CITATION (Big Cy)
“Boss, that hoss … he just ain’t human!”
1945 – 1970
BACKROUND
Warren Wright, Sr., inherited two things from his father: a firm, the famous Calumet Baking Company (makers of the ubiquitous Calumet Baking Powder), and a farm, Calumet Farms. The firm was very successful when Wright sold it to General Foods for a reported 40 million dollars. He could now pursue his dream—to own and race thoroughbreds. He also took over his father’s Calumet Farm stables, in which trotters were raised, and converted it into a stable for thorougbred racehorses. It was difficult at first, and the fact that Wright knew little or nothing about horses didn’t help.
However with the help of “Plain Ben” Jones and his son Jimmy, two of the best trainers in the business, and Eddie Arcaro, racing’s foremost jockey, Calumet Farms became the premier stable in Kentucky in the 1940’s. Such racehorses as Whirlaway (1941 Triple Crown winner), Pensive (1944 Derby and Preakness winner, he missed being a Triple Crown winner by a half-length), Armed (1947 Horse of the Year), and Faultless (1947 Preakness winner), were all Calumet thoroughbreds.
Citation was a member of the fifth crop of foals sired by Calumet stallion, Bull Lea, who had only a so-so racing career. Citation’s dame, Hydroplane II, had been purchased by Warren Wright in England from Count Derby. She was brought to America via the Pacific Ocean, as it was thought that the U-boats in the Atlantic made such a crossing too dangerous. That 1945 crop also included the colt Coaltown, and a filly, Bewitch, two outstanding thoroughbreds, and is looked upon by many pedigree experts as the strongest crop ever to represent an individual stallion. Coaltown, a speed horse, broke many track records, and with Capot, shared Horse of the Year honors in 1949. Bewitch was one of the fastest fillies in the country, and at career end, had won the most money of any filly up to that time.
RACING CAREER
Citation’s (known as Big Cy to his fans) first race as a two-year-old on April 22, 1947 (coincidentally, the year Man o’ War died) was at Havre de Grace on a miserable wet day in Maryland. Citation won the 4-1/2 furlong sprint by a half length. On July 30th, he won his first stakes, the Elementary, a six furlong sprint, by two lengths. He went on to win the Belmont Futurity and the Pimlico Futurity. He lost the Washington Park Futurity to his stablemate, Bewitch. It was a sort of “fix” by Ben Jones: Bewitch had won seven straight races, and was the darling of Calumet. Jones was not anxious to break the streak, so he told the jockeys that whoever was ahead in the homestretch should be allowed to win, knowing Bewitch was a top sprinter. Big Cy finished second by only a length. Never again, in three contests, did Bewitch beat him. Citation finished the year with 9 starts–8 wins, and one second.
In February 1948, Citation ran his first races as a three year old (actually, he was still two, as his birthday was in April) at Hialeah racetrack in Florida. Al Snider, his regular jockey during his juvenile year, rode all four races. In his first race, he was the only three year old entered against older horses, including his stablemate Armed, a former Horse of the Year. (Racing against older horses in your first race as a three year old? This was unheard of!). Likewise, his second race was against older horses, and he won again. For his final two races in February, he returned to racing against only 3 year olds and won both races.
The Flamingo Stakes was one of those races. Jockey Ted Atkinson was aboard the colt Pennant Day, who was in the lead going into the far turn. Suddenly, he heard the hooves of a horse quickly approaching him from the rear. In Atkinson’s words, “I knew it was Citation and I got the hell out of the way. I didn’t want to get run over!” Saggy, who would beat Big Cy in a race trial in a few months, his only loss of the year, was also one of Citation’s victims that day.
After the February races and before Big Cy even won the Kentucky Derby, “Sunny” Jim Fitzsimmons, one of the all-time great trainers, stated, “Up to this point, Citation’s done more than any horse I ever saw.” He paused and added, “And I saw Man o’ War.”
“He’s the greatest horse I’ve ever seen, if we ever see another one like him, we’ll be lucky. Maybe somebody will want to throw bricks at me for saying it, but I’ve never seen a horse like this one. He has the right disposition, soundness, and looks like he can do anything. You’d have to get a machine to do any better. That race [Jockey Gold Cup] showed he could run as far and as fast as they have to, and what more can you ask?”
-Max Hirsch, saddled Man o’War opponants 28 years earlier
Back up north, in Maryland, on April 12th, at the Chesapeake Stakes Trial, a 6 furlong event on a sloppy track, Big Cy lost to Saggy (whose biggest claim to fame would be that he was the sire of the great Carry Back). This might have been the result of Citation’s having a new jockey. Citation’s regular jockey, Al Snider, was lost at sea while they were in Florida in February, as a result of a fishing accident. Ben Jones called upon the great Eddie Arcaro (who had ridden Calumet’s Whirlaway to a Triple Crown in 1941) to be Citation’s jockey. At the Chesapeake Stakes Trial, Arcaro was told by Jones to take it easy on Citation, since track was sloppy, and the Triple Crown races still were in the future. Until the end of his life, Arcaro always blamed himself, not Citation, for the loss. Six days later, in the Chesapeake Stakes itself, a 1-1/16 miler, Citation won easily by 5 lengths, with Saggy at the back of the pack.
