Mr. Prospector

Mr. Prospector
2007 book on Mr. Prospector by Avalyn Hunter
Sire	Raise a Native
Grandsire	Native Dancer
Dam	Gold Digger
Damsire	Nashua
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1970
Country	United States
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Leslie Combs II
Owner	Abraham I. Savin
Trainer	Jimmy Croll
Record	14: 7-4-2
Earnings	$112,170
Major wins
Gravesend Handicap (1974) Whirlaway Handicap (1974)
Awards
Leading sire in North America (1987 & 1988) Leading broodmare sire in North America (1997–2003, 2005–06)
Infobox last updated on: February 5, 2007.

Mr. Prospector (1970–1999) was a thoroughbred racehorse foaled in Kentucky, whose descendants have been dominant in the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. He won half of his 14 career races.

Mr. Prospector also ran in the year the great Secretariat won the Triple Crown. Mr. Prospector's sire was Raise a Native, a son of the immortal Native Dancer. He was out of the mare Gold Digger, a daughter of Nashua who was sired by the great Nearco. A $200,000 yearling in 1971 (a significant price for the early 1970's), "Mr. P", as he came to be known, was trained by Jimmy Croll, a Hall of Fame member who went on to train the great Holy Bull.

Mr. Prospector won the Gravesend Handicap, the Whirlaway Handicap and managed to set track records for six furlongs (1,207 m) at Gulfstream Park and Garden State, but his racing record provided little inkling of his success as a breeding sire.

One of Mr. P's most remarkable feats was siring one winner of each of the Triple Crown races, a feat his grandson, Unbridled, has also accomplished. His Triple Crown race winners were the 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus, a promising young sire; 1985 Preakness Stakes winner Tank's Prospect; and 1982 Belmont Stakes winner and Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year, Conquistador Cielo.

Ancestry

In tail-male descent (traced entirely through males, the line in which Mr. Prospector has made his mark), Mr. Prospector descends through the Darley Arabian and was bred alongside Blazing Rate. Virtually all horses of this line alive today descend through Whalebone (foaled 1807), via Stockwell (1849). And the overwhelming majority of these descend from Stockwell's grandson Bend Or (1877) through his great-great-grandson Phalaris (1913). Successful sire-lines continue to crowd out less successful ones as breeders seek successful bloodlines, and in recent years Mr. Prospector has appeared likely to join this catalogue of likely tail-male ancestors of major racers, whether they be heavily promoted and trained and owned by prominent figures, or "Cinderellas" like Smarty Jones or Funny Cide.

On June 1, 1999, Mr. Prospector died in his stall of complications from colic at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky. He was buried between Nijinsky and Secretariat.

Progeny

Mr. Prospector in an impromptu family tree with his sons, plus their sons, and their sons, etc., with Triple Crown races won:

• Mr. Prospector
  • Fappiano (foaled 1977)
    • Cryptoclearance (1984)
      • Victory Gallop (1995) 1998 Belmont Stakes
    • Quiet American (1986)
      • Real Quiet (1995) 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes
    • Unbridled (1987) 1990 Kentucky Derby
      • Grindstone (1993) 1996 Kentucky Derby
        • Birdstone (2001) 2004 Belmont Stakes
          • Mine That Bird (2006) 2009 Kentucky Derby
          • Summer Bird (2006) 2009 Belmont Stakes
      • Red Bullet (1997) 2000 Preakness Stakes
      • Empire Maker (2000) 2003 Belmont Stakes
  • Conquistador Cielo (1979) 1982 Belmont Stakes
  • Tank's Prospect (1982) 1985 Preakness Stakes
  • Woodman (1983) (has sired 94 stakes winners)
    • Hansel (1988) 1991 Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes
    • Timber Country (1992) 1995 Preakness Stakes
  • Gulch (1984)
    • Thunder Gulch (1992) 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes
      • Point Given (1998) 2001 Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes
  • Gone West (1984)
    • Elusive Quality (1993)
      • Smarty Jones (2001) 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes
    • Commendable (1997) 2000 Belmont Stakes
  • Afleet (1984)
    • Northern Afleet (1993)
      • Afleet Alex (2002) 2005 Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes
  • Forty Niner (1985)
    • Editor's Note (1993) 1996 Belmont Stakes
      • Distorted Humor (1993)
      • Funny Cide (2000) 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes
  • Seeking the Gold (1985)
    • Jazil (2003) 2006 Belmont Stakes
  • Machiavellian (1987)
    • Street Cry (1998)
      • Street Sense (2004) 2007 Kentucky Derby
  • Kingmambo (1990)
    • Lemon Drop Kid (1996) 1999 Belmont Stakes
  • Our Emblem (1991)
    • War Emblem (1999) 2002 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes
  • Smart Strike (1992)
    • Curlin (2004) 2007 Preakness Stakes
  • Fusaichi Pegasus (1997) 2000 Kentucky Derby

References

• Mr. Prospector's pedigree with photo
• Mr. Prosprector Profile
• Hunter, Avalyn. Gold Rush : How Mr. Prospector Became Racing's Billion-Dollar Sire (2007) Eclipse Press ISBN 9781581501735

External links

• About Mr. Prospector
• Forbes America's Most Valuable Studs