Golf Hole History

#2 Lamb Chop (1960-1964)
Owners: William Haggin Perry

Lamb Chop was bred by Bull Hancock's renowned Claiborne Farm, sired by Bold Ruler.  When she was three years old, prominent horseman William Haggin Perry purchased Lamb Chop.  Lamb Chop went on to win almost every major American graded stakes race for fillies in her age group and ended the season as the 1963 American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.
 
She received many more honors throughout her life, most notably as the first horse to be honored by burial at Santa Anita Racetrack.

View of Hole #2 Lamb Chop

#3 Round Table  (April 6, 1954 – June 13, 1987)
Owners: A.B. Hancock and Kerr Stable

Round Table, was an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. He is widely regarded as the greatest turf horse in American racing history, earning the U.S. Champion Turf Horse three consecutive years (1957-1959) and U.S. Champion Male Handicap Horse (1958).
 
His worldwide reputation both in racing and as a sire was so great that when Queen Elizabeth II visited Kentucky in 1984, she asked to see the 30-year-old horse, standing at Claiborne Farm. Among his descendants are Horse of the Year winners A.P. Indy and Mineshaft.

View of Hole #3 Round Table

#4 Myrtlewood (1932- March 17, 1950)
Owner: Brownell Combs

Myrtlewood was a proven champion on the track as well as an exceptional broodmare.  Bred by Claiborne Farm, she earned titles like 1936 Champion Older Female Horse, 1936 Champion Sprinter, and induction into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame in 1979.
 
She produced exceptional fillies, most notably Durazna, the 1943 Two-Year-Old Champion, and Miss Dogwood, winner of the 1942 Kentucky Oaks. Both became outstanding producers, as did five of her other daughters. The bloodline became one of the most prominent in North America and includes Triple Crown champion Seattle Slew and leading sire Mr. Prospector.

Veiw Hole #4 Myrtlewood

#5  Moccasin (April 16, 1963 – July 1, 1986)
Owner: Claiborne Farm

In a career that lasted from 1965-1967, Moccasin ran 21 times and won 11 races. She remains the only two-year-old filly to be voted U.S. Horse of the Year.  She was a striking chestnut filly with three white socks, bred by Claiborne Farm. She grew to be an unusually large and powerful mare, standing almost 16.2 hands tall with a girth of 76 inches.

View of Hole #5
 

# 6  Citation  (April 11, 1945 – August 8, 1970)
Owner: Calumet Farm

Citation was the eighth winner of the American Triple Crown. He won 16 consecutive stakes races and was the first horse in history to win $1 Million. Owned and bred by Calumet Farm in Lexington, Ky., Citation was a bay colt by Bull Lea.  At the end of his career, he had 45 starts and a record of 32-10-2.
 
He was inducted into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame in 1959 and his talent is recognized today through the Citation Handicap at Hollywood Park Racetrack, a life-size statue at [LOCATION], and his top-three ranking in the Blood Horse’s Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20^th Century. Included among his many honors was the naming of the Cessna “Citation” Jet for him.

View of Hole #6

#7  Assault  (March 28, 1943 – September 1, 1971)
Owner: King Ranch

Assault was the seventh winner of the American Triple Crown and to this day is the only Texas-bred winner of the Triple Crown. In 1946, he was recognized as U.S. Horse of the Year and the U.S. Champion Three-Year-Old Colt.
 
As a colt, Assault ‘s fiery personality started to shine through. He was constantly hungry, charging grooms if he was not fed on time. He paid close attention to his exercise riders, leaping to the side when he noticed they weren’t paying attention, leaving them mid-air and galloping around the track riderless.

View of Hole #7

#8  Shut Out February 27, 1939- April 23, 1964)
Owner: Mrs. Payne Whitney

Shut Out was a chestnut stallion sired by Hall of Famer Equipoise, the multiple stakes-winning champion nicknamed "The Chocolate Soldier.” Shut Out was bred by Greentree Stable in Lexington, Ky.
 
In 1942, John Gaver was training for Greentree and brought Shut Out to the winner’s circle at the Kentucky Derby with jockey Wayne D. Wright.  Interestingly, in a fit of bad judgment, the famous jockey, Eddie Arcaro, chose to ride another Greentree Derby entry thinking he was the better horse.  Arcaro ended up finishing fifth.   Other notable wins include the 1942 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.

View of Hole #8

#9  Buckpasser (1963– March 6, 1978)
Owners: Ogden Phipps

Buckpasser was the 1966 U.S. Horse of the Year. His other achievements include 1965 Champion Two-Year-Old, 1966 Champion Three-Year-Old and Champion Handicap Horse, and 1967 Champion Handicap Horse. He was also the leading broodmare sire in 1983, 1984, and 1989. Buckpasser was inducted into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame in 1970 and is ranked among the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20^th Century by the Blood Horse.
 
The bay colt was an immaculate representation of the Thoroughbred breed, bred and owned by Ogden Phipps and foaled at Claiborne Farm. "Generally, every horse has about a hundred faults of conformation. I would defy anybody to pick a flaw in Buckpasser," said racing official Dr. Manuel Gilman. Renowned horse painter Richard Stone Reeves once said that the stallion was, "the most perfectly proportioned Thoroughbred I have ever seen."  Only two horses, Secretariat and Affirmed, have since been "in a class with Buckpasser".

