Beldame
Beldame at the races, Frank O'Neill up
Sire:	Octagon
Grandsire:	Rayon d'Or
Dam:	Bella Donna
Damsire:	Hermit
Sex:	Mare
Foaled:	1901
Country:	USA
Colour:	Chestnut
Breeder:	August Belmont II
Owner:	August Belmont II
Trainer:	John J. Hyland Fred Burlew
Record:	31: 17-6-4
Earnings:	$102,570
Major Racing Wins & Honours & Awards
Major Racing Wins
Great Filly Stakes (1903) Vernal Stakes (1903) Alabama Stakes (1904) Gazelle Handicap (1904) Carter Handicap (1904) Ladies Handicap (1904) Saratoga Cup (1904) First Special (1904) Second Special (1904) Dolphin Sakes (1904) Mermaid Stakes (1904) September Stakes (1904) Standard Handicap (1905) Suburban Handicap (1905)
Racing Awards
United States Horse of the Year (1904)
Honours
U.S. Racing Hall of Fame (1956) #98 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park
Infobox last updated on: October 31, 2006. 13 year old Peruvian Paso mare A broodmare and foal In English, a mare (an old Germanic word) is a female horse; the word is also an etymological root of marshal (originally marescalcus horse servant). Mares are considered easier to handle than males, which are called stallions or after castration... Indian red also known as chestnut, is a brownish shade of red. ... August Belmont, Jr. ... The Alabama Stakes is a race for thoroughbred horse. ... The Suburban Handicap is a Grade I stakes race for Thoroughbred horses aged three and older. ... The Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. ... The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. ... In 1999, The Blood-Horse magazine compiled a list of what its staff members considered to be the top 100 racehorses of the 20th Century who had competed in the United States. ... Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in the hamlet of Elmont, New York in Nassau County on Long Island (just outside of New York City). ...

Beldame (1901-1923) was one of the greatest racing fillies of Twentieth Century American breeding. Horse-racing is an equestrian sporting activity which has been practiced over the centuries; the chariot races of Roman times were an early example, as was the contest of the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology. ... Filly is also a town in Belgium. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... Horse breeding is the process of using selective breeding to produce additional individuals of a given phenotype, that is, continuing a breed. ...

A horse to lease

The soon-to-be-brilliant chestnut was foaled near Lexington, Kentucky in 1901 by Octagon, out of the English bred Bella Donna (by the Epsom Derby winner Hermit). Named Beldame, she was a homebred of August Belmont II's (after whose family the Belmont Stakes as well as Belmont Park were named), and though Belmont, Jr. continued to own her, he leased her as a two-year- and three-year-old to a business associate named Newton Bennington. Although she'd won two races before going to Bennington, it was while racing for him that Beldame began her great career, earning her place as number 98 in the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century. Indian red also known as chestnut, is a brownish shade of red. ... Nickname: Athens of the West Horse Capital of the World Location in the Commonwealth of Kentucky Coordinates: Country United States State Kentucky Counties Fayette  - Mayor Jim Newberry (D) Area    - City 739. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Epsom Derby, Théodore Géricault, 1821. ... August Belmont, Jr. ... The Belmont Stakes is a prestigious Grade I stakes race held yearly in June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. ... Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in the hamlet of Elmont, New York in Nassau County on Long Island (just outside of New York City). ... In 1999, The Blood-Horse magazine compiled a list of what its staff members considered to be the top 100 racehorses of the 20th Century who had competed in the United States. ...

(Aside from Beldame, Belmont bred 129 stakes winners, including Man O' War. The colt was originally named My Man O' War by his wife since August Jr. had enlisted in World War I at the age of 65. Because of this war, he sold his greatest horse to Samuel D. Riddle for $5,000, a pittance.) Man O War, (March 29, 1917 Nursery Stud farm, Lexington, Kentucky - November 1, 1947, Faraway Farm) [1] is considered by many to be the greatest US thoroughbred racehorse of all time. ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nikolay II Aleksey Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Robert Nivelle Herbert H. Asquith D. Lloyd George Sir Douglas Haig Sir John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna... Samuel D. Riddle (July 1, 1861 - January 8, 1951) was a U.S. turfman. ...

Against all comers

When she was three, she won twelve of her fourteen starts, earned the championship of her division, and her only loses were to older males. She dominated all females, and defeated males constantly. Because of this, track officials everywhere weighted her so heavily she won only twice at the age of four.

It didn't matter. Beldame had made her mark. The only way to stop her was to handicap her. So she stopped racing, retiring with 17 wins, 6 places, and 4 shows from 31 starts, Her earnings amounted to $102,570. After Firenze and Miss Woodford, she was the third filly to win more than $100,000. Miss Woodford beating Freeland in 1885 Foaled in 1880, Miss Woodford was a big brown Thoroughbred racing filly bred by Colonel Catesby Woodford and Colonel Ezekial Clay of Runnymead Farm near Paris, Kentucky. ...

Belmont took her back at the age of four to the re-creation of his father's Nursery Stud, the original farm being dispersed after August Belmont's death. August Belmont August Belmont, Sr. ...

Trained by Belmont's trainer, Hall of Famer John J. Hyland (with whom he was arguing, one of the reasons Belmont leased out what would be his best filly), and then by Bennington's, Hall of Famer Fred Burlew, she could win short or long. Beldame was almost unbeatable. The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. ... The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. ...

Beldame had a mind of her own, and oddly did not like oats. What she liked to eat was ear corn. She ate at least seven ears a day, right off the cob.

Racing Days

As a two-year-old, she won the Great Filly Stakes at Sheepshead Bay, and the Vernal Stakes (wiring the field). Sheepshead Bay is a bay separating the mainland of Brooklyn, New York City from the eastern portion of Coney Island, the latter originally a barrier island but now effectively an extension of the mainland with peninsulas both east and west. ...

At three, she took the Alabama Stakes, the Gazelle Handicap (by ten lengths on a sloppy track), the Carter Handicap (against males by over two lengths under a stout hold), the Ladies Stakes, the Saratoga Cup (beating the year older Belmont Stakes winner and Champion Three-Year-Colt, Africander), the First Special, the Second Special, the Dolphin Sakes, the Mermaid Stakes (winning by seven lengths and drawing away from the field even as she was being eased up), and the September Stakes. The Alabama Stakes is a race for thoroughbred horse. ...

In the Ladies Stakes, Beldame got loose under her substitute rider before the race and galloped all over the track looking for an opening to run back to the barn. She found it before her jockey, Gene Hildebrand, got her under control. Even so, she was back on the track minutes later, started well, led all the way, and easily came home the winner...even being eased at the end. (Hall of Famer, Frank O'Neill, was her usual rider.)

At four, she won the Standard Handicap, and then, carrying more weight than the males, she won the Suburban Handicap, beating among other classy males, the great Broomstick, by five lengths. The Suburban Handicap is a Grade I stakes race for Thoroughbred horses aged three and older. ...

Beldame, who died in 1923, was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1956. The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. ...

References

• Beldame's pedigree
• Beldame's page in the Hall of Fame, with photo
• Women of the Year - Ten Fillies Who Achieved Horse Racing's Highest Honor by the Staff and Correspondents of The Blood-Horse magazine (2004) Eclipse Press ISBN 1-58150-116-1