From en.wikipedia.org:
[American Thoroughbred racehorse] {{Infobox racehorse |horsename = Tom Fool
|image = 250px |caption = |sire = Menow |grandsire = Pharamond II |dam = Gaga
|damsire = Bull Dog |sex = Stallion |foaled = March 31, 1949 |country = United
States |colour = Bay |breeder = Duval A. Headley |owner = Greentree
Stables<br>Racing colors: Pink, black stripes on sleeves, black cap. |trainer
= John M. Gaver, Sr. |record = 30: 21-7-1 |earnings = $570,165 |race =
Sanford Stakes (1951)<br>Belmont Futurity Stakes (1951)<br>Grand Union Hotel
Stakes (1951)<br>East View Stakes (1951)<br>Jerome Handicap (1952)<br>Grey Lag
Handicap (1952)<br>Empire City Handicap (1952)<br>Sysonby Handicap (1952,
1953)<br>Wilson Stakes (1952, 1953)<br>Metropolitan Handicap
(1953)<br>Suburban Handicap (1953)<br>Brooklyn Handicap (1953)<br>Whitney
Handicap (1953)<br>Carter Handicap (1953)<br>Pimlico Special (1953) |awards=
U.S. Champion 2-Yr-Old Colt (1951)<br>2nd New York Handicap Triple
(1953)<br>U.S. Champion Older Horse (1953)<br>U.S. Champion Sprint Horse
(1953)<br>United States Horse of the Year (1953)<br>Leading broodmare sire in
Britain & Ireland (1965) |honours = United States Racing Hall of Fame inductee
(1960)<br>Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame (1977)<br>#11 - Top 100 U.S.
Racehorses of the 20th Century<br>Tom Fool Handicap at Belmont Park |updated=
25 November 2023 }} TOM FOOL (March 31, 1949 – August 20, 1976) was a champion
American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 1953 American Horse of the Year
and was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame. He sired the champion
racehorses Buckpasser and Tim Tam.
** Background
Owned by Greentree Stables, Tom Fool was bred by Duval Headley, a Thoroughbred
trainer and nephew of prominent Kentucky breeder Hal Price Headley. Tom Fool
was a bay colt by the racehorse and sire Menow out of Gaga by Pharamond II.[1]
He was a half-brother to the good two-year-old Aunt Jinny,[2] and was a
great-grandson of the broodmare Laughing Queen, whose other descendants
included the Kentucky Derby winner Dust Commander.<ref
name=bloodlines1>[url=http://www.bloodlines.net/TB/Families/Family3j.htm]
Greentree Stables purchased Tom Fool privately as a yearling for $20,000.
** Racing record
Tom Fool was trained by John M. Gaver, Sr. and ridden by Ted Atkinson. In
his two-year-old season, he had five wins and two seconds in seven starts,
which earned him Champion 2-Year-Old Colt honors for 1951.
After he finished second in the Wood Memorial Stakes at age 3, the horse's
veterinarian discovered he had raced with a high fever. The illness sidelined
Tom Fool for more than two months, and he missed the Triple Crown races.
Although his 1952 season was difficult, he won six of his thirteen starts.
Along with Tom Fool's many accomplishments, he sired notable champions
including Tim Tam and Stop the Music, who was also inducted into the hall of
fame.
In 1953, a healthy four-year-old Tom Fool was undefeated in ten races, He won
at distances ranging from 5½ furlongs to 1¼ miles and became only the second
horse to win New York's Handicap Triple Crown: the Metropolitan, Suburban and
Brooklyn Handicaps. Tom Fool also won the Whitney Stakes and captured the
Pimlico Special by eight lengths. This final start was a win that concluded a
perfect four-year-old campaign with 10 stakes wins in as many starts. The
Pimlico Special was his fourth consecutive race start in a non-betting race;
by this time, few horses were entered against him.[3] In polls to determine
Horse of the Year honors, Tom Fool topped polls by the Thoroughbred Racing
Association (34 of a possible 37 votes)[4] and Triangle Publications (30 of
31).[5]
Tom Fool retired with a record of 30 starts for 21 wins, 7 seconds and 1 third
for earnings of $570,165.<ref name="Ahnert"/>
** Stud career
Tom Fool was syndicated for $1,750,000, as a stallion and initially stood for
a $5,000 service fee. He sired the winners of over 650 races in America and
England, with over 30 stakes winners, including:
- Buckpasser - 1966 U.S. Horse of the Year, U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee
- Silly Season (USA), England's leading two-year-old of 1964 and sire of Lunchtime, a good sire in Australia .
- Tim Tam - won Kentucky Derby , Preakness Stakes , U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee
- Tompion - multiple stakes winner, including Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby , Blue Grass Stakes and Travers Stakes in 1960 <ref name="Ahnert"/>
Tom Fool's bloodline endures in the 2015 U.S. Triple Crown winner, American
Pharoah, who is both a sixth- and seventh-generation descendant.
** Honors
Tom Fool was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in
1960.[6] In _The Blood-Horse_ magazine ranking of the _Blood-Horse_ magazine
Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century, he was ranked #11. The Tom Fool
Handicap, contested at Belmont Park, is named in his honor.
Tom Fool retired from stud duties in 1972 and died on 20 August 1976.
** See also
- List of leading Thoroughbred racehorses
** Pedigree
{{Pedigree | name = Tom Fool<ref name="equineline1949"/> | f = Menow <br> Bay
1935 | m = Gaga <br> Bay 1942 | ff = Pharamond II (GB)<br> Bay 1925 | fm =
Alcibiades<br> Chestnut 1927 | mf = Bull Dog (FR) <br> Bay 1927 | mm = Alpoise
<br> Bay 1937 | fff = Phalaris | ffm = Selene | fmf = Supremus | fmm = Regal
Roman (GB) | mff = Teddy | mfm = Plucky Liege (GB) | mmf = Equipoise | mmm =
Laughing Queen | ffff = Polymelus | fffm = Bromus | ffmf = Chaucer | ffmm =
Serenissima | fmff = Ultimus | fmfm = Mandy Hamilton | fmmf = Roi Herode |
fmmm = Lady Cicero | mfff = Ajax (FR) | mffm = Rondeau | mfmf = Spearmint |
mfmm = Concertina | mmff = Pennant | mmfm = Swinging | mmmf = Sun Briar | mmmm
= Cleopatra (Family: 3-j)<ref name=bloodlines1/> |}}
** References
[Reflist]
** External links
- National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame: Tom Fool (see https://web.archive.org/web/20110629004520/http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/horses-view.asp?varID=152)
[American Horse of the Year winners] Category:1949 racehorse births
Category:1976 racehorse deaths Category:Racehorses trained in the United
States Category:Racehorses bred in Kentucky Category:American Champion
racehorses Category:American Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Category:United
States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Category:United States
Champion Thoroughbred Sires Category:British Champion Thoroughbred broodmare
sires Category:Thoroughbred family 3-j Category:Chefs-de-Race