Regret (USA)
April 2, 1912 – April 14, 1934
Broomstick (USA) x Jersey Lightning (USA), by Hamburg (USA)
American Family 1
April 2, 1912 – April 14, 1934
Broomstick (USA) x Jersey Lightning (USA), by Hamburg (USA)
American Family 1
Forever remembered as the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby, Regret was regarded as the best racer of her crop at both 2 and 3 and the best older female at 5. Her sheer brilliance and class were enough to offset very brief campaigns, as she never made more than four starts in any season. She was much less successful as a broodmare than as a racer.
Race record
11 starts, 9 wins, 1 second, 0 thirds, US$34,093
1914:
- Won Saratoga Special (USA, 6FD, Saratoga)
- Won Sanford Memorial Stakes (USA, 6FD, Saratoga)
- Won Hopeful Stakes (USA, 6FD, Saratoga)
1915:
- Won Kentucky Derby (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Saranac Handicap (USA, 8FD, Saratoga)
1917:
- Won Gazelle Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Aqueduct)
- 2nd Brooklyn Handicap (USA, 9FD, Aqueduct)
- Also set a track record of 1:24-1/5 for seven furlongs in an overnight handicap at Aqueduct
Honors
- National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1957)
- Saratoga Hoofprints Walk of Fame (inducted as part of the inaugural class in 2013)
- American Horse of the Year (1915)
- American champion 2-year-old filly (1914)
- American champion 3-year-old filly (1915)
- American champion handicap female (1917)
Assessments
Regret was rated #71 among the top 100 American racehorses of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by The Blood-Horse (Thoroughbred Champions, Eclipse Press, 7th printing, 2005). She was 12th among the 26 fillies and mares on the list.
In a poll of the American Trainers Association conducted by Delaware Park in 1955, Regret was rated the third best filly or mare ever to run in North America.
As an individual
In a contemporary account, Regret was described as "a fine, big mare with a prominent forehead, stout neck, beautifully laid shoulders, great depth in front and narrow. She was rather light in the flanks, tail set on high, with considerable length behind the saddle; her hind legs were not very straight." She had suffered from a respiratory ailment during her Kentucky Derby preparation and was troubled with a slight but persistent breathing problem following her Derby win.
As a producer
Regret produced 11 named foals, of which nine were starters and five were winners. Her important foals are as follow:
- Penitent (1918, by Pennant) was stakes-placed on the track and produced stakes winner Easter Hatter (by Mad Hatter).
- Revenge (1920, by Chicle; a gelding) won the 1923 Yonkers Handicap.
- Nemesis (1921, by Johren) produced 1931 Gazelle Stakes winner Avenger (by Dis Donc), multiple stakes winner Red Rag (by Pennant) and the stakes-winning steeplechaser Rhadamanthus (by Pennant). Avenger, in turn, produced stakes winner Spiteful (by St. Germans) and is the second dam of 1951 Wood Memorial Stakes winner Repetoire.
- Stigma (1923, by Johren) produced the steeplechase stakes winner Blot (by Peter Pan).
- Rueful (1927, by St. Germans) produced the high-class handicapper First Fiddle (by Royal Minstrel). She is also the second dam of Miss Dundee, a multiple stakes winner and multiple stakes producer.
- Mea Culpa (1928, by St. Germans) is the second dam of the good handicapper Divine Comedy.
Connections
Regret was bred and owned by Harry Payne Whitney and was foaled at Whitney's Brookdale Farm in New Jersey. She was trained by James Rowe, Sr. Out of respect for Whitney's brother-in-law Alfred Vanderbilt, who perished in the sinking of the Lusitania on May 7, 1914, she was leased to Whitey's friend L. S. Thompson for the remainder of 1915 and won the Saranac Handicap in his colors. Regret spent her retirement in the Whitney broodmare band at Whitney's Kentucky farm. She died April 14, 1934, three days after producing her last foal; The Blood-Horse gave the cause of her death as "an internal hemorrhage."
Pedigree notes
Regret is inbred 4x5 to two-time American champion sire Bonnie Scotland and 5x5 to four-time American champion sire Leamington. She is a full sister to 1915 Futurity Stakes winner Thunderer and multiple Canadian stakes winner Barnegat. She is also a half sister to 1916 Champagne Stakes winner Vivid (by All Gold). Regret's third dam, Modesty (by War Dance), won the 1884 Kentucky Oaks and American Derby and is considered the American co-champion 3-year-old filly of 1884.
Books and media
- “Regret” is the fourth chapter in Women of the Year: Ten Fillies Who Achieved Horse Racing's Highest Honor, a Blood-Horse compilation published in 2004 by Eclipse Press. The book was later updated and re-issued in 2011 as Horse Racing Divas: From Azeri to Zenyatta, Twelve Fillies and Mares Who Achieved Horse Racing's Highest Honor.
- The story of Regret's Kentucky Derby victory is told in “The First Lady,” the eighth chapter of The Ten Best Kentucky Derbies. Written by the staff and correspondents of The Blood-Horse, the book was released by Eclipse Press in 2005.
- Regret is profiled in Chapter 4 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
- 15 was apparently Regret's lucky number when it came to the 1915 Kentucky Derby. She was the 15th filly to run in the Derby and defeated 15 male rivals in the race.
- Regret was the first of three fillies to start as favorite in the Kentucky Derby. The others were Prudery, who ran as an entry with Tryster in 1921 and beat her stablemate half a length for third, and Nellie Flag, who went off as a lukewarm favorite in 1935 and finished fourth.
- Regret's Kentucky Derby victory was ranked #11 in Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments, a review of racing in the 20th century compiled by The Blood-Horse and released in 2006. Her influence on Derby history was summed up by Churchill Downs president Colonel Matt Winn, who said that Regret's victory made the great race “an American institution.”
- Regret had been scheduled to run in the Kentucky Oaks on May 21 but was withdrawn due to illness, missing the chance to become the only filly in history to complete a Kentucky Derby—Kentucky Oaks double. Since the races are now scheduled on consecutive days, the chance that the double will ever be completed is virtually nil.
- The field in the 1917 Brooklyn Handicap marked the first meeting between Kentucky Derby winners; Old Rosebud (1914), Regret (1915) and Omar Khayyam (1917) were all among the entries. Regret turned back both her male counterparts but lost by a nose to her stablemate Borrow, who was getting a 5-pound weight concession from her and had to set a new American or world record (depending on the reference consulted) for the 9-furlong distance to do it .
- The Regret Stakes was inaugurated in 1970 at Churchill Downs. As of 2022, it is a Grade 3 race for 3-year-old fillies over 9 furlongs on turf. Monmouth Park also hosts a Regret Stakes; this is a race over 6 furlongs on dirt for fillies and mares aged 3 and up.
Photo credit
Photographer unknown. From the private collection of Dale Wyatt; used by permission.
Last updated: March 20, 2022