Black Toney

Background

Black Toney was bred by James R. Keene's Castleton Farm. Keene, whose health was failing (he died in 1913), sold all his holdings in 1912 to Colonel Edward R. Bradley's Idle Hour Stock Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. Some confusion occurred over this sale, and Bradley resold most of the lot, but one of those he kept was a very dark brown yearling he named Black Toney. The price tag for the son of Hall of Famer Peter Pan, whose own sire was another Hall of Famer, Commando, by the great Domino, was $1,600. Black Toney's dam was Belgravia, the best daughter of Hall of Famer Ben Brush. This meant that the almost black yearling with no white markings and a fine head and body was a member of the last crop bred by Keene from his famous Domino/Ben Brush cross.

Racing career

Black Toney was a good racehorse but far from a great one. He raced for four years, coming in the money in 31 of his 40 starts.

Stud record

Black Toney became a very successful breeding tallion, siring many of the horses for which the Idle Hour Stock Farm became famous. The names of Bradley’s horses all began with a “B,” a quirk of Bradley's (perhaps because his own name began with a B, or perhaps because of Black Toney.)

Bradley bred him sparingly and yet, even from 21 small crops and a total of 221 foals, the quality of his get was very high. Overall, he sired 40 stakes winners, which amounts to 18 percent of his foals. Black Toney was 10 times among the top 20 American sires by earnings. He was second on the general sire list in 1933 and fifth in 1939.

Black Toney spent his whole stud career at Idle Hour, producing many fine broodmares as well as winners. He died there on September 19, 1938, at the age of 27 of an apparent heart attack. Colonel Bradley commissioned a bronze statue that he placed over his greatest stallion’s grave. It is still there today, on a part of the Darby Dan Farm.

The best of his offspring included: