Mongo (horse)

Mongo (1959-1983) was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.

Background

He was bred and raced by Marion duPont Scott, a member of the prominent Du Pont family. His sire was Royal Charger, a son of Nearco whom Thoroughbred Heritage says was "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century". [1] Mongo's dam was Accra, Ms. Du Pont Scott's foundation mare whose sire Annapolis was a son of the great Man o' War.

Racing career

Frank Bonsal, a former jockey in steeplechase racing, conditioned Mongo for racing. As a three-year-old in 1962, the colt won important races on turf under jockey Charlie Burr. He notably won the Lexington Handicap, the first of two consecutive runnings of both the United Nations Handicap and the Trenton Handicap. The following year was Mongo's most successful. En route to being voted the 1963 American Champion Male Turf Horse, he defeated the great Kelso in winning the most important race of his career, the Washington, D.C. International Stakes.

Mongo was back racing successfully at age five. He defeated Kelso again to win the 1964 Monmouth Handicap, defeated the outstanding runner Gun Bow in capturing the John B. Campbell Handicap, and set a new Monmouth Park track record in winning the Trenton Handicap for the second time.

Stud career

Retired to stud at Blue Ridge Farm near Upperville, Virginia, Mongo met with modest success. While none of his progeny met with his racing success, Mongo sired good several runners including:

• Mongongo (1969) - multiple stakes winner including the Salvator Mile Handicap
• Bushongo (1971) - won Flamingo Stakes
• Commadore C. (1976) - Long Branch Stakes winner
• Mongo Queen (b.1976) - won Sorority Stakes

Mongo died at age twenty-four on March 21, 1983 at Blue Ridge Farm.

References

• Mongo's pedigree and partial racing stats