Sir Gallahad

Sir Gallahad (1920–1949) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and a very important Sire in the United States.

Racing at age two in France for his British breeder/owner, Jefferson Davis Cohn, Sir Gallahad earned victory in three of his five starts but was overshadowed by the 1922 Champion colt, Epinard. At age three, he won four races, most notably the French 2,000 Guineas (Poule d'Essai des Poulains). At four, he won three important races in France and in England won the Lincolnshire Handicap. That year, he also went head-to-head with Epinard, winning a 6½ furlong event.

Leading Sire

Sir Gallahad was retired after his four-year-old season to stand at stud at Haras du Bois-Roussel in Alençon. In 1926, owner Jefferson Davis Cohn sold him to an American syndicate made up of Robert A. Fairburn, William Woodward, Sr., Marshall Field III, and Arthur B. Hancock. In the United States, he was recorded as Sir Gallahad III for registration clarification. Although he was sent to the various breeding farms of his four owners, he stood primarily at Woodward's Belair Stud in Maryland and at Hancock's Claiborne Farm in Kentucky.

Sir Gallahad sired 65 Graded stakes race winners and was the United States Champion Sire four times. He was the sire of Preakness Stakes winner High Quest, Jockey Club Gold Cup and multiple stakes winner Fenelon, and a record three Kentucky Derby winners: Gallahadion, Hoop Jr., and Gallant Fox, who won the U.S. Triple Crown. Sir Gallahad also sired Roman, who won eighteen races and in turn sired fifty-four stakes winners, including Champion and Preakness Stakes winner Hasty Road.

In addition, Sir Gallahad was the U.S. Champion Broodmare Sire a record 12 times, with his daughters producing 139 stakes winners including two Hall of Famer members: Challedon and Gallorette.

Sir Gallahad died at Claiborne Farm in 1949 and is buried in its equine cemetery.

References

• Sir Gallahad's pedigree and racing stats
• TIME magazine article August 7, 1939 on the purchased of Sir Gallahad by an American syndicate
• List of Leading Sires at the National Sporting Library's Thoroughbred Heritage website