|
|
Fit to Fight euthanized FIT TO FIGHT (Chieftain), one of only four horses in history to sweep New York's famed handicap triple of the Metropolitan, Suburban and Brooklyn Handicaps in a single season, was euthanized Friday due to the infirmities of old age at Blue Ridge Farm in Virginia. One of the three original stallions to enter stud at Mr. and Mrs. William S. Farish's Lane's End near Versailles, Kentucky, Fit to Fight was 29 and had been a pensioner since 2005. Bred in Kentucky by Robert E. Courtney and Robert B. Congleton, Fit to Fight was by seven-time stakes winner Chieftain, who was from the second crop of legendary sire Bold Ruler. His dam was the unraced One Count mare Hasty Queen II, who also produced multiple Grade 3 winner Hasty Flyer (Misty Flight) and was named Kentucky Broodmare of the Year in 1984. Purchased by Paul Mellon's Rokeby Stable for $175,000 at the 1980 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga August Yearling Sale, Fit to Fight became a Grade 2 winner at ages three and four. Fit to Fight enjoyed his finest season at age five in 1984 when, under the tutelage of trainer Mack Miller, he swept the storied handicap triple, joining Whisk Broom II (1913), Tom Fool (1953) and Kelso (1961) as the only other horses to accomplish the feat. The handicap triple as a series has lost relevance since Fit to Fight won it, owing much to the fact that the Brooklyn has since been demoted to a Grade 2 event and on several occasions has been run in the fall. The Suburban was also downgraded to a Grade 2 at one time but has since regained its Grade 1 status, while the Metropolitan has maintained its Grade 1 status since the inception of the pattern in 1973. Fit to Fight raced only one more time following the Brooklyn, finishing last of six behind eventual champion older male Slew O' Gold in the Woodward S. (G1). Fit to Fight retired with a record of 26-14-3-3 and earnings of $1,042,075. At stud, Fit to Fight sired 82 stakes horses, including 40 stakes winners with progeny earnings in excess of $39 million. His most prominent offspring included Key Contender, who followed in his father's footsteps by winning the Suburban in 1995, and the Grade 1-winning filly Fit to Scout. Fit to Fight will be buried in the Lane's End cemetery.
 Send this article to a friend
|
|
