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HISTORICAL CAMEO SEPTEMBER 9, 2008 Equipoise -- 1932-33 Horse of the Year by Kellie Reilly From time to time over the course of this season, as the status of Big Brown's (Boundary) quarter-crack-susceptible feet dominated the headlines, it has led me to think of the extraordinary career of Equipoise, an idol of the 1930s who achieved true greatness in between bouts of debilitating quarter-cracks. How much more might Equipoise have been able to accomplish, had he been fortunate enough to live in our therapeutic age of acrylic, fiberglass patches and glue-on shoes? A dark chestnut whose shimmering coat seemed to change colors depending upon the ambient light, Equipoise was endowed with more than just raw physical talent. The Whitney standard-bearer also had an indomitable spirit, an unwavering heart, that carried him through his many trials, and earned him the fitting nickname of the "Chocolate Soldier." While he generated waves of enthusiasm among the crowds, and was dispatched as the favorite in the overwhelming majority of his 51 starts, Equipoise was not universally acclaimed by the experts. Only by standing the test of time, by shouldering the massive burdens assigned him by the handicapper, and by displaying record speed, did he at last manage to prove his mettle to his critics. As The Thoroughbred Record observed, Equipoise "never dodged an issue, he asked no quarter, and though handicapped throughout most of his racing career with a foot that would have forced most horses to seek sanctuary long before, he bravely met all comers, carried welter weights, and was never beaten until the wire was reached." Equipoise inherited his tender hooves -- "the badge of all his tribe," as contemporary turf writer Neil Newman put it -- from his sire, Pennant. From the star-crossed sire line of Domino, Pennant was an undefeated juvenile who captured the prestigious Futurity S. in 1913. Unfortunately, the speedy colt was later sidelined by foot problems for two years. He successfully returned to action at the ages of five and six, but he eventually retired with only 12 career starts to his name. Never unplaced, Pennant boasted nine wins, one runner-up effort and a pair of thirds. In contrast, Equipoise's dam, Swinging, raced 18 times during her two-year-old campaign alone and captured 10 of them. Moreover, the daughter of Broomstick placed in such notable contests as the Demoiselle S., Matron S. and Astoria S. in 1924. Swinging did not enjoy as profitable a season at three, and she was retired to begin her new career as a broodmare. Equipoise, her first foal, arrived on May 1, 1928. According to legendary turf writer John Hervey, the perfectly proportioned colt with the idiosyncratic blaze soon became a favorite of breeder H.P. Whitney and his stud manager, Major Louie Beard. "From the time he was first able to stand up, he was quick as a cat on his feet and all energy and life, while his disposition was singularly sweet and lovable," Hervey wrote in Racing in America, 1922-1936. That view of early favoritism is at odds with Abram Hewitt, who was of the opinion that the small youngster was not particularly well regarded, and was therefore dispatched to the stable's second string in Maryland. In Sire Lines, Hewitt dubbed these Whitney minor-leaguers the "chain gang," under the direction of trainer Freddy Hopkins, who had conditioned Swinging. Although the matter is too far hidden in the mists of time for us to resolve, it's significant that Hervey was at pains to dismiss this persistent whisper after Equipoise became a star, and his very defensiveness may smack of protesting too much. Whatever his connections initially thought of him, Equipoise showed plenty of dash in his early works as a juvenile, and the clockers were quick to take notice. He proceeded to capture his first two outings in front-running fashion at Bowie and Havre de Grace, respectively, and finished a rallying third in the Aberdeen S. at the latter venue, all three starts coming within a 16-day span in April 1930. His May campaign was just as busy. After stumbling at the break of the Pimlico Nursery and losing his rider, he shifted his tack to New York and reappeared eight days later in the Youthful S. at Jamaica. Equipoise proceeded to romp by four lengths, only to be disqualified for causing interference, a tendency that he would never completely outgrow. The Hopkins pupil wasted no time in