Kelso was a super good racehorse who ranks fourth in the top 100 American Racehorses (20th century) behind Man o’War, Secretariat and Citation.
Lineage and description
Kelso has no special studbook papers. His father was the stallion Your Host, a horse that had done well on the racecourse but had not yet produced anything special as a stallion. His mother was Maid of Flight, a granddaughter of Man o’War. Kelso was dark brown and was born on April 4, 1957. Even before he started racing he was neutered in the hope that he calmed down a bit, it didn’t seem to have helped. He died on October 16, 1983.
Career
Two years
On September 4, 1959 he made his racing debut under John Block, he crossed the finish line first. In his second race he managed to get second place, after which he was tipped as a favorite for his third race. He did not live up to his favorite status and came second again.
Three years
As a three-year-old he got a different trainer and a different jockey. He managed to win eight of the nine times that he started this year. Among other things, he won the Jockey Gold Cup, in which he ran against older horses. He became ‘Horse of the year 1960’ and ‘three-year-old Champion Male’.
Four years
As a four-year-old he may have been a little less than when he was three, but he was still not doing it crazy; he won seven of the nine times he started. He again received the ‘Horse of the year’ award, this time for the year 1961. He also became ‘Champion Older Horse’.
The years that followed
Kelso has raced for a long time, until the year 1965, he has participated in a total of eight racing seasons, which is really a lot. From 1962 to 1964 he received the ‘Horse of the year’ award every year and his popularity grew bigger and bigger. In 1965 he was slightly injured during training and although it was planned to have him race in 1966, he was allowed to retire. Because he could not serve as a stallion (he was a gelding after all), he was given a new task; be a jumper, which he did not do as crazy.
Record
Kelso has collected a record amount of prize money in his career, a whopping $ 1,977,896. This was a world record and that record has held for 13 years.