Decades still resonate with sports consciousness, but many of the names and faces of the 1930s are well known to this day. From Lou Gehrig to Jesse Owens, Joe Louis, and the ten-year period gave her Seabiscuit, War Admiral, Gallant Fox and more.
As the state approved race and Palimzel bets to combat the economic obstacles of Great Repression, the sport expanded from the ocean to sparkling seas, bringing a long list of star racehorses.
Alongside stars like Omaha and Discovery, there were three horses who made history in the 1930s. Memo’s female owner, dominant stable house and superstar Racemere were all part of a rich tapestry of a decade that brought sports innovations such as the starting gate and photo-finish camera.st Fans of the century know that.
Cavalcade (1931-1940)
Just like regret, Cavalcade was technically a breeding of New Jersey, but his route was quite widespread. His dam was a rushed man and daughter of the British stakes winner and stallion Hazard, who went to the auction block at Newmarket in December 1930. The socks were colts, which were eventually named Cavalcade on March 24, 1931.
As a freshman, Armstrong quickly sold the Colt for $1,200 to trainer Robert Smith, who had bought on behalf of his employer Brook Meadstable at the Sarato Geiering Sale. In the 1930s, when we saw innovations like Starting Gate and historic first innovations like Mary Hirsch’s trainer license, Brookmeade was another of those notable things. It was owned by Isabelle Dodge Sloan, Dodge Motors heirs, a sportswoman who played both golf and tennis and owned Stealstables in Step Recese and Flat Luxo.
In Brookmeade’s colour, Cavalcade’s two-year-old season was almost one of the two-year-olds, finishing second in races like the Sanford Stakes and the Eastern Shore Handicap, becoming the other three stakes while winning the Hyde Park Stakes at Arlington Park. However, in his 3-year-old season, he took Sloane’s success to another level with a flat.
At the age of three, he won the Kentucky Derby with his future Hall of Fame discovery and chances of peace. He then followed it and followed with victory in the American and Detroit Derby and the Arlington Classics. By the end of the year, he was considered the best horse in the country and helped make Sloan the primary owner of the first sport.
The second half of his three-year-old season, a quarter-crack, stood by the Cavalcade until the following year. He only started twice in both 1935 and 1936. Sloan retired to Stud in Upper Bill, Virginia, where he stood for three seasons. In October 1940, she transferred Cavalcade to Chandon Stud near Lexington, Kentucky, but he contracted with a respiratory illness that could have caused “transporting fever” or pneumonia, and died two weeks later. Sloan buried the derby winner on a farm in Virginia.
Cavalcade wasn’t the only horse to send to the Derby, but he, along with her other classic victory, became her only Derby winner, earning high quests in Preakness in 1934 and Sword Dancer in the Belmont Stakes in 1959. He also became one of Brookmeade’s three Hall of Fame in 1993, joining both the Flower and Sword Dancer on the list of best horses in the race.
Granville (1933-1951)
Belair Stud may be best known for his father-son duo of two Triple Crown winners Gallant Fox and Omaha, but William Woodward’s Stable had more than two champions in the barn of trainer “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons. The year after Omaha traveled through the Triple Crown classic, Granville, another colt stained with brave fox, became a red polka dot and a white star.
At 2am, Granville needed five starts to beat the Maiden and ultimately got his first victory in September 1935, his only victory, Aqueduct. He then launched the 3-year-old campaign, finishing second in the nose at Wood Memorial before winning the allowance. He followed the bull path through the Triple Crown, as Omaha did the previous year, but the same level of success escaped him. He dropped rider Jimmy Stout at the start of the Kentucky Derby, losing his chance to become Woodward’s third winner, then placed second in the bold venture of the Derby winner from the nose at Preakness.
Two weeks after Preakness, a week before his turn at Belmont, Granville faced an older horse in a suburban handicap, and once again finished second with the nose, finishing behind Omaha in two of the previous year’s three classics. He then won the Belmont stakes, giving Bel Air his fourth victory in that race within 10 years. Following his path through the second half of his 3-year-old season, Granville made the Saratoga Cup, Arlington Classic, Kenner Stakes and Lawrence come true. He made the brave Fox one better and won the Travers Stakes.
Lawrence’s realisation ankle injury after victory marked the end of Granville’s racing career, but his stellar three-year-old season won him the first official title of the year and the 3-year-old champion. Galant Fox already on Stud, Omaha quickly joined him, and Woodward chose to lease Granville to Kenneth Gilpin. He moved twice more, eventually becoming part of the New Mexico Remount Service Stallion Band.
Myrtlewood (1932-1950)
Everything about Myrtlewood spoke royalty, from her pedigree to her owner, to her carriage. Belmont, daughter of Blue Larks Peaks, was the winner of Colonel El Bradley, and she was known for her speed, five track record and world record of six furlongs. She was the best in distances from six to eight furlongs, counting rivals like Seabiscuit among the horses she defeated. What’s even greater than her influence on the racetrack was what she did in the breeding shed.
She was kept by Brownell Combs. The family dates back to Keeneland’s predecessor, his grandfather, General Leslie Combs, who served as the president of the Lexington Association’s truck. He counted Daniel Swigert of Elmendorf Farm, the breeder of the great spending slift. Among his Broodmare band was Frizeur, daughter of Frisette’s 1912 2,000 Gineas winner Sweeper II. According to racing historian John Harvey, the blue Larkspur and Frisel mating produced Myrtlewood, a tall bay mare that is “robust and powerful, but thin lines and proportions.”
Myrtlewood started only four times with two, winning twice, and finished third behind fellow Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes Philly Nelly Flag. At the age of three, she raced mainly in the Chicago area, making rounds for Arlington, Hawthorn and Lincolnfields. She set six Furlong world records that season, dropping the mark at 1:09 2/5 at Arlington Park. That next season she won a series of handicaps, including avid handicaps at Keeneland and Ashland stakes, setting two more achievements for that season. She showed off her heels to horses like Discovery and Roman soldiers in three seasons on the truck.
Beyond these 22 races and her victory and record, Myrtlewood stands on one of 20 great breedersth In the century, they produced 11 foals. Like a mare from the Foundation of Spendthrift Farm, she whipped horses like Mister Dogwood, the 1942 Kentucky Oaks winner. Another daughter, Crepe Myrtle, became the mares who produced the third dam of my charm, the 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Thru.
