The handsome bay Equipoise, seen here in a painting by Franklin B. Voss, was nicknamed “The Chocolate Soldier” and was eloquently described by turf historian John Harvey as being “a living harmony in horseflesh that sung to the eye and made music to the heart.” Bred and owned by the Whitney stable, the Hall of Fame champion achieved a record of 29-10-4 in his 51 starts during a career that spanned from 1930 to 1935, despite missing the majority of his three-year-old season. His career took place long before the Eclipse Awards were established, but Equipoise was broadly considered to be the Champion Two-Year-Old Colt in 1930, Horse of the Year in 1932 and 1933, and Best Older Horse in 1932, 1933, and 1934. In 1933 he gained the reputation of being “King of the Handicap Horses” as he blazed through a string of consecutive victories in the Philadelphia Handicap, Wilson Stakes, Suburban Handicap, Saratoga Cup, Hawthorne Gold Cup, Metropolitan Handicap, and Arlington Handicap. At the time of his retirement at age 6, his career earnings of $338,610 were the second-highest in history. Equipoise’s stud career was only four seasons in length, as the stallion passed away at the age of 10. However, in 1942 – four years after his death – Equipoise was the leading sire in the country due to the success of his progeny, particularly the Kentucky Derby/Belmont winner Shut Out. In The Jockey Clubs Illustrated History of Thoroughbred Racing in America, author Edward L. Bowen states that to this day, horsemen of an age to have seen him have a reverence for the Chocolate Soldier, a tribute to his courage as much as to his vaunted speed.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 04:17:13 +0000
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