Typhoon II (USA)
April 17, 1894 – After 1904
Top Gallant (GB) x Dolly Varden (USA), by Glenelg (USA)
American Family 18
April 17, 1894 – After 1904
Top Gallant (GB) x Dolly Varden (USA), by Glenelg (USA)
American Family 18
The 1897 Kentucky Derby was contested over a heavy track, and the jockeys' choice of tactics aboard favored Ornament and second choice Typhoon II may well have been the difference in the race. While “Buttons” Garner on Typhoon II got his mount away from the barrier smartly and raced to an early lead down the middle of the track where the footing was best, Alonzo Clayton on Ornament elected to race along the rail after a slow break, hoping the shorter distance would make up for the heavier going there. Ornament responded gamely to the whip in the stretch, but Typhoon II had just enough left to stave him off by a head. Typhoon II continued to race well that year and was never out of the money as a 3-year-old but was less consistent at 4 and was gelded at the end of his 4-year-old season after developing a “throat malady.” Attempts were made to bring him back to racing at ages 5 and 6 without success, and he was eventually given away for service as a cart horse.
Race record
39 starts, 19 wins, 9 seconds, 3 thirds, US$22,325
1896:
1897:
1898:
As an individual
A chestnut horse, Typhoon II had prominent withers, short coupling, and a good, straight hind leg. He typically carried his head high and was a free-running horse who did not respond well to the whip. He developed a “throat malady” during his 4-year-old season and became unreliable as a racehorse, possibly due to other physical ailments as well as the throat problem as he was fired as a 5-year-old.
Connections
Foaled in Tennessee, Typhoon II was bred by John B. Ewing at his Willamette Farm. He was owned and trained by Julius C. “Lou” Cahn who bought Typhoon II for US$250 as a yearling. In August 1897, Cahn sold Typhoon II to Arthur Featherstone's Bromley & Co. for US$12,000. The horse was trained by Julius Bauer after the sale but did not run after age 4. After efforts to get the horse back to racing over the next several years came to nothing, Featherstone gave Bauer permission to dispose of the animal as he saw fit in late 1903 or early 1904. Bauer did so by giving him to a farmer friend, and Typhoon II spent the rest of his days pulling a cart.
Pedigree notes
Typhoon II is inbred 5x5 to two-time English champion sire Melbourne. He is a half brother to Montvale (by Duke of Montrose), dam of the minor stakes winner Bertmont (by Albert), and to Henrietta (by Baden-Baden), dam of the multiple minor stakes winner Highlander (by Ben Strome).
Dolly Varden, the dam of Typhoon II, was produced from the Virgil matron Nannie Black and is a half sister to Brown Princess (by Prince Charlie), dam of 1901 Saratoga Handicap winner Rockton (by Meddler), and to Princess Blandina (by Prince Charlie), dam of stakes winner Truro (by Atheling). The next dam in Typhoon II's tail-female line, Nannie Butler (by Lexington), traces back in her female descent to Cary's Tryal Mare, the foundation mare of American Family 18, whose dam, the Randolph of Chatsworth Mare, is now considered the foundation mare of American Family 13 as well through another unnamed daughter of Tryal. It is possible and even probable that the two Tryal mares are actually the same animal, but this has not been reliably confirmed.
Fun facts
Race record
39 starts, 19 wins, 9 seconds, 3 thirds, US$22,325
1896:
- Won Westchester Highweight Handicap (USA, 6.5FD, Morris Park)
- Won Golden Rod Stakes (USA, 7FD, Sheepshead Bay)
- Won Brewers' Stakes (USA, 6FD, St. Louis)
- 2nd Nursery Stakes (USA. Morris Park)
- 2nd Great Eastern Stakes (USA, @5.75FD, Sheepshead Bay)
- 2nd Two-Year-Old Champion Stakes (USA, 5.5FD, St. Louis)
- 3rd Kindergarten Stakes (USA, St. Louis)
1897:
- Won Kentucky Derby (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won St. Louis Club Members Handicap (USA, 10FD, St. Louis)
- Won Memorial Handicap (USA, 8FD, St. Louis)
- Won Peabody Hotel Handicap (USA, 9FD, Memphis)
- Won Luerhmann Hotel Stakes (USA, 8FD, Memphis)
- Won Chickasaw Club Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Memphis)
- 2nd Tennessee Derby (USA, 9FD, Memphis)
- 2nd Fordham Heavyweight Handicap (USA, 8FD, Morris Park; from third by disqualification)
- 3rd St. Louis Derby (USA, 12FD, St. Louis)
1898:
- 3rd Coney Island Handicap (USA, 6FD, Sheepshead Bay)
As an individual
A chestnut horse, Typhoon II had prominent withers, short coupling, and a good, straight hind leg. He typically carried his head high and was a free-running horse who did not respond well to the whip. He developed a “throat malady” during his 4-year-old season and became unreliable as a racehorse, possibly due to other physical ailments as well as the throat problem as he was fired as a 5-year-old.
Connections
Foaled in Tennessee, Typhoon II was bred by John B. Ewing at his Willamette Farm. He was owned and trained by Julius C. “Lou” Cahn who bought Typhoon II for US$250 as a yearling. In August 1897, Cahn sold Typhoon II to Arthur Featherstone's Bromley & Co. for US$12,000. The horse was trained by Julius Bauer after the sale but did not run after age 4. After efforts to get the horse back to racing over the next several years came to nothing, Featherstone gave Bauer permission to dispose of the animal as he saw fit in late 1903 or early 1904. Bauer did so by giving him to a farmer friend, and Typhoon II spent the rest of his days pulling a cart.
Pedigree notes
Typhoon II is inbred 5x5 to two-time English champion sire Melbourne. He is a half brother to Montvale (by Duke of Montrose), dam of the minor stakes winner Bertmont (by Albert), and to Henrietta (by Baden-Baden), dam of the multiple minor stakes winner Highlander (by Ben Strome).
Dolly Varden, the dam of Typhoon II, was produced from the Virgil matron Nannie Black and is a half sister to Brown Princess (by Prince Charlie), dam of 1901 Saratoga Handicap winner Rockton (by Meddler), and to Princess Blandina (by Prince Charlie), dam of stakes winner Truro (by Atheling). The next dam in Typhoon II's tail-female line, Nannie Butler (by Lexington), traces back in her female descent to Cary's Tryal Mare, the foundation mare of American Family 18, whose dam, the Randolph of Chatsworth Mare, is now considered the foundation mare of American Family 13 as well through another unnamed daughter of Tryal. It is possible and even probable that the two Tryal mares are actually the same animal, but this has not been reliably confirmed.
Fun facts
- Typhoon II was the third horse bred in Tennessee to win the Kentucky Derby. The others were Lord Murphy (1877) and Kingman (1891).
- Typhoon II was injured on September 9 of his 2-year-old season when a yearling got loose and ran into him while he was training at Sheepshead Bay. His owner had only just refused an offer of US$10,000 for him at the time of the accident. The initial report was that the colt's injuries might be career-ending, but Typhoon II came back in October of the same year to win the Westchester Highweight Handicap.
- According to the June 12, 1897, edition of the Thoroughbred Record, Typhoon II may have been photographed only once—and that without permission—because his owner-trainer, Lou Cahn, felt that taking a picture would “put a hoodoo” on the colt.
- While racing in sprints under highweight handicap conditions as a 4-year-old, Typhoon II successfully carried as much as 145 pounds.