# Joe Patchen

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**Joe Patchen** (May 5, 1889 – February 18, 1917) was a [Standardbred](/source/Standardbred) racehorse foaled in [Peabody, Kansas](/source/Peabody,_Kansas), United States. His sire was Patchen Wilkes and his dam was Josephine Young.[1] Though best remembered for siring the famous [Dan Patch](/source/Dan_Patch), Joe Patchen enjoyed a successful racing career of his own: he was nicknamed "the iron race-horse of the age."[2]

## Breeding

Joe Patchen was foaled May 5, 1889 in Peabody, Kansas. He was bred by C and M.M. Rathbone of the same town.[2]

Joe Patchen was "black, four white feet, white in the face, height 16.25 [hands], 1250 pounds."[2]

## Racing career

A large-bodied horse with unusually long legs, Joe Patchen was a strong contender on half-mile tracks. Joe Patchen won 53% of the races in which he started, and finished second in 39%. He was unplaced (out of the top four) in only 3% of his races. Though his exact career winnings are unknown, estimates place them in excess of $50,000. In August 1896, Joe Patchen broke the world records for both a half-mile and mile track by completing two laps on the half-mile Combination Park in 2:05¼ on August 8 and one lap of the mile-long [Rigby Park](/source/Rigby_Park) in 2:03 on August 21.[3][4] The half-mile record stood for seven years until his son Dan Patch lowered it to 2:04.

The Kansas State Board of Agriculture said that "[Joe] Patchen's untiring courage as a race horse seems to be without a peer."[2]

Patchen was trained by [Harness Racing Hall of Fame](/source/Harness_Racing_Museum_%26_Hall_of_Fame) trainer [John Dickerson](/source/John_Dickerson_(Trainer)), and was himself inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1954.

## Pedigree

Joe Patchen was a part of the "[Joe Young](/source/Joe_Young_(horse))" lineage that was desired for Kansas racehorses at the time. His sire Patchen Wilkes also had desirable racing genes and traced to Wilkes Boy, Guy Wilkes, and Baron Wilkes.[2]

## External links

1. [Joe Patchen; Harness Racing Museum and Hall Of Fame.](https://www.harnessmuseum.com/content/joe-patchen)

1. Agriculture, Kansas State Board of (1901). [*Report*](https://books.google.com/books?id=GDsNAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22joe+young%22+horse+racing&pg=PA277)

1. "New Champion: Joe Patchen Now Holds a World's Record". *The Boston Globe*. August 9, 1906.

1. "World's Champion: Joe Patchen Makes the Stallion Pacing Record 2.03 Even". *The Boston Globe*. August 22, 1906.

## External links

- [Joe Patchen, sire of Dan Patch](http://www.mi-harness.net/publct/hh/joeptchn.html)[dead link]

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