General Quarters (horse)

General Quarters (foaled March 7, 2006 in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was a contender for the 2009 U.S. Triple Crown. He was sired by Sky Mesa, winner of the 2002 Grade I Hopeful Stakes, a son of the 1997 Blue Grass Stakes winner, Pulpit. His dam is Ecology, a daughter of the 1995 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, Unbridled's Song.

He is owned and trained by 75-year-old Tom McCarthy, a retired high school teacher and principal. On May 30, 2008, McCarthy claimed General Quarters, his only horse, for $20,000 out of a maiden race at Churchill Downs.

Racing career

Age 2
General Quarters made seven starts as a two-year-old. He won a maiden claiming race his first time out and was claimed by 75-year-old owner-trainer Tom McCarthy, a retired high school teacher and principal from Louisville, Kentucky. After that, the colt showed limited promise until his last race of 2008 when he earned his best stakes race result with a second-place finish in the Inaugural Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
Age 3
On February 14, 2009, General Quarters won the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs . At Keeneland Race Course on April 11, the colt won the most important race of his career to date: the Grade I Blue Grass Stakes. His win qualified him for the May 2 Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the U.S. Triple Crown. Ridden by French jockey, Julien Leparoux, he finished tenth.
He was then entered into the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Downs, again with Leparoux aboard, and finished ninth.
Age 4
On May 1, 2010, General Quarters won the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, beating Court Vision.

Further Info

After the Preakness, General Quarters had a small chip removed from his right front knee. He will be out until late fall (2009).
“He is doing well,” owner-trainer Tom McCarthy said. “I’d like to have him ready for the Clark Handicap if possible. After the Derby we noticed a little filling, but there was no heat or discomfort. It was not a major thing. After the Preakness, I took him to Rood & Riddle in Lexington and had it x-rayed. There was not much there but we went ahead and took it out.”
McCarthy has an idea of when the injury may have occurred in the Derby.
“We went back and looked at pictures of the race, and there was one in which he had three feet up and the right front was on the ground,” McCarthy said. “He got bumped at that time and he might have twisted it then.” Bloodhorse.com ^[1]

References

• General Quarters's pedigree and partial racing stats
• General Quarters at the NTRA
• Video at YouTube of General Quarters winning the 2009 Blue Grass Stakes