Nashua (horse)

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Nashua

Sire	Nasrullah
Grandsire	Nearco
Dam	Segula
Damsire	Johnstown
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1952
Country	United States
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Belair Stud
Owner	Belair Stud Racing silks: White, red dots, red cap.
Trainer	Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons
Record	30: 22-4-1
Earnings	$1,288,565
Major Racing Wins, Awards and Honours
Major Racing Wins
Futurity Stakes (1954) Hopeful Stakes (1954) Grand Union Hotel Stakes (1954) Flamingo Stakes (1955) Florida Derby (1955) Preakness Stakes (1955) Belmont Stakes (1955) Arlington Classic (1955) Wood Memorial Stakes (1955) Dwyer Stakes (1955) Jockey Club Gold Cup (1955 & 1956) Monmouth Handicap (1956) Suburban Handicap (1956) Widener Handicap (1956)
Racing Awards
U.S. Champion 2-Year-Old Colt (1954) U.S. Champion 3-Year-Old Colt (1955) United States Horse of the Year (1955)
Honours
United States Racing Hall of Fame (1965) #24 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century Nashua Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
Infobox last updated on: January 11, 2008.

Nashua (1952-1982) was an American-born thoroughbred racehorse, perhaps best remembered for a 1955 match race against the horse that had defeated him in the Kentucky Derby.

Nashua's sire was the good, but temperamental, European champion Nasrullah. Nashua's dame was Segula, a good broodmare who has had influence through her female descendants.

Owned by William Woodward, Jr.'s famous Belair Stud in Bowie, Maryland, Nashua was trained by Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons and ridden by jockey Eddie Arcaro. As a two-year-old in 1954 Nashua entered eight races, winning six and finishing second twice, a performance that earned him champion 2-year-old honors. The following year, he earned the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year.

Nashua won his famous match race with the great thoroughbred Swaps who had defeated him in the 1955 Kentucky Derby.

Following the death of William Woodward, Jr., the Belair Stud horses were auctioned off and Nashua became the first horse to ever sell for more than $1 million. At the end of his 1956 season, after thirty career races with a top three record of 22-4-1, Nashua was retired to stand at stud at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky.

In 1965, he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. In The Blood-Horse ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Nashua was ranked 24.

Nashua died in 1982, and is buried at Spendthrift Farm. In the mid-Eighties, the farm commissioned a statue to be raised over him. The sculptress was Lisa Todd, the daughter of Mike Todd and Elizabeth Taylor.

At stud, Nashua was consistent, and his fillies were usually better runners than his colts. His progeny included the Hall of Fame racemare Shuvee and Gold Digger, dam of Mr. Prospector.