Market Wise

Market Wise
Sire Brokers Tip
Grandsire Black Toney
Dam On Hand
Damsire On Watch
Sex Stallion
Foaled 1938
Country United States
Colour Bay
Breeder Cary T. Grayson
Owner Louis Tufano
Trainer George W. Carroll
Record 53: 19-7-10
Earnings US$222,140[1]
Major wins
Wood Memorial (1941)
Jockey Club Gold Cup (1941)
Gallant Fox Handicap (1941)
Governor Bowie Handicap (1941)
Edgemere Handicap (1941)
Pimlico Special (1941)
McLennan Handicap (1942)
Suburban Handicap (1942)
Narragansett Special (1943)
Massachusetts Handicap (1943)
Awards
American Co-Champion Older Male Horse (1943)
Horse (Equus ferus caballus)

Market Wise (foaled 1938 in Virginia) was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.

Contents

Background

Bred by Cary T. Grayson, his dam was On Hand, and his sire was the 1933 Kentucky Derby winner, Brokers Tip. He was purchased by New York contractor Louis Tufano for only $1,000.[2] He was trained by George W. Carroll.

Racing career

1940 & 1941: early career

Market Wise raced in 1940 at age two with little success. Going into the April 26, 1941 Wood Memorial Stakes, the then three-year-old had earned only $4,975 but he upset the favorite King Cole to win the Wood with a powerful come from behind stretch drive.[3] Flush with over $16,000 in winnings from the race, owner Louis Tufano hired a private railcar to transport his horse to Louisville, Kentucky to run in the Derby.[4] Market Wise ran third to winner Whirlaway in the 1941 Kentucky Derby and second to him in the Dwyer Stakes. However, Market Wise had a terrific 1941 campaign, later defeating Whirlaway in the 1941 Jockey Club Gold Cup while setting a new American record for two miles. The colt went on to win the Gallant Fox Handicap and on September 6 set a new Aqueduct Racetrack track record in winning the 1⅛ mile Edgemere Handicap. On October 30, 1941 Market Wise earned his most important win of the year when he won the Pimlico Special under regular jockey Wendell Eads. Two weeks later on the same Pimlico Race Course he won the one and five eights mile Governor Bowie Handicap in track record time.[5] In the balloting for 1941 American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse honors, Market Wise finished second to U.S. Triple Crown winner, Whirlaway.

1942: four-year-old season

Sent to Florida for the 1941-1942 winter season, Market Wise finished fourth in the January 1942 Kendall Purse, a race at just seven furlongs that was too short for him. Hampered by a foot injury, he then third in the Hialeah Stakes. However, the now four-year-old came back strong in February 1942 to beat a top field in winning the important McLennan Handicap at Hialeah Park Race Track.[6] He won again a week later on February 29 and then finished off the board after being made the heavy favorite in the March 8th Widener Challenge Cup Handicap, the most important race for older horses during the Florida winter season.[7]

Returning north for the summer racing season, Market Wise defeated Whirlaway in the 1942 Suburban Handicap.

1943: five-year-old seaon

Market Wise raced at age five in 1943. On the way to being voted American Co-Champion Older Male Horse, his most important wins came in the Massachusetts Handicap and the Narragansett Special. In the Massachusetts Handicap in July Market Wise carried top weight of 126 pounds and won with an "amazing last-minute burst" to win in a stakes record of 1:52.6 despite sustaining a "spread foot".[8] Two months later in the Narragansett Special he produced a powerful late run to catch Air Master in the closing stages, with Thumbs Up third and Shut Out fourth. He returned to the winners' circle limping badly after sustaining a quarter crack.[9]

In December, Market Wise, described as "Mr. Rags to Riches" topped the annual poll of writers and broadcasters conducted by Turf and Sports Digest magazine for the title of American Champion Older Male Horse with 176 points, ahead of Thumbs Up (171), Shut Out (154) and Devil Diver (138).[10]

Stud record

Retired to stud, Market Wise met with modest success as a stallion. In addition to multiple stakes winner, Wise Margin, he sired the very speedy To Market, a colt who in 1952 set two track records for 1¼ miles with a time of 2:01.40 in both the Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs in Boston and the Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap at Hawthorne Race Course in Chicago. To Market sired Hurry to Market, the 1963 American Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Colt.

Pedigree

Pedigree of Market Wise
Sire
Brokers Tip
Black Toney Peter Pan Commando
Cinderella
Belgravia Ben Brush
Bonnie Gal
Forteresse Sardanapale Prestige
Gemma
Guerriere Ossian
Amazone
Dam
On Hand
On Watch Colin Commando
Pastorella
Rubia Granda Greenan
The Great Ruby
Kippy Broomstick Ben Brush
Elf
Seamstress Star Shoot
Busy Maid

References