Ponder (horse)
| Ponder | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Pensive |
| Grandsire | Hyperion |
| Dam | Miss Rushin |
| Damsire | Blenheim |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | April 14, 1946 |
| Country | USA |
| Colour | Dark Brown |
| Breeder | Calumet Farm |
| Owner | Calumet Farm |
| Trainer | Ben A. Jones |
| Record | 41 Starts: 14 – 7 - 4 |
| Earnings | $542,275 |
| Major wins | |
|
Kentucky Derby (1949) American Derby (1949) Arlington Classic (1949) Jockey Club Gold Cup (1949) Lawrence Realization Stakes (1949) Peter Pan Stakes (1949) Santa Anita Maturity (1950) Arlington Handicap (1950) San Antonio Handicap (1950) Tanforan Handicap (1950) Marchbank Handicap (1950) |
|
| Last updated on September 16, 2008 | |
Ponder (April 14, 1946 - October 10, 1958) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Kentucky Derby in 1949.
Ponder was the son of the 1944 Kentucky Derby winner, Pensive, and sire of the winner of the 1956 Kentucky Derby, Needles. Pensive, Ponder, and Needles are the second family of grandfather, father, and son to win the Kentucky Derby (the first were Reigh Count in 1928, 1943 Triple Crown winner Count Fleet, and Count Turf in 1951). His dam Miss Rushin was descended from the Irish broodmare Orris (foaled 1917) whose other descendants included Souverain.
A Calumet Farm foal, trained by the Hall of Fame conditioner Ben Jones, Ponder was a closer. Jones claimed that if the horse had given himself more time to catch up more often, he would have won a lot more of his races.
Ponder ran in the same years as his stable mates Coaltown and Citation, but they were both one year older. He also competed against the very good Greentree Stable's Capot, who took the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes in 1949. Ponder lost all four of his two-year-old starts. On January 3, 1949, at age three, he broke his maiden at Tropical Park and then won two more races, but Jones still thought of him as a lesser contender for Calumet in the '49 Derby. His other possibility was a colt called De Luxe. Then Ponder finished a fast-closing second by a length to Olympia in the Derby Trial. He left Capot five lengths behind. Considering that Olympia was a winner on both coasts and the odds-on favorite to win the Derby, Jones was impressed.
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