Head Play
| Head Play | |
|---|---|
| Sire | My Play |
| Grandsire | Fair Play |
| Dam | Red Head |
| Damsire | King Gorin |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1930 |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Chestnut (color) |
| Breeder | R. L. Baker |
| Owner | Mrs. Silas B. Moon |
| Trainer | Thomas P. Hayes |
| Record | 38: 14-5-5 |
| Earnings | $109,315 |
| Major wins | |
|
Suburban Handicap (1935) Preakness Stakes (1933) Kentucky Derby 2nd (1933) |
|
| Last updated on May 30, 2011 | |
Suburban Handicap (1935)
Derby Trial Stakes (1933)
San Juan Capistrano Handicap (1935)
San Antonio Handicap (1935)
Bay Meadows Handicap (1935)
Hawthorne Juvenile Stakes (1932)
Cincinnati Trophy (1932)
Head Play (foaled in Kentucky in 1930) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1933 Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series of races and as the horse on the losing end of the "Fighting Finish" of the 1933 Kentucky Derby.
At age two, Head Play broke his maiden in his second start. He went on to win the one and one sixteenth mile Hawthorne Juvenile Stakes in December at Hawthorne Race Course in Cicero, Illinois, before being freshened over the winter. In his three-year-old season, he won the Derby Trial Stakes at one mile at Churchill Downs on opening weekend.
That win convinced his connections, trainer Thomas Hayes and owner Mrs. Mason, to enter Head Play in the $25,000 Preakness Stakes run at a mile and three sixteenth at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course. In the time leading up to the race, he began uneasy in the paddock, bucking and exhibiting fractious behavior and was unable to be placed in the stall for saddling. In the race, he broke from gate four as the post time 2-1 favorite. He was immediately sent by his jockey Charles Kurtsinger to the outside, shifting across several other paths to the middle of the track. He outran all others, including Kentucky Derby winner Brokers Tip, to the first turn, completing the first quarter mile in :23-3/5. He rated by slowing down the pace on the back stretch but was still in front comfortably. He shook off several challenges from Ladysman and then drew off in the last quarter mile to win by four lengths. He won the Preakness in a final time of 2:02, paying $5.60 to win. The Derby winner, Brokers Tip, finished last in the field of ten.
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