Page 77 - July 2015

is sired by Raise A Native and he was out
of Exclusive by Shut Out. The dam of Ecliptical was Minnetonka by Chieftain, a son of Bold Ruler. The dam of Minnetonka is Heliolight by Helioscope by Heliopolis by Hyperion.
The dam of Exclusive Rosette is Zetta Jet and she introduces us to Fred W. Hooper and this is the rest of the story on the pedi- gree of American Pharoah (at least as to how we have profiled it here.)
Fred Hooper was a man that had done
a lot of things in his life. He worked as a cowboy, barber, and steelworker, and he had started his own road construction business. When he sold his construction business, he moved his breeding program from Alabama to Florida. He bred such greats as Susan’s Girl, Precisionist, and Diplomatic Jet - all million dollar plus money earners.
The first major horse owned by Hooper was Hoop Jr. He purchased Hoop Jr as a yearling in 1943. This stallion won the 1945 Kentucky Derby. Hoop Jr was sired by Sir Gallahad III, who was sired by *Teddy. Sir Gallahad III is the sire of Last Boat, the second dam of the great Top Deck.
The stallion that played the biggest role in the Hooper breeding program was Olympia. Olympia was bred by Ivan H. Parke and purchased by Hooper as a year- ling. Parke would be Olympia’s trainer. He also trained Hoop Jr to his Derby win.
Olympia would go on to have a stellar race career. He won three stakes at two, including the Breeder’s Futurity; eight stakes at three, including the Withers Stakes; and he won three stakes at four, including the Camden Stakes. He started 41 times in his race career and won 15, with 12 seconds and 4 thirds.
The most interesting race he ran was an exhibition, or as I would call it, a match race. He raced against Stella Moore, the great Quarter Horse mare. Stella Moore was sired by Joe Moore. He was by Little Joe and out of the great Della Moore, the dam of Joe Reed P-3. The dam of Stella Moore was a daughter of Chicago Bill. Stella Moore was named the 1952 AQHA Racing Champion Mare in 1952.
Olympia and Stella Moore ran 440 yards and he beat her by a head. He ran this race
in January of his three-year-old year before starting on the “road to the Kentucky Derby.” He went on to win such Kentucky Derby prep races as the San Felipe Stakes, the Flamingo Stakes, the Wood Memorial, as well as the Derby Trial. He was second in the Santa Anita Derby and sixth in the Kentucky Derby.
Olympia went to stud to be a solid sire. He sired 324 foals with 40 stakes winners. His
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American Pharoah showed his greatness when he ran the last quarter of the Belmont in 23 1/5 - the fastest time for the last quarter in the history of the Belmont Stakes.
The crowd following American Pharoah›s Triple Crown victory.
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SPEEDHORSE, July 2015 75