Charles Hatton on Citation

Patuxet · Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 10:42 am Post subject: Charles Hatton on Citation

Charles Hatton on 1948 Horse of the Year and Triple Crown winner Citation from the 1949 American Racing Manual.

http://ddink55.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/citation-1948/
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"He is pure air and fire and the dull elements of earth and water never appear in him; he is indeed a horse ..." Wm. Shakespeare - Henry V

Barcaldine · Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:49 pm Post subject:

IMO Citation is #1. Better than Man o'War, Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Spectacular Bid, *Ribot, *Sea-Bird, Nijinsky, Kelso, Sir Ivor, and all other superstars.

Hatton's description of Citation failed to elaborate on some of his most astonishing accomplishments. First off, he raced mostly against older horses in his 3yo year. As an early 3yo he defeated the previous year's Horse of the Year ARMED at Hialeah. That would be similar to HANSEN easily beating a horse equal to or better than the 2011 Horse of The Year before he was 36 months old. The quality of horses Citation continued to beat IMO far surpassed those which Man o' War, Secretariat and the others faced. He won 27 of his first 29 starts and clearly was the best horse in his two defeats, but was not punished by Arcaro to win them because they were either a prep race or a race won by another Calumet horse.

In contrast, Man O War won 20 of 21, only once against older horses. Secretariat won 16 of 21, only several times against his elders, and then not until September of his 3yo year.

Citation won the one mile Jerome in October then returned seven days later to win the two mile Jockey Club Gold Cup, both times over the best older horses in training. And he did it all easily.

If Citation had been retired at the end of his 3yo year---like Man o' War and Secretariat---his reputation would have been seen by historians in a much more favorable light. But because Calumet wanted him to earn $1 million he was returned to the races after a year's layoff (osselets) and ran into a monster in a fresh, sound *NOOR. He surpassed $1 million in earnings but lost much of the glory he had earned at 2 and 3.

As a stallion he was mismanaged worse than Man o' War. Bred mostly to Calumet's stamina-laden mares, he failed to reproduce himself. However, when bred to FAST mares he sired several outstanding runners--champion SILVER SPOON (fast *Mahmoud dam), FABIUS (dam inbred 3 x 3 The Tetrarch), RECITE, WATCH YOUR STEP and GUADALCANAL. (By the way, this is the identical scenario SECRETARIAT followed----his best foals were produced by FAST--not classic--mares).

My vote for the greatest racehorse is, without hesitation, CITATION.

ElPrado · Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 6:45 pm Post subject:

There's your answer. Take your speed bred mare and breed it to something at Claiborne.

Barcaldine · Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:34 pm Post subject:

If it were only that simple.

ElPrado · Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 11:18 pm Post subject:

Try Arch. It just became simpler.

Barcaldine · Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 6:06 am Post subject:

First Samurai? Horse Greeley? Trappe Shot? War Front?

ElPrado · Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 7:45 am Post subject:

No, those actually have a little speed. Arch wants some. I'm still of the opinion that he would do the best of their stallions with a speed injection. He tends to sire offspring that want to go longer than the races being written any more.

Barcaldine · Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 9:05 am Post subject:

Basically I agree, although ARCH is out of a MR. P dam from a fast female family (ALTHEA).

Seth has been getting away from the stayers--like PRINCEQUILLO, ROUND TABLE, BLENHEIM II, *LE FABULEUX, *HERBAGER, etc.---that his father built the farm around. The market demands more speed than ever before and he has adjusted. So breeding a speed mare to anything at Claiborne is no longer a sure fire mating.

Zahrah · Maiden Special Weight Joined: 24 May 2011 Posts: 154

Arch is out of a Danzig daughter of Althea, not a Mr. Prospector one.

I love my Arch this year out of a Seeking the Gold mare. The cross has been pretty exceptional.

The horse who is doing much better with speed mares currently is Mineshaft. He was bred to a lot of Classic types early on but even Lane's End will mention his success rate with speed mares as being much better. Our fast Touch Gold mare just dropped a colt by him.

Another stallion who was bred to stamina early on and didn't do a ton but who is now turning it on with fast mares is Empire Maker.

da hossman · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 6:37 am Post subject:

Barcaldine, while Bull Hancock did import/stand stamina stallions, don't forget all the brilliant stallions that have stood at Claiborne - Nasrullah, Bold Ruler, etc.

Something that is rarely mentioned is how wealth often directs the location and flow of top quality bloodstock. In the post WWII years the US bought & imported the highest quality bloodstock from a poor Europe. In recent years just the opposite has happened.

10-15 years ago I did fairly well watching for Group Stakes horses out of US mares, then finding and selling their dams & sisters to the British. Now days it is rare to see a US bred horse in the top three of any Group Stake, and the odd US breds that do appear are almost always Coolmore, Juddmonte or Darley homebreds.
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Barcaldine · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 8:19 am Post subject:

Hossman,

We probably hunted for the same mares in the 80s and 90s! I did (do) the same thing. But you're absolutely right in everything you say. US-breds arent as dominant as they were, and Bull did indeed improve on his father's aging group of classic types. But since Bernie Sams has come on board Claiborne's emphasis has been more on speed types, with a few exceptions like Political Force (BTW, what happened to him?).

No one here has rebutted my comments on Citation. Where do you stand?

Barcaldine · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 8:20 am Post subject:

Hossman,

We probably hunted for the same mares in the 80s and 90s! I did (do) the same thing. But you're absolutely right in everything you say. US-breds arent as dominant as they were, and Bull did indeed improve on his father's aging group of classic types. But since Bernie Sams has come on board Claiborne's emphasis has been more on speed types, with a few exceptions like Political Force (BTW, what happened to him?).

No one here has rebutted my comments on Citation. Where do you stand?

Barcaldine · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 8:22 am Post subject:

Hossman,

We probably hunted for the same mares in the 80s and 90s! I did (do) the same thing. But you're absolutely right in everything you say. US-breds arent as dominant as they were, and Bull did indeed improve on his father's aging group of classic types. But since Bernie Sams has come on board Claiborne's emphasis has been more on speed types, with a few exceptions like Political Force (BTW, what happened to him?).

No one here has rebutted my comments on Citation. Where do you stand?

da hossman · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 5:02 pm Post subject:

Hi Barc -

I am a fan of Citation and agree the quest for racing's first millionaire with a once dominant horse clearly past his prime has greatly impacted Citation's legacy. However I cannot say that I would rank him #1, I remain a Big Red fan.

As far as his breeding performance I yield to your analysis as I have not researched it. Certainly sounds plausible to me.
_________________
A difference of opinion is what makes horse racing and missionaries.

Will Rogers

zinn21 · 3rd Year Sire Joined: 31 Jan 2005 Posts: 3306

Citation was a great horse. It's always difficult to say who is/was the best since it is essentially hypothetical. From a shear athletic standpoint I have never seen a horse with more ability than Secretariat so he remains my top horse.