Beau Purple

Beau Purple (foaled in 1957) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse most famous for defeating the legendary champion gelding Kelso in three of their four meetings. He was trained by George P. Odom until mid 1962 when H. Allen Jerkens, a 1975 inductee of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame, took over. Beau Purple was the first horse ever bred by Hobeau Farm of Wall Street Mutual Funds developer, Jack Dreyfus.

After winning the 1960 Derby Trial Stakes, Beau Purple had to be withdrawn from the Kentucky Derby as a result of a sore left front shin. [1] Beau Purple's injury kept him out of the entire U.S. Triple Crown series and severely limited his racing for nearly two years. He ran only four times in 1961 but had his best year at age five in 1962. Among his major wins, Beau Purple defeated the great Kelso to win the 1962 Man o' War Stakes and twice broke the track record for a mile and a quarter on dirt at Aqueduct Racetrack [2] in winning the 1962 Suburban and Brooklyn Handicaps. In 1963, Beau Purple beat Kelso for the third time in his career, making it three of four wins over Kelso in his career, when he won the Widener Handicap at Hialeah Park Race Track in Florida. [3]

References

• Beau Purple's pedigree and partial racing stats