Bold Ruler (April 6, 1954 – July 12, 1971) was an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse who was the 1957 Horse of the Year. This following a three-year-old campaign that included wins in the Preakness Stakes and Trenton Handicap, in which he defeated fellow Hall of Fame inductees Round Table and Gallant Man. Bold Ruler was named American Champion Sprinter at age four, and upon retirement became the leading sire in North America eight times between 1963 and 1973, the most of any sire in the twentieth century.
Bold Ruler sired the 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat and was the great-grandsire of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. His descendants include classic winners such as California Chrome.
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Background
Bred by the Wheatley Stable of Gladys Mills Phipps, Bold Ruler was foaled on April 6, 1954, at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky. His sire was Nasrullah, who has the distinction of being a champion sire in both Europe and North America. Bold Ruler's dam was the stakes-winning sprinter Miss Disco, by Discovery. By coincidence, he and rival Round Table were foaled on the same night at Claiborne, and both returned to stand at stud there after their racing careers. He was trained by Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons, and was regularly ridden by Eddie Arcaro.
Bold Ruler was a big, leggy horse, standing 16.1 hands (65 inches, 165 cm) with a great shoulder, powerful hindquarter, and a distinctive long, sloping hip going down to a straight hind leg. This conformation can still be found, especially in horses descended through the Seattle Slew line.
Racing career
The American foal crop of 1954 is considered to be one of the best of the twentieth century, containing three Hall of Fame horses: Bold Ruler, Gallant Man and Round Table, not to mention early standout Gen. Duke and Kentucky Derby winner Iron Liege. Bold Ruler stood out because of his raw speed, combined with courage that allowed him to overcome infirmities ranging from a tender mouth to chronic arthritis and soreness.
At age two, Bold Ruler won seven starts, including the Youthful and Juvenile and the Futurity Stakes. However, he injured his back in the Youthful Stakes when he slammed into the starting gate, then developed a hock problem. He did not race in the Garden State Stakes, then one of the most prestigious races for two-year-olds, and lost the title for champion 2-year-old to the winner of that race, Barbizon.
1957: three-year-old season
Bold Ruler began his three-year-old campaign in Florida by winning the Bahamas Stakes on January 30, 1957, while equaling the track record. He then finished second in the Everglade Stakes before taking the Flamingo Stakes while breaking the track record. On March 30, he finished second in the Florida Derby to Gen. Duke, who tied the then-world record of 1:464⁄5 for 9 furlongs.
Bold Ruler was then shipped north to Aqueduct Racetrack in New York for the Wood Memorial Stakes, where he went off as the 1-2 favorite in a field of seven. He opened up an early four-length lead, but Gallant Man gradually closed ground and surged to the front at the top of the stretch. Bold Ruler then fought back and nosed out Gallant Man in the final strides while setting a new track record of 1:484⁄5 for 1+1⁄8 miles.
The original favorite for the 1957 Kentucky Derby, held on May 4, was the Calumet Farm entry of Gen. Duke, who had defeated Bold Ruler in the Florida Derby, and the more lightly regarded Iron Liege. However, Gen. Duke was scratched after he went lame shortly before the race, so Bold Ruler went off as the 6-5 favorite. He fought against Arcaro's restraint and was carried wide around the first turn while battling for the lead with Federal Hill. He remained in contention until the far turn but faded down the homestretch to finish fourth behind Iron Liege. The race became notorious when Gallant Man, who looked certain to win the race, had his stride briefly checked at the 16th pole by jockey Bill Shoemaker, who had misjudged the position of the finish line.
Fitzsimmons later revealed that Bold Ruler was suffering from a sore mouth, dating back to an incident as a yearling when he nearly tore his tongue in two after catching it on something in his stall. After the Derby, Fitzsimmons decided to use a strip of cloth to tie down the colt's tongue, relieving the pressure caused by the bit. In the Preakness Stakes on May 18, Bold Ruler responded with a front-running victory, with Iron Liege two lengths back in second. Arcaro had let Bold Ruler run at his own pace and later attributed the loss in the Derby to his attempt to restrain the colt.
Gallant Man had bypassed the Preakness, instead winning the Peter Pan Stakes on June 1. The two colts met again in the Belmont Stakes on June 15, with Bold Ruler going off as the 17-20 favorite, while Gallant Man and his stablemate Bold Nero went off at odds of 19-20. Bold Ruler went to the early lead but was closely challenged by Bold Nero. The two set fast early fractions before first Bold Nero then Bold Ruler faltered. Bold Ruler hung on for third but was so tired after the race that he didn't want to return to the unsaddling enclosure. Gallant Man won convincingly and set an American record for 1+1⁄2 miles of 2:263⁄5. This remained the stakes record until 1973 when Bold Ruler's son Secretariat broke it.
