Hill Gail (USA)
April 19, 1949 – May 1968
Bull Lea (USA) x Jane Gail (USA), by Blenheim II (GB)
Family 11-c
April 19, 1949 – May 1968
Bull Lea (USA) x Jane Gail (USA), by Blenheim II (GB)
Family 11-c
Hill Gail was perhaps a better horse than modern memory would make him, for he was speedy enough in the spring of his 3-year-old season to give the good older sprinter Dark Peter 10 pounds and a beating over 6 furlongs and stayed well enough to capture the Kentucky Derby in time just one-fifth of a second slower than Whirlaway's track record. However, he was handicapped by two things: an erratic temperament inherited from his dam, Jane Gail (a mare that trainer Jimmy Jones described as “a well-authenticated b----”), and a buildup of calcium deposits in his ankles that sidelined him after his Kentucky Derby win. He was unable to recover his earlier form when he came back to racing and retired to stud with a tarnished reputation. In common with other top sons of Bull Lea, he was a disappointing stallion.
Race record
32 starts, 11 wins, 5 seconds, 3 thirds, US$335,625
1951:
1952:
1953:
1954:
Assessments
Weighted at 122 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American 2-year-old males of 1951, 5 pounds below champion Tom Fool.
Ranked fifth among American 2-year-old males of 1951 by The Blood-Horse.
Ranked second among American 3-year-old males of 1952 by The Blood-Horse, whose handicap rankings assigned Hill Gail 128 pounds against 130 on divisional champion and co-Horse of the Year One Count.
As an individual
A ruggedly made bay in the typical mold of the Bull Leas, Hill Gain was high-strung, temperamental and willful ("strong as a bull but with the disposition of a hornet" in the words of Jimmy Jones) but possessed a brilliant turn of speed. He was sidelined by ankle trouble following his Kentucky Derby win and never regained his previous form when returned to the track. He had a tendency to bolt toward the outside rail if not ridden watchfully.
As a stallion
According to records kept by The Jockey Club, Hill Gail sired 109 winners (43.8%) and 12 stakes winners (4.8%) from 249 named foals.
Notable progeny
Martial (IRE)
Connections
Hill Gail was bred and owned by Calumet Farm and was trained by Ben A. Jones. He was sold to Joseph McGrath for US$150,000 and exported to Browntown Stud in Ireland for stallion duty in 1954. He died in Ireland in 1968.
Pedigree notes
Hill Gail is outcrossed through five generations. He is one of only three foals produced from Jane Gail, a winning half sister to multiple stakes winner High Shine (by Bull Lea). Jane Gail, in turn, was produced from the stakes-winning Ladkin mare Lady Higloss, whose half sister Hi Fling (by American Flag) produced Good Call (by Case Ace), winner of the 1954 Beverly Handicap and Correction Handicap and herself dam of two stakes winners in Call Card (by Alibhai) and Wild Card (by Arctic Prince).
The next mare in Hill Gail's tail-female line, Lady Higloss's dam Hi Gloss (by High Time), failed to place in eight starts. The female line reached North America via Hi Gloss's dam Sunglow II (by Sundridge), who was imported to the United States in 1916 by George D. Widener. The family traces back to St. Simon's full sister Angelica, dam of the high-class racer and sire Orme, but this particular branch had produced nothing close to Orme's or Hill Gail's class in between the two.
Books and media
Hill Gail is profiled in Chapter 8 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
Photo credit
Photographer unknown. From the private collection of Dale Wyatt; used by permission.
Last updated: May 7, 2022
Race record
32 starts, 11 wins, 5 seconds, 3 thirds, US$335,625
1951:
- Won Arlington Futurity (USA, 6FD, Arlington Park)
- 2nd Washington Park Futurity (USA, 6FD, Washington Park)
1952:
- Won San Vicente Stakes (USA, 6FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Santa Anita Derby (USA, 9FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Derby Trial (USA, 8FD, Churchill Downs; new track record 1:35-2/5)
- Won Kentucky Derby (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Phoenix Handicap (USA, 6FD, Keeneland; equaled track record 1:10-2/5)
- 3rd San Gabriel Stakes (USA, 7FD, Santa Anita)
1953:
- 2nd Phoenix Handicap (USA, 6FD, Keeneland)
- 3rd Equipoise Mile Handicap (USA, 8FD, Arlington Park)
- Also set a 6-furlong track record of 1:08-4/5 at Arlington Park
1954:
- 2nd San Carlos Handicap (USA, 7FD, Santa Anita)
Assessments
Weighted at 122 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American 2-year-old males of 1951, 5 pounds below champion Tom Fool.
