Bold Ruler

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Bold Ruler
Sire Nasrullah
Grandsire Nearco
Dam Miss Disco
Damsire Discovery
Sex Stallion
Foaled 1954
Country United States Flag of the United States
Colour Brown
Breeder Wheatley Stable
Owner Wheatley Stable. Racing silks: Yellow, purple sleeves and cap.
Trainer Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons
Record 33:23-4-2
Earnings $764,204
Major Racing Wins, Awards and Honours
Major Racing Wins
Futurity Stakes (1956)
Flamingo Stakes (1957)
Wood Memorial (1957)
Preakness Stakes (1957)
Queens County Handicap (1957)
Stymie Handicap (1958)
Carter Handicap (1958)
Suburban Handicap (1958)
Toboggan Handicap (1958)
Racing Awards
U.S. 3-Yr-Old Champion Male (1957)
U.S. Horse of the Year (1957)
U.S. Champion Sprint Horse (1958)
Leading sire in North America (1963-1969 & 1973)
Honours
U.S. Racing Hall of Fame (1973)
Bold Ruler Handicap at Belmont Park
Infobox last updated on: February 7, 2007.

Bold Ruler (1954-1971) was an American thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse.

Bred by the Wheatley Stable of Gladys Mills Phipps, Bold Ruler was born at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky to Nasrullah and Miss Disco. He was trained by Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons and regularly ridden by Eddie Arcaro.

As a three-year-old, Bold Ruler won the 1957 Flamingo Stakes while breaking a track record and then won the Wood Memorial Stakes. In the U.S. Triple Crown races, Bold Ruler went off as the heavy 6:5 favorite in the Kentucky Derby, but faded down the homestretch after fighting Arcaro's restraint. He finished 4th behind longshot winner Iron Liege and future Hall of Famers Gallant Man (who was mistakenly pulled up at the 16th pole by jockey Bill Shoemaker) and Round Table. In the Preakness Stakes, Bold Ruler bounced back to win convincingly. In the Belmont Stakes, Bold Ruler finished 3rd after he was forced through exceptionally fast early fractions by Gallant Man's rabbit. Gallant Man set a new stakes record that day that remained until Bold Ruler's son Secretariat broke it in 1973. He went on to win other important races and his performances that year earned him the Eclipse Award as 1957 Champion 3-Year-Old, Champion Sprinter, and Horse of the Year honors.

After a short campaign at age four, Bold Ruler retired to stud at Claiborne Farm where he sired eleven champions including Hall of Famers Gamely and Secretariat. Bold Ruler is also the grandsire of Bold Forbes, Foolish Pleasure, Hall of Fame fillies Ruffian and Bold 'n Determined, as well as Spectacular Bid. He is great-grandsire of Seattle Slew. He was the Leading sire in North America for seven straight years between 1963 and 1969.

He died from cancer at Claiborne Farm in July 1971 and is interred there. In 1973, he was posthumously inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Bold Ruler was listed at No.19 in the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 United States thoroughbred horse racing champions of the 20th Century.

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