Mr. Prospector | |
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Mr. Prospector at Claiborne Farm in 1981
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Sire | Raise a Native |
Grandsire | Native Dancer |
Dam | Gold Digger |
Damsire | Nashua |
Sex | Stallion |
Foaled | January 28, 1970 |
Died | June 1, 1999 | (aged 29)
Country | United States |
Colour | Bay |
Breeder | Leslie Combs II |
Owner | Abraham I. Savin |
Trainer | Jimmy Croll |
Record | 14: 7–4–2 |
Earnings | $112,170 |
Major wins | |
Gravesend Handicap (1974) Whirlaway Handicap (1974) |
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Awards | |
Leading sire in North America (1987, 1988) Leading broodmare sire in North America (1997–2003, 2005–06) |
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Honours | |
Mr. Prospector Stakes at Gulfstream Park | |
Last updated on January 9, 2010 |
Mr. Prospector (January 28, 1970 – June 1, 1999) was a Thoroughbred racehorse foaled in Kentucky whose descendants have dominated the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. He won half of his 14 career races.
Mr. Prospector's sire was Raise a Native, a son of Native Dancer. He was out of the mare Gold Digger, a daughter of Nashua. He was the highest-priced horse at the 1971 Keeneland July sale of selected yearlings, selling for $220,000 (equivalent to $1.30 million in 2016). "Mr. P", as he came to be known, was trained by Jimmy Croll, a Hall of Fame member who went on to train Holy Bull.
At maturity, he reached 16 hands (64 inches, 163 cm) high.
Mr. Prospector was a contemporary of Secretariat. He did not contest the Triple Crown, but he proved successful over sprint distances. Mr. Prospector won the Gravesend Handicap and the Whirlaway Handicap and set track records for six furlongs (1,207 m) at Gulfstream Park and Garden State.
Mr. Prospector sired one winner of each of the Triple Crown races, a feat his grandson, Unbridled, has also accomplished. His Triple Crown race winners were 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus; 1985 Preakness Stakes winner Tank's Prospect; and 1982 Belmont Stakes winner and Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year Conquistador Cielo. Mr. Prospector's bloodline has been highly influential in the top echelons of Thoroughbred racing. All eight horses entered into the 2015 Belmont Stakes were descendants, through their sires, of Mr. Prospector.