The Chesapeake was simply a warm-up for the Kentucky Derby. Before the actual Derby, Citation ran in the Derby Trial on April 27, 1948, a one mile race. He won that, without breaking a sweat. On Derby day, May 1, 1948, it rained, and the track was a pile of mud. By the time the race started, though, thankfully it had stopped. It was essentially a two-horse race, with the two Calumet entries, Citation and Coaltown, the favorites. Before the race, Eddie Arcaro, still not recognizing Citation’s greatness, asked Ben Jones, Calumet trainer, if he was on the right horse–maybe he should be riding Coaltown instead of Citation. Jones smiled and reassured him that he was on the right horse, adding that “any horse that Citation can see, he can catch—and he has perfect eyesight!”
Citation and Coaltown both went for the lead, but at the clubhouse turn, Coaltown assumed the lead alone. Down the backstretch, Coaltown widened his lead. Near the far turn he led by six lengths. Arcaro was worried. So, he gave Citation a chirp, and Big Cy started to make his move. Big Cy cut into Coaltown’s lead, taking off like he was shot out of a cannon. At the top of the homestretch, Citation and Coaltown were nose to nose for an instant. Arcaro whipped him once lightly; then Big Cy opened up, and with each gallop, widened his lead. Because of the slop, Arcaro probably held Citation back, not wanting him to injure himself, but Big Cy won by 3-1/2 lengths over Coaltown, the rest of the horses faraway, clearly outclassed by the two Calumet colts. After the race Arcaro ruminated, “I probably didn’t have to whip him, but I was not in the mood to take any chances.” It was Arcaro’s second Derby win.
In the Preakness, on May 15, 1948, only three horses challenged Citation: Vulcan’s Forge, Bovard, and Better Self. Good horses, but nowhere near Citation’s caliber. Odds were 1-10 in Citation’s favor, with only win bets permitted. It had rained for two days before the race, and again the track was sloppy, in Arcaro’s words “like molten cement.” From post position 4, on the outside, Arcaro decided that Citation should go for the lead immediately, and he did. After a half mile, he led by 1-1/2 lengths. He gradually increased his lead, until at the top of the home stretch he led by 2-1/2. He finished 5-1/2 lengths in front of Vulcan’s Forge. Arcaro claimed that Citation had been under stout restraint throughout, galloping along until the stretch, when he gave Big Cy two gentle taps, and was allowed to increase his lead. The Derby and the Preakness seemed to bear out Ben Jones’ boasts about Citation: that he could catch any horse he could see (the mighty Coaltown in the Belmont), and that once he had a meaningful lead, no horse could overtake him (the Preakness).
At this point, the Joneses and Arcaro were licking their lips, envisioning a second Triple Crown for both of them. They seemed extremely confident, but Citation had never run a mile and a half. Did he have the stamina? His father, Bull Lea, didn’t. The Belmont Stakes would answer that question.
But before that, the Joneses entered Citation in the Jersey Stakes on May 29, 1948, a 1-1/4 miler. Big Cy again made mincemeat of his opposition, winning by 11 lengths.
On the day of the Belmont, June 12, 1948, seven horses were entered to do battle with Citation. Apparently, they hoped that he, like his father, would not be able to run the longer distance. Most of the horses that were entered, Citation had run against before and beaten. Sam Riddle, Man o’ War’s owner, even had an entry, Faraway. Citation was in the #1 post postion, and as the gate opened, he stumbled badly. (Arcaro had bragged that the only way he could lose the Belmont was if he fell off Citation, and he almost did!) He regained his composure, however, and went for the lead. Faraway, kept up with him for a short while, but tired, and finished dead last. Once again, Citation led from wire to wire, winning by 8 lengths over Better Self, who finished a half length ahead of Escadru. This time out, the track condition was good, and Citation tied Count Fleet’s record time of 2:28.2
Citation was making a believer out of jockey Eddie Arcaro. When told of the margin of victory, he said, “Eight lengths? It could have been eighty if I asked!” But a groom of Alfred Vanderbilt’s made the most telling comment: “Boss, that hoss … he just ain’t human!”
Citation then went on to win the Arlington Classic, the Buckingham Purse (a six furlong sprint), and the American Derby (against older horses).
Then at the end of September and beginning of October, Citation performed a feat that has not been equalled by any horse before him or after him. On Wednesday, September 29th, in the Sysonby Mile at Belmont, against older horses and speedsters the likes of Spy Song, Natchez, Coaltown, and First Flight, he again prevailed, coming from six lengths back at the far turn, to zoom past all the front three horses in a furlong, and win by three lengths. First Flight was second, with a totally dejected Coaltown third. When Ben Jones, after the race, asked Arcaro why he had moved so soon, Eddie replied, “The sonofagun just took off on me!”.
