be a Classic winner at 3, showing remarkable soundness and durability for so large and massive a horse. He was a fairly successful sire but appears most often in pedigrees through a few key daughters.
Race record
28 starts, 14 wins, 5 seconds, 3 thirds, US$541,402
1953:
1954:
1955:
Honors
American co-champion 2-year-old male (1953)
Assessments
Rated at 124 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1953, 2 pounds below co-highweights Porterhouse (the other official co-champion) and Turn-to.
Rated at 124 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1954, 6 pounds below co-highweights High Gun (the official champion), Determine, Helioscope and Turn-to.
Ranked fifth among American 3-year-old males of 1954 by The Blood-Horse.
Weighted at 125 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1955, 5 pounds below champion High Gun.
As an individual
A massive dark bay horse standing 16.1-1/2 hands, Hasty Road had a nasty disposition but was game and completely honest on the track. He had good rein length, a strong shoulder and short coupling. Photographs suggest that he may have been slightly sickle-hocked. He was a confirmed front runner. He was retired after suffering a soft tissue injury to a foreleg while in training in March 1955 and failing to show his old form in a single comeback race.
As a stallion
The Jockey Club credits Hasty Road with 277 winners (66.0%) and 29 stakes winners (6.9%) from 420 named foals of racing age.
Sire rankings
Per the American Racing Manual (Daily Racing Form) series:
Per The Blood-Horse:
Per Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (2006, Churchill, Reichard, and Rogers):
Notable progeny
Berkeley Springs (USA), Broadway (USA), Golden Trail (USA), Hasty Matelda (USA), Impetuous Lady (USA), Royal Tara (USA)
Notable progeny of daughters
Arctic Tern (USA), Forego (USA), Gay Matelda (USA), Krislin (USA), Nonoalco (USA), Queen of the Stage (USA), Radar Ahead (USA), Reviewer (USA), Snow Plow (USA), Trudie Tudor (CAN)
Connections
Hasty Road was bred by Clifford Mooers at his Walnut Springs Farm. He was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Allie Reuben's Hasty House Farm. He was trained by Harry Trotsek. Hasty Road died of natural causes in 1978 and was buried at Meadowville Farm in Virginia.
Pedigree notes
Hasty Road is outcrossed through five generations. He is a half brother to 1955 Woodward Stakes and 1957 Metropolitan Handicap winner Traffic Judge (by Alibhai). He is also a half brother to stakes-placed Miss Traffic (by Boxthorn), dam of 1961 Tremont Stakes winner Clover Leaf (by Swaps), second dam of 1969 Round Table Handicap winner Larceny Kid, and third dam of Grade 2 winner How So Oiseau.
The winner of the 1944 Beverly Handicap and three other stakes races, Hasty Road's dam Traffic Court is a half sister to 1931 Breeders' Futurity winner The Bull (by Mad Hatter), 1933 Grand Union Hotel Stakes winner Roustabout (by Chicle), 1945 Wood Memorial winner Jeep (by Mahmoud), and 1945 Astoria Stakes winner Mush Mush (by Mahmoud). She is out of Traffic (by Broomstick), a winning full sister to 1923 Tremont Stakes winner Transmute and to stakes-placed Transom, second dam of 1946 New Orleans Handicap winner Hillyer Court. She is also a half sister to juvenile stakes winner Drawbridge (by Sir Gallahad III) and to Portage (by Whisk Broom II), dam of 1934 Lawrence Realization winner Carry Over (by St. Germans) and 1939 Swift Stakes winner Sea Captain (by Hard Tack). Another half sister to Traffic, Transit (by Chicle), produced 1938 Brooklyn Handicap winner The Chief (by Pennant) and three more stakes winners in Slapstick (by Broomstick; dam of three stakes winners), Surveyor (by John P. Grier), and Forced Landing (by Upset).
Traffic was produced from the Tracery mare Traverse, also the dam of stakes producers Comeover (by Whisk Broom II) and Blackduck (by Wildair). A half sister to multiple juvenile stakes winner Pesky (by Broomstick), Traverse is out of Perverse (by Meddler), generally considered the American champion 2-year-old filly of 1905.
