Sir Barton

Sired by Star Shoot out of the mare, Lady Sterling, Sir Barton was Kentucky bred by John E. Madden and Vivian A. Gooch. They sold the horse in 1918 for $10,000 to Canadian businessman, John Kenneth Leveson Ross.

Ross placed Sir Barton in the hands of trainer H. Guy Bedwell and jockey, Johnny Loftus. As a two-year-old, Sir Barton entered six races without winning any. The following year, he made his season debut in the Kentucky Derby as a set-up runner for his highly regarded stablemate, a horse named Billy Kelly. However, it was Sir Barton who led the field of 12 horses from start to finish, winning the race by five lengths. Just four days later, the horse was in Baltimore and won the Preakness Stakes. He then won the Withers Stakes in New York and shortly thereafter completed the first Triple Crown in U.S. history by easily winning the Belmont Stakes and setting an American record for the mile and three-eighths race, the distance for the Belmont at the time. Amazingly, Sir Barton's four wins were accomplished in a space of just 32 days. For 1919, he was voted Horse of the Year, racings highest honor.

As a four-year-old, Sir Barton won five of the 12 races he entered during the 1920 season. However, it was his match race on October 12th that year against the great Man O' War at Kenilworth Park in Windsor, Ontario, Canada that is most remembered. Sir Barton was beaten by seven lengths and as a result, he retired to stud that year, virtually forgotten by the public. As a sire, he enjoyed only moderate success but spent the better part of the rest of his life as a working horse with the U.S. Army in Fort Robinson, Nebraska until being sold to the ranch owned by J.R. Hylton in Douglas, Wyoming.

Sir Barton died on October 30, 1937 and was buried on a ranch in the foothills of the Laramie Mountains. Later though, his remains were moved to Washington Park in Converse County, Wyoming where a memorial was erected to honor America's first Triple Crown winner. Sir Barton was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1957. In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Sir Barton was ranked #49.

• Career race record:
  • 31 races - 13-6-5
• Career earnings: $116,857