making amends, compiling a four-race winning streak culminating in a front-running score under 130 pounds in the Great American S. at Aqueduct. Equipoise then headed to the Spa and a mouthwatering clash with the highly regarded Jamestown in the Saratoga Special S. Tracking in second throughout, the Whitney colt was never able to catch the fire-breathing speedster Jamestown. To Newman, Jamestown merely "toyed" with Equipoise, and in his mind, the Saratoga Special verdict was conclusive. Equipoise's defenders argued that he was compromised by a blind splint that had to be fired, ruling him out of action for the rest of the Saratoga meet, but Newman cast doubts upon that excuse, and he clung to the idea that Equipoise was simply inferior. His next two outings at Belmont Park did not alter Newman's calculations. In the Champagne S., Equipoise shouldered 132 pounds, spotting 13 to the future Preakness winner Mate, and just failed by a neck after a gallant effort. One week later in the Futurity, he was a troubled second, beaten a mere head by Jamestown, while turning the tables on Mate by a convincing three lengths. As if the trio of Jamestown, Equipoise and Mate were not captivating enough for racing fans to follow, yet another star rose in the shape of Twenty Grand. Equipoise met Twenty Grand, the future Kentucky Derby winner, for the first time in the Junior Champion S. at Aqueduct and tried to give him 11 pounds, but Twenty Grand was too strong by a length. Equipoise and Twenty Grand brought their rivalry to Churchill Downs a mere 12 days later and waged an epic battle in the Kentucky Jockey Club S. According to Hervey, this contest was "still quoted as the greatest race that two-year-olds have ever run in this country." Not only was it decided by a sliver after a protracted stretch duel, but the final time of 1:36 ranked as the fastest mile ever run by a juvenile. It was also a record time for a mile in Kentucky, by any horse of any age. "Through its entire length," Hervey described, "they battled with a grim determination, a speed and a strength so closely matched that when they passed the post only the tip of Twenty Grand's nostril showed in front of that of Equipoise, according to the official verdict; a majority of the spectators were wholly unable to decide the winner." The pair could hardly have been expected to follow that act with another memorable performance. In fact, they did, underscoring one of the reasons why the two-year-old crop of 1930 rates among the very best of all time. Their next showdown was to take place in the 1 1/16-mile Pimlico Futurity, but the participation of Equipoise hung in the balance. H.P. Whitney was deathly ill with pneumonia, and when he went to his eternal reward, Equipoise was bound to be scratched in keeping with the mourning etiquette of the time. But H.P., sensing that he would not live to see race day, was determined that his colt should run. He beseeched his son, C.V. Whitney, to dispense with custom and let Equipoise line up at Pimlico. Because of H.P.'s sportsmanlike insistence, and C.V.'s dutiful response, the annals of racing history were enriched. Just days after his father's death, C.V. went to Pimlico, where he was warmly greeted by the crowd, to watch Equipoise. At first, he may have wished that he'd stayed home. Equipoise broke sideways, and for all intents and purposes, was stranded as the rest of the field splashed forward in the deep mud. In an attempt at a hasty recovery, he grabbed a quarter, and somewhere along the line, threw both front shoes. Regular rider Sonny Workman, who had been unshipped by Equipoise in his only prior appearance at Pimlico, just might have had flashbacks of that earlier debacle. In the circumstances, few could have held it against Equipoise if he'd decided to call it a day. But this was no cosseted prima donna who had to have everything his own way -- this was the Chocolate Soldier, who knew only how to fight. In a wildly improbable rally, the mud-spattered colt began to rush past rivals on the far turn, and in the stretch, mowed down Twenty Grand by a half-length, with Mate another neck back in third. Understandably, the Whitney colt's victory "provoked an extraordinary outburst of enthusiasm," as observed by the Bloodstock Breeders' Review. "Hell, it may have been the greatest race anybody ever saw," Workman exclaimed. Equipoise's incredible victory inspired a theological thought from one spectator, as recounted in