Fair Play (horse)

Fair Play (April 1, 1905 – December 17, 1929) was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse that was successful on the track, but even more so as a sire.

His grandsire was Spendthrift, whose grandsire was the English Triple Crown champion West Australian.

While successful on the track until an injury cut short his racing career, Fair Play gained his most fame as a sire. Among his better progeny were:

• Display – 1926 Preakness Stakes winner and sire of Discovery
• Man o' War – chosen #1 in the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century
• Mad Play – 1924 Belmont Stakes winner
• Ladkin – 1924 International Stakes No.2 winner
• Mad Hatter – 1921 U.S. Champion Older Male Horse
• Chance Play – 1927 United States Horse of the Year
• Chance Shot – 1927 Belmont Stakes winner; sire of Belmont Stakes winner Peace Chance
• Fairmount – U.S. Hall of Fame steeplechase champion

Following the death of owner August Belmont, Jr., in 1924, Fair Play was sold to Joseph E. Widener, proprietor of Elmendorf Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, where he remained until his death on December 17, 1929. Widener, a dedicated horseman, buried Fair Play in the Elmendorf Farm cemetery and erected a nearly life-size bronze statue at the head of his grave. Fairplay is in the ancestral lineage of Man o' War, Secretariat, and American Pharoah.

External links

• Fair Play's pedigree and stats
• Fairl Play at the United States National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame