Dam Iberia Foaled 1969 Died 21 April 1985 Sex Stallion | Parents First Landing Earnings 1.111 million USD | |
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Riva ridge
Riva Ridge (April 13, 1969 – April 21, 1985) was a Thoroughbred racehorse, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes in 1972.
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Background
A son of First Landing out of Iberia (by Heliopolis), he was owned and bred by the Meadow Stable of Christopher Chenery. Secretariat, the Triple Crown champion in 1973, was owned and bred by the same stable.
Riva Ridge's name came from Chenery's son-in-law, John Tweedy, who was a soldier in World War II at the important strategic victory by the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division in 1945 at Riva Ridge on February 18 in the North Apennine mountains of Italy.
Racing career
A winner of the Eclipse Award at age two and four, Riva Ridge was ridden mainly by Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte, who rode stablemate Secretariat a year later. After his win as the 9:5 favorite at the Kentucky Derby, many expected Riva Ridge to win the elusive Triple Crown. Although a 1:5 odds-on favorite at Pimlico in Baltimore, the Preakness was his first race in wet conditions and he finished fourth, after rain made the going sloppy. In the 1½-mile (2.4 km) Belmont Stakes, Riva Ridge defeated nine other horses with a seven-length victory.
At age four, Riva Ridge won five of the nine races he entered, set track records four times, and equaled the 1 1⁄8-mile track record at Suffolk Downs in winning the Massachusetts Handicap. His winning time of 1:52 2⁄5 in the Brooklyn Handicap (raced that year at Aqueduct Racetrack) set a world record for 1 3⁄16 miles on the dirt. His mark was equalled by Farma Way in 1991 at Pimlico Race Course. As of January 2008, their record still stands.
With much fanfare, the Philip Morris company (manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes) sponsored what was to be a match race with stablemate Secretariat. After both horses were beaten in preparatory races for the match, it was changed to an invitational race which brought together top horses three years old and up. In record time, Secretariat (ridden by Turcotte) finished first and Riva Ridge (ridden by Eddie Maple) finished second. During their careers, both horses wore the blue and white checks of Meadow Stable. In 30 lifetime starts, Riva Ridge won 17 races, finished second three times and third once, with earnings of $1,111,497.
Stud career
Riva Ridge was retired at the end of the 1973 racing season. He stood at stud on Claiborne Farm in Kentucky for his entire breeding career until he died at age 16 of a heart attack on April 21, 1985.
Assessment
In the top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred champions of the 20th century, Riva Ridge was ranked No. 57. He was elected to the American Racing Hall of Fame in 1998.