Ranked fifth among American 2-year-old males of 1951 by The Blood-Horse.
Ranked second among American 3-year-old males of 1952 by The Blood-Horse, whose handicap rankings assigned Hill Gail 128 pounds against 130 on divisional champion and co-Horse of the Year One Count.
As an individual
A ruggedly made bay in the typical mold of the Bull Leas, Hill Gain was high-strung, temperamental and willful ("strong as a bull but with the disposition of a hornet" in the words of Jimmy Jones) but possessed a brilliant turn of speed. He was sidelined by ankle trouble following his Kentucky Derby win and never regained his previous form when returned to the track. He had a tendency to bolt toward the outside rail if not ridden watchfully.
As a stallion
According to records kept by The Jockey Club, Hill Gail sired 109 winners (43.8%) and 12 stakes winners (4.8%) from 249 named foals.
Notable progeny
Martial (IRE)
Connections
Hill Gail was bred and owned by Calumet Farm and was trained by Ben A. Jones. He was sold to Joseph McGrath for US$150,000 and exported to Browntown Stud in Ireland for stallion duty in 1954. He died in Ireland in 1968.
Pedigree notes
Hill Gail is outcrossed through five generations. He is one of only three foals produced from Jane Gail, a winning half sister to multiple stakes winner High Shine (by Bull Lea). Jane Gail, in turn, was produced from the stakes-winning Ladkin mare Lady Higloss, whose half sister Hi Fling (by American Flag) produced Good Call (by Case Ace), winner of the 1954 Beverly Handicap and Correction Handicap and herself dam of two stakes winners in Call Card (by Alibhai) and Wild Card (by Arctic Prince).
The next mare in Hill Gail's tail-female line, Lady Higloss's dam Hi Gloss (by High Time), failed to place in eight starts. The female line reached North America via Hi Gloss's dam Sunglow II (by Sundridge), who was imported to the United States in 1916 by George D. Widener. The family traces back to St. Simon's full sister Angelica, dam of the high-class racer and sire Orme, but this particular branch had produced nothing close to Orme's or Hill Gail's class in between the two.
Books and media
Hill Gail is profiled in Chapter 8 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
- Hill Gail was the fifth of a record eight homebred Kentucky Derby winners for Calumet Farm. The others were Whirlaway (1941), Pensive (1944), Citation (1948), Ponder (1949), Iron Liege (1957), Tim Tam (1958) and Forward Pass (1968). Calumet also bred 1991 Kentucky Derby winner Strike the Gold and 2022 winner Rich Strike, but these colts raced for other owners.
- Hill Gail also set Kentucky Derby records of six wins for trainer Ben A. Jones and five wins for jockey Eddie Arcaro. Jones had previously trained Lawrin (1938), Whirlaway (1941), Pensive (1944), Citation (1948) and Ponder (1949), while Arcaro had previously ridden Lawrin (1938), Whirlaway (1941), Hoop, Jr. (1945) and Citation (1948). (Jones' record as the top Derby trainer of all time was not tied until 2020, when Bob Baffert won his sixth Derby with Authentic; an apparent seventh Derby win by Baffert with Medina Spirit in 2021 was taken away via disqualification when the colt tested positive for the corticosteroid bethmethasone. Arcaro's record was tied in 1969, when Bill Hartack rode 1969 Derby winner Majestic Prince for his fifth Derby score.)
- Hill Gail's Kentucky Derby win, coupled with Real Delight's triumph in the 1952 Kentucky Oaks, made Bull Lea the third stallion to have sired the winners of the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks in the same year. The other stallions to have completed the double are King Alfonso, sire of 1885 Derby winner Joe Cotton and 1885 Oaks winner Lizzie Dwyer; McGee, sire of 1918 Derby winner Exterminator and Oaks winner Viva America; and Native Dancer, sire of 1966 Derby winner Kauai King and 1966 Oaks winner Native Street.
- Hill Gail's Kentucky Derby was the first to be broadcast on national television in the United States.
- After Hill Gail acted up in the Kentucky Derby paddock, trainer Ben Jones reportedly got him settled down by punching him in the nose.
- Although Hill Gail was buried in Ireland, there is a plaque to his memory in the Calumet Farm horse cemetery.
Photo credit
Photographer unknown. From the private collection of Dale Wyatt; used by permission.
Last updated: May 7, 2022