Mate (horse)

Mate (foaled 1928 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1931 Preakness Stakes.

Mate
SirePrince Pal
GrandsirePrince Palatine
DamKillashandra
DamsireAmbassador
SexStallion
Foaled1928
CountryUnited States
ColourChestnut
BreederAlbert C. Bostwick, Jr.
OwnerAlbert C. Bostwick, Jr.
TrainerJames W. Healy
Record75: 20-14-19
EarningsUS$301,810[1]
Major wins
Spalding Lowe Jenkins Handicap (1930)
Walden Stakes (1930)
Breeders' Futurity Stakes (1930)
Champagne Stakes (1930)
Stanley Produce Stakes (1931)
Thanksgiving Day Handicap (1931, 1933)
Kenner Stakes (1931)
Arlington Classic (1931)
American Derby (1931)
Bowie Handicap (1931)
Challenge Stakes (1934) American Classic Race wins:
Preakness Stakes (1931)
Last updated on January 21, 2010

Background

From modest parentage, Mate was bred and raced by Albert C. Bostwick, Jr., whose grandfather was a founding partner of Standard Oil. Mate was trained by Jim Healy and had to race against very strong opponents in 1930 and 1931 when he was part of what the Chicago Tribune newspaper called the "big four" in racing which included Twenty Grand, Jamestown, and Equipoise.[2]

Racing career

United States

At age two, Mate won several races including two from the most important for his age group, the Breeders' Futurity Stakes and the Champagne Stakes. The following year, in what was the first leg of the 1931 U.S. Triple Crown series, on May 9 Mate beat Twenty Grand to win Preakness Stakes while equaling the stakes record.[3] That year's Kentucky Derby was then run on May 16 and won by Twenty Grand with Mate finishing third behind runner-up, Sweep All. He did not run in the Belmont Stakes but went on to win the prestigious American Derby in Chicago and beat Twenty Grand for the second time while winning the Arlington Classic in which he set a new Arlington Park track record of 2:02 2-5 for 1¼ miles on dirt.[4]

Racing in 1932 and 1933, at age four and five, Mate won the 1933 Thanksgiving Day Handicap at Bowie Race Track, a race he had previously won as a three-year-old.[5][6] and had second and third-place finishes in some of the major racing events including the Brooklyn and Metropolitan Handicaps.

England

In 1934, the then six-year-old mate was sent to England with the ultimate goal of winning the Ascot Gold Cup at Ascot Racecourse. Having been accustomed to race on flat, oval dirt tracks for most of his career he now had to adapt to European turf courses. He first ran in the Newbury Spring Cup in mid April without showing well, then finished third in the City and Suburban Handicap at Epsom Downs. He was second on the same racecourse in the Coronation Cup but out of the money behind Felicitation in June's Ascot Gold Cup.[7][8] Mate won his first and only stakes in England on October 19, 1934, capturing the Challenge Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse.[9]

Stud record

Retired to stud duty, from a limited number of offspring, Mate most notably sired Elkridge, a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee who was the American Champion Steeplechase Horse in 1942 and 1946.[10]

Breeding
Pedigree of Mate
Sire
Prince Pal

bay 1917

 Prince Palatine

bay 1908

 Persimmon St. Simon
Perdita II
Lady Lightfoot Isinglass
Glare
Wilful Maid

ch. 1910

 Sundridge Amphion
Sierra
Marian Hood Martagon
Maid Marion
Dam
Killashandra

bay 1922

 Ambassador

brown 1911

 Dark Ronald Bay Ronald
Darkie
Excellenza Haut Brion
Gulbeyaz
The Banshee

bay 1914

 His Majesty Melton
Silver Sea
Bannagroe St. Aidan
Stella

References
  1. "Mate Horse Pedigree". Pedigreequery.com. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  2. "CHICAGO TO SEE 3 YEAR OLD TURF CHAMP CROWNED". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. 1931-03-22. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  3. "Mate wins rich Preakness". Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  4. "MATE CLIPS RECORD IN $85,150 CLASSIC". Select.nytimes.com. 1931-07-19. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  5. BRYAN FIELD. Times Wide World Photo. (1931-11-27). "25,0000 See Mate Triumph Over White Clover II". Select.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  6. "MATE HOME FIRST IN BOWIE FEATURE". Select.nytimes.com. 1933-12-01. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  7. "Mate Fails in Ascot bid". Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  8. "Mate runs third". Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  9. Associated, The (1934-10-19). "Bostwick's Mate Annexes Challenge Stakes By Head". Select.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  10. "American Champion Steeplechasers". Tbheritage.com. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
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