Celtic Ash

Celtic Ash
Sire	Sicambre
Grandsire	Prince Bio
Dam	Ash Plant
Damsire	Nepenthe
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1957
Country	Great Britain
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Lord Harrington
Owner	Joseph E. O'Connell
Trainer	Thomas J. Barry
Record	9: 3-1-3
Earnings	$130,065
Major wins
Triple Crown race wins: Belmont Stakes (1960)

Celtic Ash (1957–1978) was an English-bred Thoroughbred racehorse raised in Ireland who is best known for winning the 1960 Belmont Stakes.

Celtic Ash was a bay horse bred by Lord Harrington. He was out of the mare Ash Plant and sired by Sicambre, the Leading sire in France in 1966. On the advice of Irish-born trainer Tom Barry, Celtic Ash was purchased by Boston, Massachusetts banker Joseph E. O'Connell, who imported him to the United States to race for his Green Dunes Farm.

At age two, Celtic Ash made three starts without winning, then at three made a total of six starts. He was not entered in the Kentucky Derby but won two minor races at Laurel Park Racecourse, in one of which he set a new track record time for one mile. [1] He was then entered in the May 14, 1960, Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series. Under jockey Sam Boulmetis, longshot Celtic Ash finished third behind runner-up Victoria Park and winner Bally Ache.

Unlike today, the $100,000 added Jersey Derby at Monmouth Park Racetrack was run between the Preakness and the third leg of the U.S. Triple Crown. The New Jersey race regularly drew the top three-year-olds and more than 50,000 fans attended on Memorial Day 1960 to see Celtic Ash, under future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey Bill Hartack, finish third behind Bally Ache and Tompion. Hartack had ridden Venetian Way to victory in the Kentucky Derby but had been criticized for his ride on the colt after he finished fifth in the Preakness Stakes. After the Jersey Derby, Hartack accepted trainer Tom Barry's offer to ride Celtic Ash again in the upcoming Belmont Stakes.

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