Kelso: The Horse of Gold

Although most racing fans would pick Man O'War or Secretariat in the top spot, one of the greatest Thoroughbreds to ever race is the mighty Kelso, five-time Horse of the Year winning the 2-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup from 1960-1964. Author Linda Kennedy writes this latest biography of the Allaire du Pont homebred gelding who could win on the dirt, turf, sprints, routes, carrying 130+ pounds, and from ages 3 through 8, possibly the most versatile racer in history. "Kelly" is without equal in history, as racing continues its downward trend toward shorter races, and lighter weights, and short racing careers.

Kelso is the only 5-time Horse of the Year and the only 5-time Jockey Club Gold Cup winner, and he did this when the race was contested over 2 miles. What he accomplished cannot be equaled in the modern era of racing, where 2-mile races and 130-pound imposts are rarities. A modern horse would have to win the Breeders' Cup Classic 5 consecutive years and be awarded Horse of the Year each of those years, an impossibility today, to even come close.

He is the greatest horse never to have run in the Triple Crown. But in his many exploits, winners of the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont went down to defeat when they tried to take him on later in their careers. Because the media and public mostly focus on the Triple Crown, the small, deerlike gelding bred and owned by Allaire du Pont and trained by Carl Hanford was mostly ignored in his 3-year-old season. But this didn't matter, as he just did what he did best, win. Eventually, as the win total climbed with his handicap weight, the world took notice. His reign over racing included the Cuban Missile Crisis and John F. Kennedy's assassination, giving Americans a hero to look up to like Secretariat did during Watergate and Seabiscuit did during the Great Depression. Author Linda Kennedy used world events and the Triple Crown to give the reader a background "reference timelime", further stressing how long an influence Kelly had on the sport.

Interestingly, Allaire du Pont used Kelso for celebrity fund-raising appearances, including for the (at the time) newly built New Bolton Center of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine, now famous as the place where Barbaro was cared for after he broke down in the Preakness. Kelso continued in this role during retirement until his death, fittingly a day after he led the post parade of the 1983 Jockey Club Gold Cup, the race he owned.