Books and media
Hasty Road is profiled in Chapter 8 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Last updated: November 1, 2021
Race record
28 starts, 14 wins, 5 seconds, 3 thirds, US$541,402
1953:
- Won Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (USA, 8FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Breeders' Futurity (USA, 7FD, Keeneland)
- Won Washington Park Futurity (USA, 6FD, Washington Park)
- Won Arlington Futurity (USA, 6FD, Arlington Park)
- 3rd Prairie State Stakes (USA, 6FD, Washington Park)
1954:
- Won Preakness Stakes (USA, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
- Won Warren Wright Memorial Stakes (USA, 7FD, Arlington Park)
- Won Derby Trial (USA, 8FD, Churchill Downs; new track record 1:35)
- 2nd Kentucky Derby (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- 2nd Benjamin Franklin Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Garden State)
- 3rd American Derby (USA, 9FD, Washington Park)
1955:
- Won Widener Handicap (USA, 10FD, Hialeah)
Honors
American co-champion 2-year-old male (1953)
Assessments
Rated at 124 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1953, 2 pounds below co-highweights Porterhouse (the other official co-champion) and Turn-to.
Rated at 124 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1954, 6 pounds below co-highweights High Gun (the official champion), Determine, Helioscope and Turn-to.
Ranked fifth among American 3-year-old males of 1954 by The Blood-Horse.
Weighted at 125 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1955, 5 pounds below champion High Gun.
As an individual
A massive dark bay horse standing 16.1-1/2 hands, Hasty Road had a nasty disposition but was game and completely honest on the track. He had good rein length, a strong shoulder and short coupling. Photographs suggest that he may have been slightly sickle-hocked. He was a confirmed front runner. He was retired after suffering a soft tissue injury to a foreleg while in training in March 1955 and failing to show his old form in a single comeback race.
As a stallion
The Jockey Club credits Hasty Road with 277 winners (66.0%) and 29 stakes winners (6.9%) from 420 named foals of racing age.
Sire rankings
Per the American Racing Manual (Daily Racing Form) series:
- 10th on the American general sire list in 1964.
- 6th on the American broodmare sire list in 1974; 8th in 1975.
Per The Blood-Horse:
- 10th on the American general sire list in 1964.
Per Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (2006, Churchill, Reichard, and Rogers):
- 10th on the American general sire list in 1964.
- 5th on the American broodmare sire list in 1974; 8th in 1975.
Notable progeny
Berkeley Springs (USA), Broadway (USA), Golden Trail (USA), Hasty Matelda (USA), Impetuous Lady (USA), Royal Tara (USA)
Notable progeny of daughters
Arctic Tern (USA), Forego (USA), Gay Matelda (USA), Krislin (USA), Nonoalco (USA), Queen of the Stage (USA), Radar Ahead (USA), Reviewer (USA), Snow Plow (USA), Trudie Tudor (CAN)
Connections
Hasty Road was bred by Clifford Mooers at his Walnut Springs Farm. He was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Allie Reuben's Hasty House Farm. He was trained by Harry Trotsek. Hasty Road died of natural causes in 1978 and was buried at Meadowville Farm in Virginia.
Pedigree notes
Hasty Road is outcrossed through five generations. He is a half brother to 1955 Woodward Stakes and 1957 Metropolitan Handicap winner Traffic Judge (by Alibhai). He is also a half brother to stakes-placed Miss Traffic (by Boxthorn), dam of 1961 Tremont Stakes winner Clover Leaf (by Swaps), second dam of 1969 Round Table Handicap winner Larceny Kid, and third dam of Grade 2 winner How So Oiseau.
The winner of the 1944 Beverly Handicap and three other stakes races, Hasty Road's dam Traffic Court is a half sister to 1931 Breeders' Futurity winner The Bull (by Mad Hatter), 1933 Grand Union Hotel Stakes winner Roustabout (by Chicle), 1945 Wood Memorial winner Jeep (by Mahmoud), and 1945 Astoria Stakes winner Mush Mush (by Mahmoud). She is out of Traffic (by Broomstick), a winning full sister to 1923 Tremont Stakes winner Transmute and to stakes-placed Transom, second dam of 1946 New Orleans Handicap winner Hillyer Court. She is also a half sister to juvenile stakes winner Drawbridge (by Sir Gallahad III) and to Portage (by Whisk Broom II), dam of 1934 Lawrence Realization winner Carry Over (by St. Germans) and 1939 Swift Stakes winner Sea Captain (by Hard Tack). Another half sister to Traffic, Transit (by Chicle), produced 1938 Brooklyn Handicap winner The Chief (by Pennant) and three more stakes winners in Slapstick (by Broomstick; dam of three stakes winners), Surveyor (by John P. Grier), and Forced Landing (by Upset).
Traffic was produced from the Tracery mare Traverse, also the dam of stakes producers Comeover (by Whisk Broom II) and Blackduck (by Wildair). A half sister to multiple juvenile stakes winner Pesky (by Broomstick), Traverse is out of Perverse (by Meddler), generally considered the American champion 2-year-old filly of 1905.
Books and media
Hasty Road is profiled in Chapter 8 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Last updated: November 1, 2021