Galgo Jr. (March 17, 1928 – December 21, 1936) was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse that was raised and raced in Puerto Rico notable for being one of the first champions of Puerto Rico and for being the former record holder for most wins by a racehorse and joined former record holder for most wins in a single season with Jorrocks.^[1]

Background

Galgo Jr. was a bay colt named after his sire Galgo. Galgo was originally named Check when he raced in America, but he was claimed at old Aqueduct Racetrack by Ramon Garcia in 1924. His career was unexceptional, only winning once in 8 starts. Once in Puerto Rico, he would be renamed to Galgo, the Spanish word for Greyhound, and produce multiple Puerto Rican champions, like the white horse Nevado, but his greatest get was Galgo Jr.'s.^[2] Although most of his pedigree was nothing special, his grandsire was Fair Play, who sired the legendary Man o' War.^[3]

Racing career

Galgo Jr. was born on Vieques Island and both of his parents were imported from America. Throughout his career, he would only ever race at two racetracks in Puerto Rico: Quintana Hippodrome and Las Monjas Hippodrome.^[1] He would never try to prove himself at the international level, which helped him easily rack up victories without much challenge. His first race (and victory) would be on July 17, 1930, in the Clásico Luis Muñoz Rivera.^[4] In the race, he would set a stakes record running the 6-furlong race in 1:19.00 — although it seems slow, at the time the record was hard to break (Sirena would break it 9 years later with the time of 1:18.60). By the end of his two-year-old season, he had racked up 21 wins in 22 starts. His three-year-old season, however, was by far his best. His wins included the Governor's Cup, the second jewel of the Puerto Rican Triple Crown. ^[5] At his peak he had won 39 straight races, which at the time was an all-time record. However, in the latter half of the 1930s, Cofresi reset the record with 49 straight victories.^[6] but, in 1931, he also set a joint record for most wins in a single season. Sharing this record with the Australian "iron-gelding" Jorrocks, although other horses such as Chorsibar, Yaucano and Lenoxbar would surpass this as well. Just like in his two-year-old season, Galgo Jr. only lost a single time. By the end of his three-year-old season, he had raced 63 times, winning 61 of them.

Although he never reached the same heights again, he would continue his success until 1936. He would come close to equalling his 30 win season at the age of seven, when he managed to reach 25 wins. He also would establish other smaller winning streaks such as a 15 race, 13 race (twice), and 10 race winning streaks over the course of his career.^[7] He would also either set or equal a total of 16 track records at Quintana Hippodrome and Las Monjas Hippodrome that would range from 5+1⁄2 furlongs to 9 furlongs, sometimes even breaking and resetting his own records, but none of these records currently stand today. Despite this, he was still a versatile runner, winning both sprints and routes. By the end of his six-year-old season, he became the first horse in history to break 100 career wins — since then, only six other horses have ever broken 100 victories and only three have won more races than Galgo Jr: Chorisbar, Condado, and Yaucano.

Later career and death

Galgo Jr. raced well into his eight-year-old season, continuing to rack up wins and build his world record. By the end of that year he racked up 9 victories, only had lost twice and did not have plans of retirement. However, one fateful day on December 21, 1936, while he was in his training box at Las Monjas Hippodrome, he collapsed and died of a heart attack.^[1] By then, he had raced 158 times, winning 136 times, finishing second 17 times and third once, with $31,738 in earnings, a record at the time. Despite such a quick and abrupt end to his career, Galgo Jr. was still a local hero in Puerto Rico and in 1958 he was honored as one of six inaugural inductee racehorses to be inducted into the Puerto Rico Racing Hall Of Fame, ^[7] alongside Camarero, Yaucono, Perla Fina, Condado, and Bachiller.

Pedigree

References