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Hall of Fame - At The Gallows End
Original article written by Nathan Klein posted 3 years 2 weeks agoRabbitthrutheglass was quite a great sire having over 16 million in progeny earnings. But his greatest combination was with the Broodmare sire Seraph. With 8 of his top 15 best earners having the dam sire Seraph. But with this combination, only one of Rabbitthrutheglass's progeny would make it to 1 million dollars. With many Simmy award-winning synthetic champions who was the single greatest of the bunch. Well, he happened to be a tall beautiful roan horse who didn't win his first stakes race until he was 5-years-old his name was At The Gallows End.
Initially, At The Gallows End did not seem like an exceptional horse. His first start was far from great as he broke well, stalked in second and simply lacked a kick late-game fading to fourth. In his next start, he simply would stay second the whole way unable to catch the leader Jur It who lead the whole race. He would get the lead next time but Fete Des Lumieres came from fourth place to pass him in the final turn. At The Gallows End would fall back to second. He would finally get his first victory in a maiden race where he would open up a huge lead by 5 lengths early and have enough heart left to hang and win by 2 1/4 lengths. Next time out though he tried the same tactic and simply could not hold off the late closing Look Rocket who ran the exhausted horse in the stretch. At The Gallows End. He would round out his 2-year-old year with a final win in an NW3 tiring in the stretch but still a clear winner by 2 3/4 lengths.
With a pretty impressive win and some improvement over the break, At The Gallows End was entered in the Gelandesprung Stakes. It would be his stakes debut and his seasonal debut for his 3-year-old season. Things didn't start well as he stumbled out of the gate letting He's a Fox set the pace early as he sat in second. He simply wasn't a threat never catching He's a Fox and letting Formidable Force pass him in the stretch. Formidable Force would go on to pass He's a Fox and win the race. He's a Fox held on for second and At The Gallows End was a well-beaten third being 2 lengths behind Formidable Force. He again would not have the lead next time out staying in second the whole way as He's a Fox kept opening up his lead and went gate to wire. He finally got the lead next time out winning his second NW3 race this time by a length. He tried stakes races one more time as a 3-year-old but he could only get fourth. After adding one more win and third the year was over.
Age 4 would be the year where he began to change for the better as a racehorse. He starts with 3 solid performances managing 2 seconds and 1 victory in allowance company. After that, he managed 2 gate to wire victories by 1 3/4 lengths. In just one year he had managed to double his win count from 3 to 6 and ran his fastest speed figure with a 79. Still not an exceptional figure but it was a slight improvement from his regular winning figure of 77. With such a significantly better 4-year-old season he was tried in stakes company again for the first time since his 3-year-old season at the start of his 5-year-old season. The stakes race was the non-graded Adjust the Level Stakes for a purse of $50,000. He broke off well going to the lead holding off a fellow front runner Airacobra who became exhausted trying to keep up with him. He soon opened up but Bum's Rush began to make up ground. But At The Gallows End had enough energy to hold on defeating Bum's Rush by 1 3/4 lengths and winning his first stakes race at the age of 5.
His next time out he stayed second the whole way as Grand Speed went gate to wire with the Poly Dash Stakes. At The Gallows End would gain ground late coming within a length of Grand Speed when they crossed the wire. But after this, At The Gallows End began to hit his stride in the Sky of Sun Stakes. Despite a very feisty challenge from V Two Rocket he held him off and held off the late closing Ready to win the race. He then made a huge jump in class as he would make his graded stakes debut in the grade 2 Gryffin Stakes. The race didn't have a great first impression as he broke poorly but even with this, he recovered almost immediately to 4 1/2 lengths by the third furlong. Variety Fair would try to catch him late game but it wasn't enough as At The Gallows End still had 1 length left when they hit the finish.
After that would come the biggest test for any type of racehorse, grade 1 races. At The Gallows End would try his first grade 1 hot off the heels of a 2 stakes race winning streak. It would be in the Artificial Speed Stakes and it would be against the previous year's Steward's Cup Synthetic Speed winner Stop The Police. Stop the Police was a fast horse who liked the lead just as much as At The Gallows End. The gates flew and both vied for the lead but Stop the Police got it by a nose. To his outside was At The Gallows End who was right next to him for the first 3 furlongs. But Stop the Police simply couldn't hold onto it forever as At The Gallows End simply overwhelmed him never giving him an inch. At The Gallows End would open and by the end of the race would win by 3/4ths of a length. In less then 3/4ths of a SIM Year he went from an allowance horse to a grade 1 winner. With 2 weeks until the Steward's Cup Synthetic Sprint At The Gallows End added the Grade 2 All-Weather Prince to his streak.
But the Steward's Cup Synthetic Sprint would prove to be a disappointment as he simply was not able to keep up with the front runners early and could do no better than fourth at the finish line. He would also lose out to Cara Stamm for Champion All-Weather Sprinter. But At The Gallows End was ready to try again and would prep up to the Steward's Cup Synthetic Sprint again at the age of 6. He would start with a daring neck victory in the Poly Dash Stakes. But he'd also suffer rough defeats to Peridex and Aznavour. Peridex would be responsible for all 3 of At The Gallows End defeats that year. First being a well-beaten fourth in the Formidable Fager Stakes. Before getting back at Peridex to repeat his win the Gryffin Stakes. But he couldn't repeat his wins in the Artificial Sprint or the All-Weather Sprint as both of those would be won by Peridex.
But finally, there was the main event the Steward's Cup Synthetic Sprint. It would put all of At The Gallows End's worst enemies in one race. Peridex his regular rival that had beaten him 3 of their 4 matches. Aznavour the previous year's Steward's Cup Synthetic Sprint winner. Lastly, there was Cara Stamm the filly who had denied him the Simmy for All-Weather Champion Sprinter the year before. The gates flew open and At The Gallows End was out the fastest. He wouldn't waste a second on his quest for redemption and took a 2 3/4 length lead. But by the far turn Aznavour and Cara Samm made there move chasing after him. Gaining ground faster and faster. By the far turn, they were 3 across the track, At The Gallows End desperately tried to hang on. With the last bit of strength he had. He pushed his head in front repelling them for one last stride as the 3 crossed the finish line. With only a head to separate the 3. At the wire At The Gallows End ended his career defeating all his rivals. He won the race by a head holding off the champion filly and defending champion.
At The Gallows End would get the Simmy for All-Weather Champion Sprinter that year and retired immediately to stud. He finished his career with 30 overall starts winning 15 of them and finishing in the money 26 of them. As a sire, he would prove to be one of the most prolific All-Weather Sprinter sires in the history of the SIM with progeny earnings of over 52 million. Producing such champions as Bear's Pearl who won the Simmy for All-Weather Champion 2 and 3-year-old female and elder female. As well as 3 Steward's Cup victories over her 3 years of racing. At The Gallows End was a true example of a late bloomer. Proving that with enough time some horses can go from a mere allowance horse to one of the greatest to ever grace their division.