Winter's Tale (horse)

Winter's Tale (1976–2002) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.

Background[edit]

Winter's Tale was bred by owner Paul Mellon. His sire was U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Arts and Letters, a son of a European superstar, the undefeated runner and British Champion sire Ribot. His dam, Christmas Wind, was a Canadian daughter of E. P. Taylor's sire Nearctic, the sire of Northern Dancer. He was conditioned for racing by Hall of Fame trainer MacKenzie Miller,

Racing career[edit]

Winter's Tale began racing at age three in 1979 and, because he was a gelding, continued to race through age seven. In 1980, he won many of the top dirt races for older horses in the pre-Breeders' Cup era. At Belmont Park, he began a three-race win streak with a record seven and three-quarter length victory in the June 15 Nassau County Handicap.^[1] Then, in what the New York Times headlined as a "Most Perfect Ride", jockey Jeffrey Fell rode Winter's Tale to victory in the July 4, 1980, Suburban Handicap, also at Belmont.^[2] He then won the July 19th Brooklyn Handicap^[3] and although he suffered shin problems, in September Winter's Tale earned his eighth win from eleven career starts with a victory in the Marlboro Cup at Belmont Park.^[4]

In 1983, at age seven, Winter's Tale won his second Nassau County Handicap and his second Suburban Handicap.

Retirement[edit]

Winter's Tale was retired from racing to Paul Mellon's farm in Virginia, where he died in 2002 at age twenty-six.

References[edit]

• Winters' Tale's pedigree and partial racing stats