Joe Patchen

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Joe Patchen was a successful racing horse. He was foaled in Peabody, Kansas in 1889. His sire was Patchen Wilkes and his dame was Josephine Young. Although he is remembered most for siring the great Dan Patch, who was also a great race horse. He had a very successful career even though his body was not built for speed.

[edit] Racing career

Joe Patchen was supposed to be a failure when taken to the half-mile racetracks. Joe was very big and had unusually long legs not suitable for the smaller tracks. However, he dominated the half-mile tracks. Joe Patchen won fifty-three percent of the races in which he started and finished second in thirty-nine percent of them. He was unplaced (out of the top four) in only three percent of his races. It is impossible to know his exact winnings, but it is said to easily be in excess of 50,000 dollars. Joe Patchen broke the record for a half-mile track in August, 1896, with a time of 2:05 1/4. He then broke this record at the same track and in the same month with a time of 2:05 1/4. This world record stood for seven years until his son Dan Patch lowered it to 2:04 and eventually to 2:01.