Then, THREE DAYS LATER, at Belmont again, on Saturday, October 2nd, in the two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes, he faced Phalanx, the 1947 Belmont winner, Ms. Grillo, Conniver, and Beauchet, the best stayers in the business, and won by seven lengths after disposing of Phalanx’s mighty home stretch charge. Time was a respectable 3:21.6.
Then, two weeks later, again at Belmont, on October 16, Big Cy raced in the Empire City Gold Cup, a 1-5/8 mile race. He faced Phalanx again, plus Ms. Grillo, Nathoo, Bayeux, and Carolyn A. (named after Eddie Arcaro’s daughter). But it was just more of the same, with Citation winning by two lengths.
Citation was proving to be invincible 1948. The Pimlico Special, October 29th, was rather like the Breeder’s Cup today. Only the top-notch horses of the day were invited to race. In a winner-take-all purse, no other horses wanted any part of Citation. With no other horses entered, Big Cy won in a walkover. That he had to gallop around the track to win was a mere formality. Arcaro tried to restrain him, but Big Cy almost pulled Arcaro out of his stirrups in the process.
After that, with no more horses on the East coast left to conquer, Citation was shipped to Northern California (it was too cold to race in the east). On December 3, 1948, he won a six furlong prep race. Then, on December 11, 1948, he won the Tanforan Handicap, a 1-1/4 mile race, by a commanding five lengths.
It was one of the best, if not the best, season any three year old has ever run. Below is a summary (compiled by Ron Hale):
A RECAP OF CITATION’S 1948 SEASON
- 19 wins in 20 starts
- Earnings of $709,470 (then a world record for a single season)
- Raced from February 2 to December 11
- Beat older horses from February to December
- Won at six furlongs in February, August and December
- Won at every distance from six furlongs to two miles
- Won at 10 different racetracks
- Won in seven different states from New York to California (traveling in un-airconditioned vans and railroad boxcars)
- Won on tracks labeled fast, sloppy, heavy, muddy and good
- Won his races by a cumulative total of 66 lengths
- Won the Triple Crown races by a total of 17 lengths
- At year end, his lifetime record stood at 29 starts, 27-2-0
- Won 15 races in a row
* * * * * * * * * *
Because of an osselet on his left front ankle and tendon problems, Citation did not race at age 4. What a loss for the racing world! We can only imagine what he might have achieved if he had been well! He should have been retired from racing at that point, but his owner, Warren Wright, got it into his head that his magnificent colt should be the first million dollar winner. It became an obsession, and he did not care if Citation suffered.
Citation raced at ages five and six, but his greatest years were behind him. In his first race back in 13 months, on January 11, 1950, he won an allowance sprint at Santa Anita. Combined with his 15 wins when he was three, it made for 16 straight wins for Big Cy, a record that would stand until 1996, when it was tied by the great Cigar. It is a record that is very unlikely to be broken. He also faced the terrific Noor in four races, coming in second in all of them. A few were very close, and in two of the races Noor was given quite a bit of weight. But in fact, it would have been difficult for any horse to have beaten Noor–he broke track and world records in those four races. On June 3, 1950, Big Cy won the Golden Gate Mile, with a time of 1:33.6, a world record at that time. By winning that race, he also surpassed Stymie, the number one moneymaker, in earnings, with $924,631. But it was not a million. Wright seemed determined to nickel and dime the tired Citation until his dream was achieved.
Citation stayed in California for his sixth year. He lost his first four races, three of them sprints, finishing second once, third twice, and in the Hollywood Premiere on 5/11/51, he finished fifth by three lengths, the only time in his career that he would finish out of the money. His losing streak now stood at six races.
But he would finish his career a winner. On June 14th, he won the Century Handicap, a one miler, by a half length; on July 4th, he won the American Handicap, a 1-1/8 mile event, again by a half length; and finally, he took the Hollywood Gold Cup, a 1-1/4 miler, by 4 lengths. He won $100,000 for winning this, his last race (the most money he ever won for a single race), and his lifetime earnings passed one million dollars. Another first for Citation. But more importantly, he could finally retire.
Citation’s last public appearance was at Arlington Park in Chicago on July 28, 1951, where thousands of cheering fans showed up to show their love and appreciation for Big Cy, as he cantered around the track with his neck in the familiar arched position, and his head bent down.
Citation had all the earmarks of a great racehorse. He raced successfully on any track condition, he could win trailing the leader or making his own pace. Like Man o’ War, he was an extremely intelligent horse, but unlike him, had a pleasant disposition. Big Cy had speed, stamina, and a will to win second to none. He loved to compete.
Citation died on August 8, 1970 at the age of 25. At his death, since 1948, America had had five presidents, but no Triple Crown winners. It would be three years after Citation’s death that Secretariat became the ninth Triple Crown winner. But while Big Cy was alive, no other horse could pull off horseracing’s hat trick.
In the words of Ron Hale: “Throughout his career, Citation was often compared to Man o’ War. Fifty years later, as we near the end of the century, the comparison still stands. The debate as to who was the better will likely go on into the next century. But one thing is for sure: Man o’ War and Citation stand head and shoulders above the other great Thoroughbreds of the 20th Century.”
Amen …
