A highly strung, nervous animal, Mahubah was fairly typical of the mares in August Belmont II's broodmare band. While most were well-bred, virtually all were either lightly raced or had not raced at all in keeping with Belmont's prejudice against heavily raced fillies as broodmares. Mahubah had raced just enough to satisfy Belmont that she possessed some speed before being retired to the paddocks. The great irony of her broodmare career was that she would produce the best horse Belmont ever bred—the legendary Man o' War—yet not one of her foals stayed in Belmont's hands. Sadly, Mahubah only produced five foals before becoming completely barren, but her family persists today and is one of the few that can boast an American Triple Crown champion as well as a horse for the ages.
Race record
5 starts, 1 win, 1 second, 0 thirds, US$390
As an individual
A bay mare, Mahubah had an excessively nervous disposition inherited from her sire Rock Sand. An old photograph of her suggests that she was lengthy and roomy with a well laid back shoulder and strong hindquarters.
As a producer
Mahubah produced five named foals, of which all started and four won. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Foaled at Nursery Stud in Kentucky, Mahubah was bred and owned by August Belmont II. She was trained by Sam Hildreth. After Belmont's death, Mahubah was purchased by Joseph Widener from the dispersal of Belmont's stock and remained at Widener's Elmendorf Farm for the rest of her life. She was buried next to Fair Play on land that is now part of Normandy Farm.
Pedigree notes
Mahubah is inbred 5x4 to 1863 St. Leger Stakes winner and 1876 English champion sire Lord Clifden, 5x5x5x5 to dual English Classic winner and seven-time English champion sire Stockwell and 5x5 to 1851 St. Leger Stakes winner and two-time English champion sire Newminster. She is a full sister to multiple English stakes winner Sand Mole and a half sister to two-time King Edward Gold Cup winner Tactics (by Hastings).
Mahubah was produced from the English import Merry Token, whose best win was the one-mile Leamington Handicap as a 3-year-old. A half sister to English stakes winners Tanzmeister (by Saraband), Watchtower (by Muncaster) and Watchful (by Thurio), she was sired by 1887 Derby Stakes winner Merry Hampton, an unsound horse who was widely criticized as one of the worst Derby winners in the race's history to that point. The criticism may have been rather unfair as Merry Hampton won the Derby in his first lifetime start and was second to Kilwarlin in the St. Leger Stakes by just half a length after getting a bad trip. Nonetheless, he was unquestionably a stud failure, as was the very fast 1870 Two Thousand Guineas winner Macgregor, sire of Merry Token's dam Mizpah.
Mizpah ran in selling races throughout her career and managed only two wins even at that humble level. She was one of 10 winners produced by an unnamed and unraced daughter of Underhand, winner of the Manchester Cup and the Great Ebor Handicap, and The Slayer's Daughter (by Cain), who also won the Manchester Cup (her first lifetime start) as a 3-year-old but carried just 70 pounds.
Fun facts
Last updated: December 6, 2024
Race record
5 starts, 1 win, 1 second, 0 thirds, US$390
As an individual
A bay mare, Mahubah had an excessively nervous disposition inherited from her sire Rock Sand. An old photograph of her suggests that she was lengthy and roomy with a well laid back shoulder and strong hindquarters.
As a producer
Mahubah produced five named foals, of which all started and four won. Her important foals are as follow:
- Masda (1915, by Fair Play) was a minor stakes winner in spite of inheriting a disposition that combined Mahubah's nervousness with the difficult temper of her paternal grandsire, Hastings. As a broodmare for Harry Payne Whitney, she produced 1925 Aqueduct Handicap winner Dazzler (by Whisk Broom II), 1939 Huron Handicap winner Maeda (by Pennant), multiple minor stakes winner Brilliant (by Broomstick) and claiming stakes winner Incandescent (by Chicle). Incandescent, in turn, produced stakes winners Fuego (by Bim Bam) and Flash Burn (by Brazado) and is the second dam of 1946 American Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year Assault, 1954 Gazelle Stakes winner On Your Own and three other stakes winners. Masda's most recent descendants include 2023 Canadian champion 3-year-old filly Elysian Field and 2018 Grade/Group 1 winners Leofric, Dream Tree, and Without Parole.
- Man o' War (1917, by Fair Play) was the unquestioned American Horse of the Year for 1920, and many still consider him the best American racehorse of all time. He was also the American champion sire of 1926, a highly influential broodmare sire and the progenitor of a male line that still persists through the descendants of his great-great-grandson In Reality.
- My Play (1919, by Fair Play) won the 1923 Aqueduct Handicap and the 1924 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Overshadowed by his famous older brother, he got relatively poor opportunities at stud but was a useful sire nonetheless, getting 1933 American champion 3-year-old male Head Play and some broodmare daughters who have kept his name alive in pedigrees.
Connections
Foaled at Nursery Stud in Kentucky, Mahubah was bred and owned by August Belmont II. She was trained by Sam Hildreth. After Belmont's death, Mahubah was purchased by Joseph Widener from the dispersal of Belmont's stock and remained at Widener's Elmendorf Farm for the rest of her life. She was buried next to Fair Play on land that is now part of Normandy Farm.
Pedigree notes
Mahubah is inbred 5x4 to 1863 St. Leger Stakes winner and 1876 English champion sire Lord Clifden, 5x5x5x5 to dual English Classic winner and seven-time English champion sire Stockwell and 5x5 to 1851 St. Leger Stakes winner and two-time English champion sire Newminster. She is a full sister to multiple English stakes winner Sand Mole and a half sister to two-time King Edward Gold Cup winner Tactics (by Hastings).
Mahubah was produced from the English import Merry Token, whose best win was the one-mile Leamington Handicap as a 3-year-old. A half sister to English stakes winners Tanzmeister (by Saraband), Watchtower (by Muncaster) and Watchful (by Thurio), she was sired by 1887 Derby Stakes winner Merry Hampton, an unsound horse who was widely criticized as one of the worst Derby winners in the race's history to that point. The criticism may have been rather unfair as Merry Hampton won the Derby in his first lifetime start and was second to Kilwarlin in the St. Leger Stakes by just half a length after getting a bad trip. Nonetheless, he was unquestionably a stud failure, as was the very fast 1870 Two Thousand Guineas winner Macgregor, sire of Merry Token's dam Mizpah.
Mizpah ran in selling races throughout her career and managed only two wins even at that humble level. She was one of 10 winners produced by an unnamed and unraced daughter of Underhand, winner of the Manchester Cup and the Great Ebor Handicap, and The Slayer's Daughter (by Cain), who also won the Manchester Cup (her first lifetime start) as a 3-year-old but carried just 70 pounds.
Fun facts
- In Arabic, Mahubah's name means “good greetings” or “good fortune.”
- Mahubah was often known as “Fair Play's wife” due to her fame as the dam of Man o' War and the fact that she was never mated to any other stallion.
- Mahubah was the first mare to produce three runners (Man o' War, Playfellow and My Play) that ran recorded times of better than 1:37 for the mile in competition—a considerable feat in a day when tracks were generally slower than they are now and most horses ran in iron shoes.
Last updated: December 6, 2024