SIR BARTON

In 1919 Sir Barton, (foaled 1916, died 1937) became the first horse to sweep the U.S. Triple Crown. The Kentucky Derby was the first race he ever won.

As a 2-year-old, Sir Barton had six starts. He was out of the money five times with a surprise second coming in the Belmont Futurity. He made his three-year-old debut in the Kentucky Derby|Derby, intended as a pacemaker for his highly regarded stablemate, Billy Kelly. Sir Barton led the field of 12 horses from start to finish, winning the race by five lengths.

Four days later Sir Barton won the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore. A week after that, he won the Withers Stakes at Belmont Park and the following Saturday he won the Belmont Stakes by five lengths. Before the year was out Sir Barton would also win the Potomac Handicap|Potomac and Maryland Handicap|Maryland Handicaps, the Pimlico Special and Fall Serial.

A son of the blind sire Star Shoot, Sir Barton was a blaze faced chestnut colt. He was plagued with tender feet. His shoeing was an intricate undertaking and the shelly-footed colt often lost his shoes during a race. In one race he lost all four shoes. It was always necessary to insert a strip of piano felt between the shoe and his foot.

As a four-year-old, during the 1920 season, Sir Barton won five of the 12 races he entered. He beat the great Exterminator in the Saratoga Handicap, setting a track record for 1¼ miles. Ten days later he won the Merchants & Citizens Handicap, setting another track record.

In 1920 Sir Barton campaigned in the shadow of the younger Man O’War. The two colts met once, in the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup, a match race for U.S. $80,000 on October 12, 1920. More than 32,000 race fans saw Man O’War win by seven lengths. Sir Barton’s record of 13 victories in 31 starts does not compare with Man O’War|Man O’War’s one loss in 21 trips to the post.

Sir Barton had been bred by John E. Madden and Vivian A. Gooch at Hamburg Place near Lexington, Kentucky. John E. Madden|Madden raced him in his two-year-old season, but sold the horse in 1918 for $10,000 to Canada|Canadian businessman, J. K. L. Ross, who described the horse as "an irascible, exasperating creature."

J. K. L. Ross|Ross placed Sir Barton in the hands of trainer H. Guy Bedwell and gave Johnny Loftus the reins for Sir Barton’s U.S. Triple Crown|Triple Crown races. Eight other jockeys also partnered Sir Barton, including Earl Sande who registered four consecutive stakes wins in 1920. Sir Bartons career included 12 stakes scores.

Amazingly, Sir Bartons U.S. Triple Crown|Triple Crown wins were accomplished in a space of just 32 days. (This though was an era before the Kentucky Derby|Derby, Preakness Stakes|Preakness and Belmont Stakes|Belmont were known as the U.S. Triple Crown|Triple Crown. Daily Racing Form columnist Charles Hatton first began using the term in the 1930’s.)

In 1919 Sir Barton was voted the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year, American racings highest honour. He retired to stud after his 1920 season and enjoyed moderate success. After his owner went bankrupt, Sir Barton spent the better part of the rest of his life as a working horse with the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps until being sold to the ranch owned by J.R. Hylton in Douglas, Wyoming.

Sir Barton died of colic on October 30, 1937 and is buried at Washington Park in Douglas, Wyoming.

==References==

*[http://www.pedigreequery.com/sir+barton Sir Bartons pedigree]
*[http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2006/derby_history/derby_charts/years/1919.html Sir Bartons Derby]

Category:1916 racehorse births
Category:1937 racehorse deaths
Category:American racehorses
Category:Kentucky Derby winners
Category:Famous horses
Category:Belmont Stakes winners
Category:Preakness Stakes winners