Exterminator (horse)

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Exterminator
Exterminator, 1922
Sire:	McGee
Dam:	Fair Empress
Damsire:	Jim Gore
Sex:	Gelding
Foaled:	1915
Country:	USA
Colour:	Chestnut
Breeder:	F. D. "Dixie" Knight
Owner:	J. Cal Milam Willis Sharpe Kilmer
Trainer:	J. Cal Milam Henry McDaniel
Record:	100: 50-17-17
Earnings:	$252,996
Major Racing Wins & Honours & Awards
Major Racing Wins
Kentucky Derby (1918) Saratoga Cup (1918, 1919, 1920, 1921) Pimlico Cup (1919, 1920, 1921) Toronto Autumn Cup (1920, 1921, 1922) Autumn Gold Cup (1921 & 1922) Brooklyn Handicap (1922) Philadelphia Handicap (1923)
Racing Awards
U.S. Champion Older Male Horse (1920, 1921, 1922) United States Horse of the Year (1922)
Honours
United States Racing Hall of Fame (1957) #29 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century
Infobox last updated on: September 22, 2006.

Exterminator (May 30, 1915 - September 26, 1945) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and the winner of the 1918 Kentucky Derby, and in 1922 won Horse of the Year honors.

The lanky chestnut colt was bred by F. D. "Dixie" Knight (Mrs. M.J. Mizner, Knight's mother, was said to be the actual breeder) and foaled at Almahurst Farm near Lexington, Kentucky. Exterminator was sired by McGee who also produced Donerail, the winner of the 1915 Kenturky Derby. At the Saratoga Paddock sale of 1916, he was bought as a yearling for $1,500 by J. Cal Milam who trained his own horses. The big colt grew fast, reaching 16.3 hands at two...but he was awkward and coarse looking. For this reason, Milam had him gelded. Racing in Canada, he suffered a muscle sprain and Milam gave him time off to grow into his size, which by now was 17 hands. Still, he had earned $1,500 and a potential nomination to the Kentucky Derby.

Before Exterminator could begin his third season, Milam sold him to Willis Sharpe Kilmer for $9,000 and a pair of fillies, quite a bit of money for the times...especially as Kilmer had only authorized his trainer, Henry McDaniel, to pay about $700 for a "workhorse." Kilmer bought Exterminator to help his prized colt, Sun Briar in his workouts. (Kilmer had purchased his colt at the same sale Milam bought his, but for $5,000.)

Kilmer didn't think much of his new purchase; he called him "that Truck Horse," or "the goat." Exterminator was supposed to stay behind Sun Briar merely to urge him on to greater effort, but he ran easily beside Sun Briar unless held back. Even then, it was no effort to match Sun Briar...and Sun Briar had topped his juvenile division, winning 5 of 9 starts. Henry McDaniel was impressed by Exterminator's understanding of his job. He pressed when he was supposed to, held back when necessary. McDaniel considered him the most intelligent thoroughbred he'd ever known. Unfortunately, Sun Briar, who had won U.S. Two-yr-Old Champion Colt honors, developed ringbone and Kilmer suddenly had no horse for the Derby. He was urged to run Exterminator by McDaniel, but wouldn't hear of running "that goat" in his colors. It took Colonel Matt Winn, president of Churchill Downs, to convince him. Winn had seen the colt's workouts and was very impressed.

The morning of the race, it poured with rain. The track was deep in mud. Not since he was a two-year-old had Exterminator raced, and none of his races could be considered a suitable prep for the prestigious Kentucky Derby. Ridden by a disappointed Willie Knapp, who'd expected to be up on Sun Briar, Exterminator went off at odds of 30-1 to the heavily favored War Cloud. Exterminator raced at the back until the field turned for home, then he turned it on, flying down the track, passing one horse after the other. Nearing the wire, he was coming on stronger than ever, taking on Escoba, who was all that stood between Exterminator and the roses. He won the Derby by a length.

Willie Knapp became an instant fan of the tall chestnut gelding. Many years later he said of the champion: "When he was at his best, Exterminator could have beaten Man O' War or Citation or Kelso or any other horse that ever lived on any track doing anything."

When Man O' War was three, Kilmer tried for a match race between the two horses. Somehow, Man O' War's owner, Samuel Riddle, although seeming to agree, never managed to have that happen.

As a gelding, Exterminator went on to compete in 100 races, winning 50, finishing second and third, 17 times each. His lifetime earnings amounted to $252,996. Beaten in the Brooklyn Handicap by Grey Lag, Exterminator got better as he got older and later defeated Gray Lag in the same race. The Daily Racing Form named Exterminator U.S. Champion Older Male Horse three straight times from 1920 through 1922.

Racing until the age of 9, a relatively old age for a horse, Exterminator was called by his many fans "Old Bones," or "The Galloping Hatrack," (amongst the stable lads, he was "Old Shang"). He was retired in 1924 to a life of grass and leisure, with a succession of companion ponies, all named Peanuts, at his side.

Exterminator lived until he was thirty, dying in his stall at Sun Briar Court, and was buried alongside Sun Briar, as well as a number of "Peanuts," in La France Pet Cemetery in Binghamton, New York.

In 1957, Exterminator was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and in The Blood-Horse ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, he was ranked #29.

[edit] References

• Exterminator's pedigree and photo
• Exterminator's page in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
• Exterminator: Legendary Thoroughbred with details of races and photos
• Exterminator, One of the Greatest
• Unofficial Thoroughbred Hall of Fame
• Exterminator's Kentucky Derby