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Whirlaway

Whirlaway
Whirlaway.jpg
Sire Blenheim
Grandsire Blandford
Dam Dustwhirl
Damsire Sweep
Sex Stallion
Foaled 1938
Country United States
Colour Chestnut
Breeder Calumet Farm
Owner Calumet Farm
Trainer Ben A. Jones
Record 60: 32-15-9
Earnings $561,161
Major wins
Breeders' Futurity Stakes (1940)
Hopeful Stakes (1940)
Saratoga Special Stakes (1940)
A. J. Joyner Handicap (1941)
Travers Stakes (1941)
Lawrence Realization Stakes (1941)
Saranac Handicap (1941)
Dwyer Stakes (1941)
American Derby (1941)
Massachusetts Handicap (1942)
Narragansett Special (1942)
Clark Handicap (1942)
Jockey Club Gold Cup (1942)
Louisiana Handicap (1942)
Washington Handicap (1942)
Trenton Handicap (1942)
American Classic Race wins:
Kentucky Derby (1941)
Preakness Stakes (1941)
Belmont Stakes (1941)
Awards
5th U.S. Triple Crown Champion (1941)
TSD American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt (1940)
U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1941)
United States Horse of the Year (1941 & 1942)
U.S. Champion Older Male Horse (1942)
Honours
United States Racing Hall of Fame (1959)
#26 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century
Whirlaway Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
Whirlaway Handicap at Fair Grounds Race Course
Last updated on October 31, 2006

Whirlaway (April 2, 1938 – April 6, 1953) was an American champion thoroughbred racehorse. The chestnut horse was sired by English Derby winner Blenheim, out of the broodmare Dustwhirl. Whirlaway was bred at Calumet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. Trained by Ben A. Jones and ridden by Eddie Arcaro, Whirlaway won the U.S. Triple Crown in 1941. Whirlaway was widely known as "Mr. Longtail" because his tail was especially long and thick and it would blow far out behind him during races, flowing dramatically in the wind.

He was voted the American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt in 1940 by Turf & Sports Digest magazine. The rival Daily Racing Form award was won by Our Boots.

Jimmy Jones, son of the colt's trainer, recalled that "Whirlaway was a creature of habit. You had to create habits for him. So we created the habits we wanted him to do." Whirlaway was regarded as having a "quirky" personality. The champion colt had a habit of "bearing out," drifting toward the middle of the racetrack, during the latter part of his races and losing as a result. In preparations for the Kentucky Derby, this had been such a problem that trainer Ben A. Jones fitted the colt with a full-cup blinker over his right eye. In Whirlaway's final workout before the Derby, Jones cut a small hole in the blinker so that the horse had a tiny field of vision. Jones positioned himself ten feet off the inner rail and told jockey Eddie Arcaro to ride the horse through that space. Whirlaway was able to see his trainer, Arcaro was able to keep him on a straight path, and Whirlaway won the Kentucky Derby by tying the current (as of 2015) record margin of 8 lengths.

Trained by Ben A. Jones and ridden by Arcaro, Whirlaway won the U.S. Triple Crown in 1941. He also won the Lawrence Realization Stakes and the Travers Stakes that year; Whirlaway is the only horse ever to win both the Triple Crown and the Travers. He was voted the Horse of the Year in 1941, beating Alsab by 96 votes to 91 in a poll conducted by the Turf and Sport Digest magazine. A year later, Whirlaway repeated his win in the poll, beating Alsab with 76 votes to his rival's 45.


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