View of Hole #9

#11 Silver Spoon (March 6, 1956 - January 1978)
Owner: C.V. Whitney

Silver Spoon was a multiple stakes winner and daughter of Triple Crown winner Citation. She was inducted to the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame in 1978. As a filly, she was an imposing chestnut with four white stockings, growing to stand at 16.1 hands tall and weigh 1,135 pounds.
 
Silver Spoon is remembered as one of only two fillies to ever win both the Santa Anita Oaks (formerly the Santa Susana Stakes) and the Santa Anita Derby. The other was Winning Colors in the 1980s.

View of Hole #11
 

#12  Man O’ War (March 29, 1917 – November 1, 1947)
Owner: Sam Riddle

Man O’ War is widely regarded as one of the greatest racehorses of all time. He was foaled at Nursery Stud near Lexington. Several publications, including The Blood Horse, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and the Associated Press, voted Man O' War as the best American racehorse of the 20th century. He won 20 of 21 races and $249,465 (equivalent to $3,794,000 in 2023) over the course of his career. 
 
Man O' War was not entered in the 1920 Kentucky Derby because his owner, Samuel Riddle, did not believe in racing that distance so early in a young horse's career. Instead, Man O' War made his three-year-old debut in the Preakness Stakes where he defeated Upset by one and a half lengths.  A few weeks later, Man O' War won the Belmont Stakes by 20 lengths.

View of Hole #12
 

#13  ALCIBIADES (1927–1957)
Owner: Hal Price Headley

Alcibiades was bred by Hal Price Headley at his Beaumont Farm near Lexington, Ky., and named for the ancient Greek soldier and statesman Alcibiades. She won the 1930 Kentucky Oaks and went on to be a notable broodmare with notable foals such as Menow, Hipparete and Salaminia (Man O’ War).  To this day, she is still honored at Keeneland Race Course where the Alcibades Stakes is held annually.

View of Hole #13

#14  White Skies (1949–1955)
Owner: William Wickham

White Skies was bred by renowned Lexington, Ky., horseman Charles Nuckols, Jr. Sports Illustrated referred to White Skies as a "bullet" horse in the same vein as racing greats Tom Fool, Decathlon, Ta Wee, Dr. Fager, and Forego.
 
He regularly carried 132-136 pounds. In one memorable race against Master Ace at Monmouth Park, they both broke a track record and White Skies finished second carrying 136 pounds. Master Ace was carrying 106 pounds. He was recognized annually with the White Skies Handicap at Arlington Park every year until the park closed in 2021.

View of Hole #14

#15  Equipoise (1928–1938)
Owner: C. V. Whitney

Equipoise’s career lasted from 1930 until 1935 and he ran 51 times, winning 29 races. Bred by Harry Payne Whitney, he was nicknamed the "Chocolate Soldier" by his fans due to his elegance and symmetry.  Although there were no formal awards at this time, he was regarded as U.S. Horse of the Year in both 1932 and 1933, as well as U.S. Champion Older Horse in 1932, 1933, and 1934.
 
Equipoise was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in 1957.

View of Hole #15

#16  Hail to Reason (April 18, 1958 – February 24, 1976)
Owner: Harbor View Farm

Before his racing career was cut short by injury, Hail to Reason was named the 1960 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt following seven stakes race wins, including the Hopeful Stakes.  
 
He later became a leading sire whose offspring included 1972 Epsom Derby winner Roberto and Halo, a leading sire in his own right, notably 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness stakes winner Sunday Silence.  Hail to Reason was bred in Kentucky by the Bieber-Jacobs Stable and retired to stud at Hagyard Farm.

View of Hole #16

#17  Nashrullah (March 2, 1940 – May 26, 1959)
Owner: A. B. Hancock

Nashrullah was bred in Ireland and trained in the United Kingdom before becoming a champion sire in both Europe and North America throughout the 1950s. He was a big, handsome bay horse with a white star.  Because of the restrictions imposed by the second World War, many British races were adapted both in distance and venue. As a result, Nasrullah's entire racing career was confined to Newmarket Racecourse.
 
Nasrullah was an immediate success as a breeding stallion. He was exported to stand at stud in the United States at Hancock's Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky.  Nasrullah became one of the most important North American sires of the 20th century, leading the sire list five times and producing offspring including Jaipur, Bold Ruler, and Nashua.

View of Hole #17

#18  Whirlaway  (April 2, 1938 – April 6, 1953)
Owner: Calumet Farm

Whirlaway became the fifth ever winner of the American Triple Crown in 1941. He also won the Travers Stakes after his Triple Crown sweep, becoming the first and only horse to win all four races.
 
Whirlaway possessed a “quirky” personality. He was bred at Calumet Farm in Lexington, Ky. Trained by Ben A. Jones and ridden by Eddie Arcaro, he holds the record for the longest winning margin in the Kentucky Derby (eight lengths) with fellow Triple Crown winner Assault (1946), Johnstown (1939) and Old Rosebud (1914). Whirlaway was known as “Mr. Longtail” because of an exceptionally long thick tail that flowed dramatically in the wind when racing.

View of Hole #18