| Cool Reception | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Nearctic |
| Grandsire | Nearco |
| Dam | Windy Answer |
| Damsire | Windfields |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1964 |
| Country | Canada |
| Colour | Chestnut |
| Breeder | E. P. Taylor |
| Owner | Larkin Maloney |
| Trainer | Carl F. Chapman Lou Cavalaris, Jr. |
| Record | 18: 10-4-1 |
| Earnings | $153,477[1] |
| Major wins | |
| Summer Stakes (1966) Cup and Saucer Stakes (1966) Coronation Futurity Stakes (1966) Marine Stakes (1967) |
|
| Awards | |
| Canadian Champion 2-Year-Old Colt (1966) | |
| Honours | |
| Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (2005) | |
| Horse (Equus ferus caballus) | |
Cool Reception (1964–1967) is a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. During his two-year-old racing season, trainer Carl Chapman retired and the colt's conditioning was taken over by Lou Cavalaris, Jr.
In 1966, Cool Reception dominated his age group in Canada, winning seven consecutive races, including the two richest races for 2-year-olds in the country under jockey Avelino Gomez. His performances earned him the 1966 Sovereign Award for Champion 2-Year-Old Male Horse.
At age three, Cool Reception was shipped south to race in the United States, where he met with limited success, winning two allowance races. After finishing a strong second in the Derby Trial, his trainer decided to bypass the Kentucky Derby and he returned to Canada, where he easily won the Marine Stakes. His eight-length victory prompted Cool Reception's handlers to try him in the Belmont Stakes, even though he would be up against Kentucky Derby winner Proud Clarion and the winner of the Preakness Stakes and future U.S. Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Damascus.
Shipped to Belmont Park, Cool Reception finished second to Damascus in the 1967 Belmont Stakes. Ridden by jockey Johnny Sellers, he courageously raced the last two hundred yards on a broken right foreleg. An operation could not save the colt and he had to be euthanized.
In 2005, Cool Reception's accomplishments were recognized with his induction in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.[2]