# Count Turf

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American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Count Turf Sire Count Fleet Grandsire Reigh Count Dam Delmarie Damsire Pompey Sex Stallion Foaled 1948 Country United States Colour Bay Breeder Dr. & Mrs. Frank Porter Miller Owner Jack Joseph Amiel Trainer 1) Sol Rutchick 2) William B. Finnegan Record 45: 8-4-6 Earnings $166,375 Major wins Dover Stakes (1950) Questionnaire Handicap (1953) U.S. Triple Crown wins: Kentucky Derby (1951) Honours Count Turf Drive, Louisville, Kentucky Last updated on May 27, 2010

**Count Turf** (April 27, 1948 – October 18, 1966) was a champion American [Thoroughbred](/source/Thoroughbred) [racehorse](/source/Horse_racing) who won the [1951 Kentucky Derby](/source/1951_Kentucky_Derby). His grandsire [Reigh Count](/source/Reigh_Count) won the [1928 Kentucky Derby](/source/1928_Kentucky_Derby) and his sire [Count Fleet](/source/Count_Fleet) won the [1943 Kentucky Derby](/source/1943_Kentucky_Derby) and went on to win the [Triple Crown](/source/Triple_Crown_of_Thoroughbred_Racing). The only other father/son/grandson combination to win the Kentucky Derby was [Pensive](/source/Pensive), [Ponder](/source/Ponder_(horse)), and [Needles](/source/Needles_(horse)).

## Background

Bred and raised at [Runnymede Farm](/source/Runnymede_Farm) near [Paris, Kentucky](/source/Paris%2C_Kentucky), Count Turf was owned by [New York City](/source/New_York_City) [restaurateur](/source/Restaurant) Jack Amiel who bought him at a yearling sale for $3,700. Amiel named him Count for his [sire](/source/Father) and Turf for his Turf Restaurant in [Times Square](/source/Times_Square). In the mid-1950s, Amiel dispensed with his ownership of the Turf Restaurant and became a co-owner of next-door's [Jack Dempsey's Broadway Restaurant](/source/Jack_Dempsey's_Broadway_Restaurant).

## Racing career

Racing at age two, Count Turf's best showings were second-place finishes in both the [Youthful Stakes](/source/Youthful_Stakes) and the [Christiana Stakes](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christiana_Stakes&action=edit&redlink=1). Wintered in [Florida](/source/Florida), at age three he showed little promise in the races leading up to the 1951 Kentucky Derby. Conditioned by [Turkish-born](/source/Turkey) [trainer](/source/Horse_trainer) [Sol Rutchick](/source/Sol_Rutchick), the colt finished off the board in the [Flamingo](/source/Flamingo_Stakes) and [Everglades Stakes](/source/Everglades_Stakes) in Florida and in the [Wood Memorial Stakes](/source/Wood_Memorial_Stakes) at [Aqueduct Racetrack](/source/Aqueduct_Racetrack) in [Jamaica, New York](/source/Jamaica%2C_New_York).

In the 1951 Kentucky Derby, Count Turf was one of twenty horses entered. [Harry Guggenheim's](/source/Harry_Frank_Guggenheim) colt Battle Morn was the [betting](/source/Gambling) favorite with [Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney's](/source/Cornelius_Vanderbilt_Whitney) eventual [Horse of the Year](/source/Eclipse_Award_for_Horse_of_the_Year) [Counterpoint](/source/Counterpoint_(horse)), the second choice. Counterpoint was Count Turf's half-brother through their common sire, Count Fleet. Given almost no chance of winning, Count Turf was part of a five-horse betting "field" with long-shot odds of 15–1. In the race, he was well placed in the front-middle of the pack and after taking the lead at the top of the homestretch he never looked back and won by four lengths over an over 53-1 long shot named Royal Mustang.[1] Favorite Battle Morn never was in contention and finished 6th while Counterpoint tired badly after making a run at the leaders and wound up 11th. For future [U.S. Hall of Hame](/source/National_Museum_of_Racing_and_Hall_of_Fame) [jockey](/source/Jockey) [Conn McCreary](/source/Conn_McCreary), it was his second Derby victory, having won the 1944 race aboard [Pensive](/source/Pensive).