1958: four-year-old season
At age four, Bold Ruler carried from 133 to 136 pounds in his seven starts, was the odds-on favorite in all seven, and won five. He won at distances from six furlongs in the Toboggan Handicap to 1+1⁄4 miles in the Suburban and Monmouth Handicaps.
Bold Ruler started the year in Florida, first targeting a seven-furlong sprint in January for his debut, then the Widener Handicap in February. However, in both cases he became injured shortly before the race and was given time off to recover. He was then scheduled to debut at Jamaica Racetrack in late March but suffered another setback. As it turned out, he did not make his first start of the year until May 17 in the Toboggan Handicap, a six-furlong sprint at Belmont Park. Carrying top weight of 133 pounds, he settled into third place in the early running then sprinted clear down the stretch to win by half a length over Clem, who was carrying only 117 pounds.
In the 7-furlong Carter Handicap on May 30, Bold Ruler faced his old rival Gallant Man, who was making his seasonal debut. Bold Ruler was assigned 135 pounds compared to 128 pounds for Gallant Man. Bold Ruler once again rated close behind the early pace, while Gallant Man was far back. Gallant Man made a strong late run to finish third, but never threatened Bold Ruler, who drew off for a 1+1⁄2 length win.
Gallant Man gained his revenge in the Metropolitan Handicap on June 14, closing from well back to overtake the front-running Bold Ruler in deep stretch. Arcaro attributed the loss to the high weight of 135 pounds combined with a strong headwind, which took its toll in the final furlong of the one-mile race.
For Bold Ruler's next start, Fitzsimmons was faced with the choice of being assigned 138 pounds in the Roseben Handicap, run at Bold Ruler's favorite distance of seven furlongs, or 133 pounds in the Stymie Handicap, over nine furlongs. Fitzsimmon chose the longer race with a lower weight, explaining, "I don't mind horses getting beaten. The only way you can avoid that is to keep them in the barn. But I've got to keep this horse sound and I don't think weight helps me do that." Bold Ruler responded with a front running five-length victory while setting a new track record.
On July 4, Bold Ruler stretched out to a distance of 10 furlongs in the Suburban Handicap while carrying 134 pounds – at least 18 pounds more than any of his rivals. He vied for the lead with Clem and Beau Diable for the first half mile, then cut over to the rail and opened a three length lead as they rounded the final turn. Down the stretch, Clem started to close ground and actually got a head in front before Bold Ruler rallied in the final strides to win by a nose.
Stud record
Bold Ruler retired to stud at Claiborne Farm in 1959, where he became the leading sire in North America from 1963 to 1969 and again in 1973. His eight titles were the highest for a North American sire in the twentieth century. Although several of his runners won at 10 furlongs or more, Bold Ruler was best known as a sire of precocious 2-year-olds, leading the juvenile sire list a then-record six times. From 366 named foals, he sired 240 winners (65.6%) and 82 stakes winners (22.4%), including Hall of Famers Gamely and Secretariat.
He sired 11 champions:
Lamb Chop (b. 1960) - American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly
Bold Bidder (b. 1962) - American Co-champion Older Male Horse (1966)
Bold Lad (b. 1962) - American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt
Queen Empress (b. 1962) - American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly
Gamely (b. 1964) - American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly, American Champion Older Female Horse (1968–69), Hall of Fame (1980)
Bold Lad (IRE) (b. 1964) - Top rated British Two-Year-Old, bred and raced by Gladys Phipps' sister, Beatrice Mills Forbes, Countess Granard.
Successor (b. 1964) - American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt
Queen of the Stage (b. 1965) - American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly
Vitriolic (b. 1965) - American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt
Secretariat (b. 1970) - 9th U.S. Triple Crown Champion, American Horse of the Year (1972–73), 1972 Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, 1973 Champion Three-Year-Old colt, 1973 American Champion Turf Horse, Hall of Fame (1974)
Death and legacy
Bold Ruler was the first horse to undergo radiation therapy when he was diagnosed with sinus cancer in 1971. At age 17, he died at Claiborne Farm on July 12, 1971, and is interred there. In 1973, he was posthumously inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Bold Ruler was listed at No. 19 in the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 United States thoroughbred horse racing champions of the 20th century. The Bold Ruler Handicap at Aqueduct is named in his honor.