Old Rosebud

Old Rosebud
Old Rosebud winning the 1914 Kentucky Derby
Sire	Uncle
Grandsire	Star Shoot
Dam	Ivory Bells
Damsire	Himyar
Sex	Gelding
Foaled	1911
Country	United States
Colour	Bay
Breeder	John E. Madden
Owner	Frank D. Weir & Hamilton Applegate
Trainer	Frank D. Weir
Record	80:40-13-8
Earnings	$74,729
Major wins
Flash Stakes (1913) United States Hotel Stakes (1913) Kentucky Derby (1914) Clark Handicap (1917) Queens County Handicap (1917) Delaware Handicap (1917) Carter Handicap (1917) Red Cross Handicap (1917)
Awards
Unofficial American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt (1913) Unofficial U.S. Champion Handicap Horse (1917)
Honours
United States Racing Hall of Fame (1968) #88 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century
Last updated on September 21, 2006

Old Rosebud (1911–1922) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse whose traced to the influential sire Eclipse, and through Eclipse to the founding stallion, the Darley Arabian. In the list of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century by Blood-Horse magazine, Old Rosebud ranks 88th. Despite a successful racing career, Old Rosebud was plagued by ailments throughout his life, culminating in a fatal injury at a claiming race when he was 11 years old.

Bred by John E. Madden, the bay colt (soon to be gelded) was from the stallion Uncle's first crop of foals. Born in Kentucky, he was purchased as a yearling for $500 by the trainer Frank D. Weir. Weir sold a majority interest in the gelding to Hamilton C. Applegate, the treasurer of Churchill Downs. Frank Weir said of the gelding, "Old Rosebud was the kind of horse one sees once in a lifetime. He certainly was the fastest horse I ever trained or saw. If he had been sound, there's no telling how fast he would have run."

Old Rosebud was determined to be the historical two-year-old champion of 1913 and was the top earner for the year. At two, Old Rosebud's most important victories included the Flash Stakes and the United States Hotel Stakes. Before his first injury took him out of training, he set four track records.

Old Rosebud came back in his third year to take the 1914 Kentucky Derby by eight lengths in a time of 2:03 2/5, setting a time record that would not be broken for 16 years and a margin record that has been tied but never broken. In the Derby, he had begun the race as the favorite because of his previous record.

Three weeks after the Derby, Old Rosebud sustained a bowed tendon during the May 1914 running of the Withers Stakes at Belmont Park. The race was run clockwise around the track instead of the more customary, in the U.S., counter-clockwise direction. Running the wrong way confused Old Rosebud, who did not change leads coming into the stretch. He was taken out of competition for two seasons as a result of the injury.