| King James | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Plaudit |
| Grandsire | Himyar |
| Dam | Unsightly |
| Damsire | Pursebearer |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1905 |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Bay |
| Breeder | John E. Madden |
| Owner | John E. Madden Sam Hildreth (age 4-7) |
| Trainer | John E. Madden Sam Hildreth & David J. Leary |
| Record | 57: 24-14-10 |
| Earnings | $104,155 |
| Major wins | |
| Tremont Stakes (1907) Brooklyn Handicap (1909) Metropolitan Handicap (1909) Toronto Cup Handicap (1909, 1910) Sheepshead Bay Handicap (1910) |
|
| Awards | |
| American Champion Older Male Horse (1909) | |
| Horse (Equus ferus caballus) | |
King James (foaled 1905 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by one of America's most important breeders, John E. Madden, King James was the son of 1898 Kentucky Derby winner, Plaudit. Although burdened by a bad stride that limited his racing ability, King James still raced for five years, won a number of top events, and is acknowledged as the historical American Champion Older Male Horse of 1909.
Trained by John Madden, in 1907 King James faced stiff competition from future Hall of Fame inductee Colin. However, King James won the important Tremont Stakes and at age three was a top contender in New York racing. While his only significant win in 1908 came in the Annual Champion Stakes at the Sheepshead Bay Race Track, in other major events he ran second in the Travers Stakes, the Brooklyn Derby, and the Suburban Handicap plus earned thirds in the pre-Triple Crown Belmont Stakes, Withers Stakes and Brooklyn Handicap.
In 1909, John Madden sold King James to Sam Hildreth who began the year racing the four-year-old in California where he won three important Handicap races. Returning to the New York racing circuit, King James won the Brooklyn Handicap and the Metropolitan Handicap and in Toronto, Canada, the first of his two consecutive Toronto Cup Handicaps. Of his twelve starts that year, King James had ten wins and two seconds which earned him a historical Championship as the Top Handicap Male Horse in the United States.[1]
At age five, King James won the 1910 Sheepshead Bay Handicap and continued to race through age seven with reasonable success, retiring with earnings in excess of $1000,000. He was sent to stud duty at Henry T. Oxnard's Blue Ridge Farm in Virginia where he sired ten stakes race winners. His offspring includes Travers and Withers Stakes winner, Spur (b. 1909), and the filly My Dear (b. 1917) who raced successfully in Canada and the United States and was the 1921 American Champion Older Female Horse. King James was the damsire of Dark Secret, and full sisters Mona Bell and Iribelle, the latter a foundation mare for E. P. Taylor's, The National Stud of Canada.[2]