Johnny D.
| Johnny D. | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Stage Door Johnny |
| Grandsire | Prince John |
| Dam | Dusk |
| Damsire | Olden Times |
| Sex | Gelding |
| Foaled | 1974 |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Dark Brown |
| Breeder | Miss Peggy Augustus |
| Owner | Dana S. Bray, Jr. |
| Trainer | Michael Kay |
| Record | 17: 7-2-6 |
| Earnings | US$$371,256 |
| Major wins | |
|
Washington, D.C. International Stakes (1977) Turf Classic Invitational Stakes (1977) Lexington Handicap (1977) |
|
| Awards | |
| American Champion Male Turf Horse (1977) | |
Johnny D. (foaled in 1974) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred in Virginia by Miss Peggy Augustus and raced under the Dana Bray banner as his owner. He finished racing with a record of 7-2-6 in 17 starts with career earnings of $371,256. Johnny D. was best known for his wins in the grade one Washington, D.C. International Stakes and the grade one Turf Classic Invitational Stakes. Although he raced for several years, 1977 is when he won all but his maiden race including his two grade one turf races. That same year he was named the country's top grass equine by being voted 1977 American Champion Male Turf Horse honors.
Johnny D. was a very late developing thoroughbred. As a two-year-old Johnny D. only raced four times, he placed third in twice and won a maiden race that year. He finished the year with an annual record of 1-0-2 in 4 starts.
Early in his three-year-old season, Johnny D. had moderate success in competition, but not in stakes races. Following a sixth-place finish on dirt in the Peter Pan Stakes, he was switched from dirt racing to grass racing, and began to improve. He won four turf races in a row, culminating with a victory in July, in the Lexington Handicap, a Grade II race formerly held at Belmont Park for three-year-olds on the turf (not to be confused with the Lexington Stakes, another stakes race for three-year-olds, run at Keeneland in April).
After winning an overnight handicap at Saratoga Race Course in August, he returned to Belmont in the fall, running third in the Grade II Lawrence Realization Stakes against three-year-olds, then trying older horses in graded stakes for the first time, in the Grade I Man o' War Stakes, where again he ran third. With the confidence that he could hold his own against older horses on turf, Johnny D. was shipped up to Canada to run in the Canadian International Stakes, a prestigious Grade I race run at Woodbine Racecourse in Toronto, Canada. There, he ran third to future National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame inductee Exceller.
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