Middleground (USA)
April 22, 1947 – February 16, 1972
Bold Venture (USA) x Verguenza (USA), by Chicaro (USA)
Family 4-m
April 22, 1947 – February 16, 1972
Bold Venture (USA) x Verguenza (USA), by Chicaro (USA)
Family 4-m
A consistent but none too sound colt, Middleground was right up with the leaders of his crop for as long as he lasted. Unfortunately, he passed on unsoundness too often to be as consistent as a sire as he had been as a racehorse, and he was subfertile as well.
Race record
15 starts, 6 wins, 6 seconds, 2 thirds, US$237,725
1949:
1950:
Honors
Inducted into the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2000.
Assessments
Highweighted at 126 pounds atop the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1949, two pounds above the official divisional co-champions, Hill Prince and Oil Capitol.
Ranked second among American juveniles of 1949 by The Blood-Horse.
Ranked second among American 3-year-old males of 1950 by The Blood-Horse.
As an individual
A smallish chestnut, Middleground had a nicely sloped shoulder and strong hindquarters with good muscling extending into the gaskin. His weakness was his bad ankles. He had a tendency to bear out around the turns. He was retired after breaking a bone in one foot in the 1950 Jerome Handicap, the only time he finished out of the money.
As a stallion
According to statistics kept by The Jockey Club, Middleground sired 101 winners (77.7%) and 7 stakes winners (5.4%) from 130 named foals. His fillies were better than his colts.
Notable progeny
Here and There (USA), Resaca (USA)
Connections
Foaled in Texas, Middleground was bred and owned by the King Ranch. He was trained by Max Hirsch. He entered stud at the King Ranch in 1951 and died in 1972. He is buried at the King Ranch near Kingsville, Texas.
Pedigree notes
Middleground is inbred 4x5 to two-time American Horse of the Year Commando. He is a half brother to Party Call (by Equestrian), dam of multiple stakes winner Sub Call (by One Sub).
Verguenza, the dam of Middleground, won one of her five starts. Her sire Chicaro had little to recommend him as a racehorse but had a fine pedigree (by 1931 American champion sire Chicle and from the excellent Whitney family of Remembrance) and was the first Thoroughbred stallion to stand at the King Ranch. Her dam Blushing Sister, a daughter of 1926 Kentucky Derby winner Bubbling Over, never raced, but the next dam, the Bunting mare Lace, won the 1929 Ladies Handicap and is a half sister to multiple Canadian stakes winner Donstick (by Dis Donc).
Books and media
Middleground is profiled in Chapter 8 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipe Press).
Fun facts
Photo credit
Photographer unknown. From the collection of Quarter Horse Record (Susan Larkin); used by permission.
Last updated: January 27, 2022
Race record
15 starts, 6 wins, 6 seconds, 2 thirds, US$237,725
1949:
- Won Hopeful Stakes (USA, 6.5FD, Saratoga)
- 3rd Arlington Futurity (USA, 6FD, Arlington Futurity)
1950:
- Won Kentucky Derby (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Belmont Stakes (USA, 12FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Withers Stakes (USA, 8FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Wood Memorial Stakes (USA, 8.5FD, Jamaica)
- 2nd Preakness Stakes (USA, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
- 3rd Leonard Richards Stakes (USA, 9FD, Delaware)
Honors
Inducted into the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2000.
Assessments
Highweighted at 126 pounds atop the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1949, two pounds above the official divisional co-champions, Hill Prince and Oil Capitol.
Ranked second among American juveniles of 1949 by The Blood-Horse.
Ranked second among American 3-year-old males of 1950 by The Blood-Horse.
As an individual
A smallish chestnut, Middleground had a nicely sloped shoulder and strong hindquarters with good muscling extending into the gaskin. His weakness was his bad ankles. He had a tendency to bear out around the turns. He was retired after breaking a bone in one foot in the 1950 Jerome Handicap, the only time he finished out of the money.
As a stallion
According to statistics kept by The Jockey Club, Middleground sired 101 winners (77.7%) and 7 stakes winners (5.4%) from 130 named foals. His fillies were better than his colts.
Notable progeny
Here and There (USA), Resaca (USA)
Connections
Foaled in Texas, Middleground was bred and owned by the King Ranch. He was trained by Max Hirsch. He entered stud at the King Ranch in 1951 and died in 1972. He is buried at the King Ranch near Kingsville, Texas.
Pedigree notes
Middleground is inbred 4x5 to two-time American Horse of the Year Commando. He is a half brother to Party Call (by Equestrian), dam of multiple stakes winner Sub Call (by One Sub).
Verguenza, the dam of Middleground, won one of her five starts. Her sire Chicaro had little to recommend him as a racehorse but had a fine pedigree (by 1931 American champion sire Chicle and from the excellent Whitney family of Remembrance) and was the first Thoroughbred stallion to stand at the King Ranch. Her dam Blushing Sister, a daughter of 1926 Kentucky Derby winner Bubbling Over, never raced, but the next dam, the Bunting mare Lace, won the 1929 Ladies Handicap and is a half sister to multiple Canadian stakes winner Donstick (by Dis Donc).
Books and media
Middleground is profiled in Chapter 8 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipe Press).
Fun facts
- Middleground was sired by 1936 Kentucky Derby winner Bold Venture and was the second horse to win the Run for the Roses with an apprentice (Bill Boland) in the saddle. The first? Bold Venture, whose jockey Ira Hanford still had his “bug” (the asterisk denoting an apprentice jockey in a racing program) when he steered the son of St. Germans to victory.
- Five-time Derby-winning jockey Eddie Arcaro actually had the option to ride Middleground in the 1950 Kentucky Derby but opted for Hill Prince instead. He finished second.
Photo credit
Photographer unknown. From the collection of Quarter Horse Record (Susan Larkin); used by permission.
Last updated: January 27, 2022