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Citation
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Citation
 

Information About

Citation (horse)




  Sire Bull Lea
  Grandsire Bull Dog
  Dam Hydroplane
  Damsire Hyperion
  Sex Stallion
  Foaled 1945
  Country United States
  Colour Bay
  Breeder Calumet Farm
  Owner Calumet Farm
  Trainer Ben A Jones <br> Jimmy Jones
  Record 45: 32-10-2
  Earnings $1,085,760
  Race Futurity Stakes (1947)<br> Pimlico Futurity (1947)<br> Tanforan Handicap (1948)<br> Flamingo Stakes (1948)<br> Kentucky Derby (1948)<br> Preakness Stakes (1948)<br> Belmont Stakes (1948)<br> Stars And Stripes Handicap (1948)<br> Jockey Club Gold Cup (1948)<br> American Derby (1948)<br> Pimlico Special (1948)<br> Hollywood Gold Cup (1950)<br> American Handicap (1951)
  Honours United States Racing Hall Of Fame (1959)<br> #3 - Top 100 US Racehorses Of The 20th Century <br> Life-size Statue at Hialeah Park <br> Citation Handicap at Hollywood Park Racetrack <br> Cessna Citation by Cessna Arcraft Co
  updated December 4, 2006


Citation ( April 11 , 1945 - August 8 , 1970 ) was an American Thoroughbred Horse-racing Triple Crown champion.

Owned and bred by Calumet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky , Citation was a bay colt, the son of Bull Lea and the Mare , Hydroplane. Trained by Horace A. "Jimmy" Jones , he was ridden by Al Snider . Citation won his first start as a two-year-old at Havre De Grace, Maryland . For the year he would race nine times, winning eight of them and earning $155,680. Citation was the first horse to win US $1 million.

Citation started the where he won the Preakness Stakes by 5 ½ lengths. From there he won the Jersey Derby before going to Elmont, New York and becoming the 8th Triple Crown winner by capturing the Belmont Stakes . By the end of that season, the three-year-old horse had a career record of 27 victories and two seconds in 29 starts. For his performances, Citation was voted Horse of the Year honors.

Injuries kept Citation from racing in 1949 but he came back to race in 1950 and won the Golden Gate Mile Handicap. However, he lost several other races in what was for him a mediocre campaign. He started the 1951 season with three poor performances in a row but came back to win his final three starts, capping off his career with a victory in the Hollywood Gold Cup that made him thoroughbred racing's first millionaire.

Citation retired during the 1951 racing season, his accomplishments amongst the best in the history of American racing. As a sire at Calumet Farm he produced a number of noteworthy offspring including Hall of Fame filly Silver Spoon and 1956 Preakness Stakes winner, Fabius .

In 1959 , Citation was inducted into the National Museum Of Racing And Hall Of Fame . He died on August 8, 1970 at the age of 25. He is buried in the horse cemetery at Calumet Farm.

The memory of Citation was honored after his death when Dwayne Wallace, Chairman of Cessna Aircraft Company selected the name Citation for the new business jet Cessna was designing. {Link without Title} Hints of Citation's legacy can be found in the jet's logo in the form of a horseshoe background. Even today, pictures of Citation line the hallways of Cessna's buildings.


RANKING

In the Blood-Horse Magazine ranking of the Top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred Champions Of The 20th Century , Citation was ranked #3.


PEDIGREE

  name Citation
  f Bull Lea
  m Hydroplane
  ff Bull Dog
  fm Rose Leaves
  mf Hyperion
  mm Toboggan
  fff Teddy
  ffm Plucky Liege
  fmf Ballot
  fmm Colonial
  mff Gainsborough
  mfm Selene
  mmf Hurry On
  mmm Glacier
  ffff Ajax I
  fffm Rondeau
  ffmf Spearmint
  ffmm Concertina
  fmff Voter
  fmfm Cerito
  fmmf Trenton
  fmmm Thankful Blossom
  mfff Bayardo
  mffm Rosedrop
  mfmf Chaucer
  mfmm Serenissima
  mmff Marcovil
  mmfm Tout Suite
  mmmf St Simon
  mmmm Glasalt (FNo3-l)