David Alexander's A Sound of Horses. The amazed man blurted out that it was just about enough to make you believe in God. Rated as the co-champion juvenile along with Jamestown, Equipoise earned a winter vacation, and early favoritism for the 1931 Kentucky Derby. While Hewitt believed that he would develop into an outstanding three-year-old, Newman thought that his best days were behind him. Could Newman have been influenced by the memories of Equipoise's parents, Pennant and Swinging, who both enjoyed their greatest success at two? "He is a horse who matured early," Newman wrote at the time, "and one leaves him with the thought that there is scant likelihood of much improvement from two to three." The naysayers seemed to be right on the mark when Equipoise's sophomore campaign was over almost as soon as it began. He crossed the wire a shocking last of six in the Chesapeake S., where he showed signs of distress and was diagnosed with the muscle ailment azoturia. Equipoise nevertheless took his chance two weeks later in the Preakness, then contested before the Derby, but he encountered trouble and wound up fourth to Mate and Twenty Grand. When Equipoise hoped to rebound in the Kentucky Derby, he was afflicted with a severe quarter-crack. This nemesis, which would later become the bane of his existence, ruled him out of the Run for the Roses. Without our ultra-modern treatment techniques, or alternative surfaces to train on, his remaining hopes of classic glory were dashed. He encountered a further setback in a coffin joint, and was put away for the season. "There was a refrain of what-did-we-tell-you from the censors," Hervey recalled, "while the loyalists were in mourning but refused to recant their convictions." If the convalescing Equipoise were aware of the dent to his reputation, the Chocolate Soldier would no doubt have viewed the matter strategically. He needed this time on the defensive, so to speak, to muster his forces in strength, before taking the field and resuming the offensive. Restored to soundness at the age of four, Equipoise would completely vindicate his loyalists during his 1932 Horse of the Year campaign. He commenced his "career of conquest," as Hervey put it, with a seven-race winning streak. After setting a five-furlong track record in :59 2/5 at Bowie in his return, he coasted home under 128 pounds in the Harford H. at Havre de Grace, and when strolling beneath his 129-pound impost in the Toboggan H., he established a new stakes record on Belmont's Widener Course. Still, the son of Pennant had not quite convinced the esteemed handicapper John B. Campbell, who assigned him 127 pounds for the Metropolitan H., one less than the 128 he imposed upon Mate. Equipoise soon proved that he should have been required to concede weight to his old rival Mate, as the Whitney colt rolled to victory, while Mate struggled home four lengths adrift in third. As sharp as his Metropolitan performance was, it did not have the lasting impact of his next mile tour-de-force at Arlington Park. Jamestown, his conqueror in their juvenile days, was also on the grounds, and a race was specially crafted to bring the one-time archrivals together. Equipoise got the chance to wreak revenge, and he made the most of it. Jamestown, who was making his belated seasonal debut, went straight to the front, "bounding along like an antelope with his handsome head held high," in Hervey's unforgettable phrase. Equipoise cruised up to Jamestown, and despite giving the early leader 10 pounds, brushed him aside by three lengths. As the chart noted, Equipoise "went to the front easily and had something to spare." Hervey agreed that the Whitney colt won handily "without having been asked for his best," which made his final time, a world-record 1:34 2/5, all the more astounding. Indeed, he had accomplished the feat "with such ease that, had not non-official watches shown even faster time than that announced, the natural impulse would have been to doubt the testimony of one's eyesight." Equipoise had smashed the previous marks of 1:35, set by Jack High in 1930, and 1:34 4/5, established by Roamer in a trial against the clock in 1918. There must have been bitter irony in this for Equipoise skeptic Newman, who wrote under the pen name of "Roamer." While both Jack High and Roamer established their mile records under a feathery 110 pounds, Equipoise lugged 128 at Arlington. Reinforcing the idea that Equipoise was not exactly wrung out