For the ensuing two legs of the Triple Crown series, Count Turf did not run in [Preakness Stakes](/source/Preakness_Stakes) but then finished seventh in the [Belmont Stakes](/source/Belmont_Stakes), twenty lengths back of winner Counterpoint. In October 1951, Count Turf was sent to race in [California](/source/California) under the care of trainer [Bill Finnegan](/source/William_B._Finnegan). [2] Racing at age four and five, he met with limited success, his most notable performance a win in the 1953 [Questionnaire Handicap](/source/Questionnaire_Handicap) at [Jamaica Race Course](/source/Jamaica_Race_Course) but he came out of the race lame and was retired.[3]

## Stud career

At [stud](/source/Horse_breeding), Count Turf stood at Almahurst Farm in [Nicholasville, Kentucky](/source/Nicholasville%2C_Kentucky), then at Elmhurst Farm near [Lexington](/source/Lexington%2C_Kentucky), and finally at Windy Hills Farm in [Westminster, Maryland](/source/Westminster%2C_Maryland). As a sire, his accomplishments were modest, producing only two stakes race winners. One of those was [Manassa Mauler](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manassa_Mauler_(horse)&action=edit&redlink=1), so-named by Jack Amiel for the widely known pugilistic [nickname](/source/Nickname) of his friend [Jack Dempsey](/source/Jack_Dempsey).

Count Turf died in 1966 and is buried at Windy Hills Farm.

## Pedigree

Pedigree of Count Turf Sire Count Fleet Reigh Count Sunreigh Sundridge* Sweet Briar* Contessina Count Schomberg Pitti Quickly Haste Maintenant Miss Malaprop Stephanie Stefan The Great Malachite Dam Delmarie Pompey Sun Briar Sundridge* Sweet Briar* Cleopatra Corcyra* Gallice Charming Note Polymelian Polymelus Pasquita* Alburn Alcantara Face A Main

* Count Turf is [inbred](/source/Inbreeding) 4S x 4D x 5D to the stallion [Sundridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sundridge_(horse)&action=edit&redlink=1), meaning that he appears fourth generation on the sire side of his pedigree and fourth generation and fifth generation (via Pasquita) on the dam side of his pedigree.

* Count Turf is inbred 4S x 4D to the mare [Sweet Briar](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sweet_Briar_(horse)&action=edit&redlink=1), meaning that she appears fourth generation on the sire side of his pedigree and fourth generation on the dam side of his pedigree.

* Count Turf is inbred 5D x 4D to the stallion [Polymelus](/source/Polymelus), meaning that he appears fifth generation (via [Corcyra](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Corcyra_(horse)&action=edit&redlink=1)) and fourth generation on the dam side of his pedigree.

## References

- [Count Turf's Kentucky Derby](https://www.kentuckyderby.com/2006/derby_history/derby_charts/years/1951.html)

- [Count Turf Wins the Kentucky Derby, 1951](http://colinsghost.org/2010/03/count-turf-wins-the-kentucky-derby-1951.html)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Seeing Is Believing"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090114104441/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,935267,00.html). *[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))*. May 14, 1951.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Bill Finnegan Named Trainer of Count Turf"](https://web.archive.org/web/20121102095541/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/425349541.html?dids=425349541:425349541&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Oct+19,+1951&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Bill+Finnegan+Named+Trainer+of+Count+Turf&pqatl=google). *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)*. October 19, 1951.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [*Kentucky New Era* - July 20, 1953](https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=geUrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xmUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3024,5129503&dq=questionnaire+handicap+count-turf&hl=en)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Count Turf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Turf) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Turf?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.