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Zev
Zev with jockey Earl Sande
Sire The Finn
Grandsire Ogden
DamMiss Kearney
DamsirePlanudes
Sex Stallion
Foaled1920
Country United States
Colour Brown
Breeder John E. Madden
Owner Rancocas Stable Silks: White, Green Collar and Cuffs, White Cap.
Trainer Sam Hildreth & David J. Leary
Record43: 23-8-5
Earnings$313,639
Major wins
Hopeful Stakes (1922)
Grand Union Hotel Stakes (1922)
Paumonok Handicap (1923)
Withers Stakes (1923)
Lawrence Realization Stakes (1923)
Queens County Handicap (1923)
Match race – defeated Epsom Derby champ, Papyrus (1923)

American Classic Race wins:

Kentucky Derby (1923)
Belmont Stakes (1923)
Awards
U.S. Champion 2-Year-Old Colt (1922)
Co-U.S. Champion 3-Year-Old Colt (1923)
American Horse of the Year (1923)
Honours
United States Racing Hall of Fame (1983)
#56 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century
Last updated on September 24, 2006

Zev (1920–1943) was an American thoroughbred horse racing Champion and National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame inductee. [1]

Background

A brown colt, Zev was sired by The Finn and was out of the mare Miss Kearney (by Planudes). [2] Bred by the famous horseman John E. Madden, Zev was owned by the Rancocas Stable of Harry F. Sinclair, the founder of Sinclair Oil, who was a central figure in the Teapot Dome scandal and served time in prison.

Sinclair named the horse in honor of his friend and personal lawyer, Colonel James William (also known as J.W.) Zeverly. [3]

Racing career

1922: Two-year-old season

Trained by Sam Hildreth, as a two-year-old Zev won five of his twelve races, finished second on four occasions, and was a Champion colt of 1922. [4]

1923: Three-year-old season

The following year, he was the dominant three-year-old in America, winning a number of important Grade I stakes races under jockey Earl Sande. Included in his victories were the Lawrence Realization Stakes and the most prestigious race in the United States, the Kentucky Derby, for which David J. Leary was credited as trainer, as he was for the Preakness Stakes, which was run before the Kentucky Derby in 1923. [5] Zev encountered problems in the Preakness and finished 12th but came back to win the Derby and then the Belmont Stakes. [6]

Zev vs. Papyrus Match Race

On October 20, 1923, one of the most significant match races in worldwide thoroughbred racing took place at Belmont Park on Long Island, New York with a purse of $100,000 up for grabs in a special race called the International Stakes, set to run 1 ½ miles. The two horse race brought the Kentucky Derby winner against vs. the Epsom Derby winner, Papyrus. The trophy was also a special one, it was a solid cold copy of a 1707 cup, which stood 12 inches high and weighed 100 ounces. On top was an eagle with outstretched wings, with one side left to etch the winners. It was donated by The Jockey Club, and was intended for perpetual use for international competition. [7]

Leading up to the race, there was much excitement to see the English star take on the American champion. The Boston Globe published a size comparison between the two, measuring not just their height and weight but their girth, distance between eyes, and other measurements. [8]

A crowd estimated at close to 70,000 watched the race. The odds were 9-10 for Zev as the favorite, with Papyrus at even money. After a slow start, Zev lead the whole race and eventually bounded away to win by five lengths, in a slow time of 2:35 2/5. [9]

Zev's victory marked the first time a Kentucky Derby winner defeated an English Derby winner. His win brought his career earnings to $254,903, passing the record set by Man O' War a few years earlier. [10] [1] After the win, Dick Ferris, a promoter of an upcoming track near Culver City, California offered up a $100,000 match race between Zev and My Own, a race that never came to fruition. [9]

In November, Zev won another match race, this one controversially close, against In Memoriam at Churchill Downs. [11]

His performances in 1923 earned Zev the titles American Horse of the Year and Co-Champion Three-Year-Old Male. [4]

1924: Four-year-old season

After successfully campaigning as a four-year-old, Zev retired as racing's all-time leading money earner, surpassing Man o' War's record. [1]

Stud career

At stud, he proved less successful than he had on the track, at best siring two minor stakes winners (Zevson and Zida).

In 1983, Zev was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. [1] In The Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, he was accorded 56th place.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Zev - National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame". www.racingmuseum.org. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  2. ^ Zev's pedigree
  3. ^ "Name of Zev Explained: Sinclair Named Colt in Honor of Col. J. W. Zeverly, an Oil Operator". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1923-11-03. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
  4. ^ a b The Bloodhorse.com Champion's history charts Archived September 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Zev's Kentucky Derby
  6. ^ New York Times - June 10, 1923
  7. ^ "Here's Trophy Papyrus, Zev Race for Today". Chicago Tribune. 20 October 1923. p. 16. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  8. ^ "How Papyrus and Zev Compare". Boston Globe. 18 October 1923. p. 18. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Zev Leads Papyrus by Five Lengths in $100,000 Race". The Standard Union. 21 October 1923. p. 1. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  10. ^ Chicago Daily Tribune - October 21, 1923
  11. ^ Time Magazine - November 26, 1923
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