by his record-setting effort, he reappeared just four days later in the Stars and Stripes H. and helped his 30,000 roaring fans celebrate July 4. The Chocolate Soldier's victory was so effortless that, as Hervey wrote, Workman was "turning in his saddle at the finish to watch the unavailing struggles of the field strung out behind." After a four-length romp in the Arlington Gold Cup, his skein was snapped next time out in the Arlington H. Slowly away from the gate, Equipoise rallied beneath his 134-pound burden, only to come up a neck shy of Plucky Play, who toted 111. He then shipped to Saratoga and promptly captured the Wilson S. and, appropriately, the Whitney S., and later that fall accounted for the Havre de Grace Cup H. In 1933, the five-year-old Equipoise once again reigned supreme as Horse of the Year and champion handicap horse. In Hervey's view, "it might almost be said that the entire body of the season's racehorses, compared with him, occupied the position of the chorus in a stage spectacle." Moreover, "by now the mere announcement that he was down to appear was sufficient to draw a capacity crowd to any course in the country at a time when on ordinary days the Great Depression had reduced the attendance to a corporal's guard." Now trained by Tom Healey, Equipoise opened the year with seven straight victories. He set a new stakes record in the Philadelphia H. at Havre de Grace and defended his Met Mile crown by a geared-down four lengths, both while carrying 128 pounds. The legendary handicapper Walter Vosburgh, who at one time had felt that Equipoise was overrated, assigned him 132 pounds for the Suburban H. The Chocolate Soldier was unimpressed by the impost. Hervey called it "perhaps the most superb of all his efforts," as he raced in hand, and "all the way home Workman was just letting him gallop." His time of 2:02 was the fastest in the 1 1/4-mile Suburban since Whisk Broom II's controversial 2:00 clocking in 1913, and even Newman lauded his effort. Equipoise traveled back to Chicago for a repeat bid in the Stars and Stripes, but he met with the season's first bout of misfortune. He lost his footing briefly when working on an off track, cut himself and was forced to withdraw. Although his legion of expectant fans was crestfallen by the news, they got to see their hero a couple of weeks later in the Arlington H., where he toted the massive weight of 135 pounds and still drove to a 1 1/2-length score to avenge his previous year's loss. Returned to Saratoga, he landed the Wilson for the second straight year, only to have his quarter-crack erupt again. It was patched up, but as Hervey noted, Equipoise "was never again the same horse as before." He was sound enough to win the Hawthorne Gold Cup and the Saratoga Cup, the latter at 1 3/4 miles, proving that even a marathon distance was well within his compass. His foot continued to plague him, however, as evidenced by his fading third in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. At the age of six in 1934, Equipoise managed to earn his third consecutive title as champion handicap horse, but Horse of the Year honors slipped away to the star three-year-old, Cavalcade. Although the Chocolate Soldier won three stakes, his campaign was tinged with frustration. He crossed the wire first in the Metropolitan, only to be disqualified in a questionable call for impeding a rival. Had the result stood, Equipoise would have been the first three-time victor of the Met Mile, and only Devil Diver (1943-45) has done it since. When trying to defend his Suburban crown beneath 134 pounds, he missed by a nose, and his quarter-crack flared up yet again. Whitney wanted to retire Equipoise at this point. Unfortunately, as a marquee attraction, he was viewed as indispensable to the success of the brand new Santa Anita H., and he was also closing in on Sun Beau's all-time earnings mark of $376,744. The public clamor prevailed, and the Chocolate Soldier put on his armor for one last, abbreviated campaign in early 1935. In an ironic twist, Equipoise came full circle and found himself lining up against his old foe Twenty Grand, who was back in training after proving sterile at stud. Five years had gone by since their juvenile duels had enthralled the nation, though, and they were both shells of their former selves. In a prep race, Equipoise finished first, but was judged guilty of interference and disqualified in favor of Twenty Grand. In the Big 'Cap