Meet Exterminator, a chestnut gelding who was the most successful horse prior to the Man O War era, was described as bony and unattractive, but he won 50 of 99 races in 8 seasons. (Found frequently and in long-time error is the assertion that Exterminator started in 100 races. Per the research and subsequent book Exterminator - #18 in the Thoroughbred Legends series, author Eva Jolene Boyd reviewed all records of his starts and the record keeping by the Daily Racing Form and found evidence that he only had 99 official racing starts.) That includes the 1918 Kentucky Derby, where he was a 29-to-1 long shot, in just his fifth race. While he may not have been the secret sire of a former champion (as one of the horses in Luck is portrayed), but he certainly performed like one. He had originally been tagged as a work horse in order to help train his owners blue-chipper, named Sun Briar, but he outshone that horse and most others before he was done. When Man o War was three, Kilmer tried to arrange a match race between him and Exterminator. Man o Wars owner, Samuel Riddle, seemed to agree, but the race never took place. Racing until the age of 9, a relatively old age for a race horse, Exterminator was called by his many fans Old Bones or The Galloping Hatrack (amongst the stable lads, he was Old Shang). He was retired in 1924 to a life of grass and leisure, with a succession of companion ponies, all named Peanuts, at his side. In 1957, Exterminator was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. The Blood-Horse ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century put him at #29. His career record of 33 stakes wins has never been broken by any thoroughbred raced in North America.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 23:39:38 +0000
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