Tippity Witchet

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Tippity Witchet

Sire	Broomstick
Grandsire	Ben Brush
Dam	Lady Frivoles
Damsire	St. Simon
Sex	Gelding
Foaled	1915
Country	United States
Colour	Bay
Breeder	G. W. Loft Harry Payne Whitney
Owner	Harry Payne Whitney Various others through the years
Trainer	Lionel Bauer (in his claiming days)
Record	266 Starts: 78-52-42
Earnings	$88,241
Major Racing Wins, Awards and Honours
Major Racing Wins
Aberdeen Stakes (1917) Eastern Shore Handicap (1917) Maryland Handicap (1917) Erdenheim Handicap (1917) Old Town Liberty Bond Handicap (1917) Rainbow Handicap (1919) Stafford Handicap (1919) Ronkonkoma Handicap (1920) Beauregard Handicap (1920) Thanksgiving Handicap (1920) The Prince George (1921) New Year's Handicap (1921) Fairfield Handicap (1921) Marrero Handicap (1921) Fairground Purse (1921) Century Handicap (1922) Louisiana Purse (1923)
Honours
The Tippity Witchet Mile at Agua Caliente Racetrack
Infobox last updated on: December 20, 2007.

Tippity Witchet (born in New York in 1915) was a son of the great sire Broomstick who was the son of the legendary Ben Brush. His dam was a daughter of St. Simon, one of Great Britain's greatest stallions. Described as “tiny” by the press, and a “sterling little gelding” (The New York Times, 5-3-29), he was huge in his longevity and heart.

Bred, though not born, in Kentucky by the stables of Harry Payne Whitney who owned his famous sire, Tippity Witchet began running under G.W. Loft’s name as one of the top juveniles in America by winning 14 of his 20 starts, eight of them consecutively within seven weeks. L. T. Bauer purchased the gelding from Loft, and then after a few races sold him at the Pimlico Auction for $20,500 to John Sanford of Amsterdam, New York, owner of Hurricana Farm. This was a great deal of money at the time and, according to William Robertson (see references), made headlines on sport's pages around the country. Sanford enjoyed quite a few stakes victories with his well-bred gelding, but by the time he was four, it was evident Tippity Witchet would not enter the ranks of the greats. Yet he was a good race horse who had equaled track records with a will to keep trying, even as he was asked to carry higher weights.

As he grew older, he changed hands many times, and dropped down in the ranks from stakes races to allowance to claiming events. For the most part he raced at the old Fair Grounds Race Course, but over the years Tippity Witchet ran over 31 different tracks, winning on 27 of them whether the going was mud or hardpack, also winning at distances that ranged from 6 furlongs to one and a half miles.

Of all of Broomstick's sons, he was far from the best but certainly the most beloved. On January 22, 1928, The Washington Post wrote: “Perhaps no horse more deserves the title of selling plater king of the American turf than Tippity Witchet, the 12-year-old in Broomstick's famous thoroughbred family. For eleven seasons Tippity Witchet has been an active campaigner, and his record for 1927 is as impressive as his achievements in his younger days.”

His last race took place on February 1, 1929. By the time he retired, his record stood at No. 4 in the all-time greatest number of North America wins. In his last year, he was fourteen and still winning.

(Still seeking to discover what happened to Tippity Witchet after he retired.)

Of interest...a Tiptiwitchet was once the name for a plant found in the Carolinas which is now known as a Venus Flytrap. The source of the original name, whether it might be Native American or a play on words of English origin, is argued back and forth by botanists. A "tippet" was a fur collar; a "twitch" a noose for unruly horses.