itself, neither was physically up to the task. Equipoise bowed a tendon and checked in seventh, a sad and anticlimactic end to his brilliant career. The Chocolate Soldier raced 51 times, with 29 wins, 10 seconds and four thirds. He amassed $338,610 in earnings, $38,134 shy of the elusive Sun Beau. Equipoise's bankroll suffered not only because of his several disqualifications, but also because purse levels were lower during the depths of the Great Depression. Also, had he been sound throughout his career, and not robbed of virtually his entire three-year-old season, Equipoise would have taken home considerably more prize money. Of course, Equipoise's greatness cannot be measured by something as malleable as money. Rather, it lies in his steely character, and that may well account for his extraordinary popularity. As the great Charles Hatton summed him up, "Equipoise is a horse that can be counted upon to do the unusual....More than once he has overcome what looked like insurmountable odds cast against him, converting them into victory." Hewitt remarked that Equipoise had a "magnetic field of courage emanating from him that was very moving," and that "it was his unfailing courage even more than his high physical abilities that stamped him as a great -- and greatly loved -- racehorse." The Thoroughbred Record likewise sounded the theme of character upon his retirement: "The 'Noblest Roman of Them All' will never again sport the famous Eton blue, brown cap, in actual contest....Equipoise never lost the will to win. He gave of his best always. He was superb in victory and glorious in defeat, and in our opinion will go down in turf history as one of the truly great horses of all times." Equipoise entered stud at the Whitney establishment, but he enjoyed only three years of peaceful retirement before he was struck down by enteritis. He died on August 4, 1938, at the age of 10, and was enshrined in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1957. Although Equipoise sired only 74 foals, he has left an enduring legacy. His direct male line may have sunk into oblivion, but several of his sons have carved out a permanent foothold deep within the recesses of modern pedigrees. He is responsible for Shut Out, the winner of the 1942 Kentucky Derby, Belmont and Travers, who went on to become the broodmare sire of such notables as Exclusive Native and The Axe II. Equipoise's son Equestrian earned fame by siring the great handicapper Stymie, who in turn factors in the pedigrees of super-sire Sunday Silence and the influential Be My Guest. The Equipoise stallion Carrier Pigeon appears as a third-generation factor in the ancestry of Cox's Ridge. Another son of Equipoise, Swing and Sway, is the paternal grandsire of the popular Carry Back, the champion three-year-old of 1961 who captured the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Among Equipoise's daughters is Level Best, the champion two-year-old filly of 1940, whose female-line descendants include multiple Grade 1 heroine and $2.7 million earner Honey Ryder. Equipoise's unraced daughter Igual produced 1946 Triple Crown hero Assault, and she is also the second dam of Prove Out, the broodmare sire of the great Miesque. The Equipoise mare Alpoise is the granddam of the colossal influence Tom Fool. Equilette's (Equipoise) female line has produced Silver Spoon (Citation), the co-champion three-year-old filly of 1959; Silver Buck, who is inbred 5 x 4 to Equipoise; Kentucky Derby winner Gato del Sol; and multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire Rock Hard Ten. European great Dancing Brave traces to Otra (Equipoise), while 1977 Triple Crown star and mega-sire Seattle Slew counts Crepe Myrtle (Equipoise) as his fourth dam. The red-hot sire Tiznow affords a glimpse of Equipoise as a quiet, unassuming, but significant building block. He inherits distant doses of Equipoise from his grandsires Relaunch and Seattle Song, and Tiznow's third dam, Sleep Lonely, carries a duplication of Equipoise and his full sister Schwester. In the hoofbeats of these far-flung descendants, the Chocolate Soldier marches on. Although he was "never the favorite of fortune," in Hervey's words, Equipoise ultimately triumphed -- not just for a short time, with all the aid and comfort of modern veterinary advances, but over the long haul, with his own unconquerable attitude to support him. There can be no finer epitaph.
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