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A Tribute to Whitsoxs

Original article written by Regina Moore posted 11 years 0 weeks ago

As a junior player in Year 34, who had figured out that the mixed breeds were a way to be successful in a less competitive environment than Thoroughbreds, I looked through a rare auction that had some mixers, and there was a three-year-old colt named Whitsoxs. He had won a stakes as a two-year-old, and had two allowance wins at three. He had struggled in stakes competition as a sophomore, which is probably why he was put up for auction.

Of course, what stood out most about Whitsoxs was his quirky name. I always assumed it was a badly spelled attempt by his original owner to be White Sox, as in the Chicago baseball team. But since both his early owners have long since left SIM, I doubt anyone will ever know how the name came about.

I was very happy to get Whitsoxs for a mere $14,000 at the auction. He debuted in my RLM colors Week 14 of his 3yo season. I entered him in the 400yd Dip the Dot Stakes, and was ecstatic when he won by a nose over the gelding Corny Fuse, who would prove to be his most troublesome rival. Back then, one could be pretty lax about requirements for mixed breeds standing stud, and I knew I had my first stallion.

For his final start of the year, Whitsoxs was beat a head in a race that is now the Steward’s Cup.

At four, Whitsoxs never won, but he had two seconds and two thirds in stakes competition, and concluded his career with a fourth. His only two poor efforts in 17 lifetime starts were at distances other than 400yds.

Whitsoxs was retired at the end of his four-year-old season. Despite only two stakes victories, his early stud career benefited from two important facts. The first was that one of the best horses in the 400yd division was Corny Fuse, and he was a gelding, as was the case with the horse that had beaten Whitsoxs in his final start. The second beneficial fact was that a major Appaloosa breeder saw Whitsoxs as a future star in the breeding shed, and she sent him some very nice mares.

Whitsoxs’s first crop was the stuff of dreams, despite consisting of only thirteen foals. All raced, and there were a whopping six stakes winners. Two of those, the fillies Squaw Uniform and White Holiday, collectively won three Steward’s Cup races.

Steward’s Cup winners in future crops were the amazing colt Zebra Striped, and the later colt Blazing Sun and filly She Got Socked. In addition to siring offspring with sheer brilliance in the very best races, Whitsoxs also had the ability to sire horses of amazing longevity. It’s not at all unusual to see a Whitsoxs offspring still winning at the age of six, and beyond.

His most recent 2yo crop includes the colt Those Soxs and filly LoosetheSoxs, both winners in their stakes debuts.

One that never won a stakes, but had five allowance wins and many stakes placings, was the filly Always Cinderella, and she is the dam of two-time Steward’s Cup winner Dynamite Ball, as well as a “star” broodmare. The Whitsoxs filly Fruit of the Loom was a multiple stakes winner that has produced multiple stakes winner Magic Moxie. Whitsoxs daughters have, so far, produced eight additional stakes winners.

Whitsoxs was one of the very best stallions I ever stood at stud, and the most immediately successful. He will always have a special place in my heart, and his impact on the 400yd distance category in SIM will be felt for many generations to come.






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