# What A Summer > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/What_A_Summer > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/What_A_Summer.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_A_Summer > Source revision: 977438917 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **What A Summer** (foal in 1973) was an American [Thoroughbred](/source/Thoroughbred) [Champion](/source/Eclipse_Award) [racehorse](/source/Horse_racing) who defeated both male and female competitors. She was bred in [Maryland](/source/Maryland) by Milton Polinger. She was a gray out of the [mare](/source/Mare) Summer Classic who was sired by Summer Tan. Her [sire](/source/Sire) was What Luck, a multiple stakes winning son of [U.S. Racing Hall of Fame](/source/National_Museum_of_Racing_and_Hall_of_Fame) inductee [Bold Ruler](/source/Bold_Ruler).[1] What A Summer is probably best remembered for her win in the [Grade II](/source/Graded_stakes_race) $65,000 [Black-Eyed Susan Stakes](/source/Black-Eyed_Susan_Stakes) over stakes winners [Dearly Precious](/source/Dearly_Precious) and Artfully on May 14, 1976. ## Two-year-old season What A Summer was trained very early in her career by Hall of Fame conditioner [Bud Delp](/source/Bud_Delp) while racing for her breeder, Milton Polinger. She was bought by Mrs. Bertram Firestone following Polinger's death in the early fall of 1976. That death delayed her the first start of her career until late in the year. Mrs. Firestone turned the mare over to trainer [LeRoy Jolley](/source/LeRoy_Jolley). What A Summer did not start racing until near the end of her two-year-old season, when she broke her maiden at [Philadelphia Park](/source/Philadelphia_Park). Near the end of the year, she won an allowance race. She ended the year with two wins in four starts. ## Three-year-old season In January, What A Summer placed second in her first stakes race, the $25,000 Heirloom Stakes at the old Liberty Bell Race Track in [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia). Two months later, she won her second allowance race over winners and convinced her connections that she was ready to step up in class and take on stakes winners in the [Grade II](/source/Graded_stakes_race) $65,000 [Black-Eyed Susan Stakes](/source/Black-Eyed_Susan_Stakes). In that race, she withstood a fast closing challenge down the stretch to hold off a late charge by 4:5 favorite [Dearly Precious](/source/Dearly_Precious) in a final time of 1:42.40 for the mile and one sixteenth on the dirt track at [Pimlico Race Course](/source/Pimlico_Race_Course) in [Baltimore, Maryland](/source/Baltimore,_Maryland). Her jockey, [Chris McCarron](/source/Chris_McCarron), was credited with a solid ride by conserving energy with moderate fractions in the middle portion of the race. Stakes winner Artfully held on for third in the field of ten three-year-old fillies. In December 1976, What A Summer won the $50,000 [Anne Arundel Stakes](/source/Anne_Arundel_Stakes) at [Laurel Park Racecourse](/source/Laurel_Park_Racecourse), beating Turn the Guns and Avum in 1:38.20 for the mile under McCarron. ## Four-year-old season In 1977, What A Summer won the $75,000 [Fall Highweight Handicap](/source/Fall_Highweight_Handicap) twice, carrying the high weight of 134 pounds under jockey [Jacinto Vásquez](/source/Jacinto_V%C3%A1squez). The Fall Highweight is run in November of each year at [Aqueduct Racetrack](/source/Aqueduct_Racetrack). In the 1977 race, she finished in a time of 1:09.4 and she broke the stakes record for six furlongs. That year, she also won the $40,000 Silver Spoon Handicap, the $50,000 [Maskette Handicap](/source/Maskette_Handicap) and the $35,000 [Distaff Handicap](/source/Distaff_Handicap). She placed second in the grade one [Beldame Stakes](/source/Beldame_Stakes) at [Belmont Park](/source/Belmont_Park) and showed in both the $40,000 Grey Flight Handicap and the $25,000 [Regret Stakes](/source/Regret_Stakes). ## Five-year-old season In 1978 as a five-year-old, What A Summer repeated two of her victories from the year before in both the [Fall Highweight Handicap](/source/Fall_Highweight_Handicap), under Hall of Fame jockey [Ángel Cordero Jr.](/source/%C3%81ngel_Cordero_Jr.), and the $40,000 Silver Spoon Handicap. She also won the $40,000 [First Flight Handicap](/source/First_Flight_Handicap). She placed second in the grade two [Vosburgh Stakes](/source/Vosburgh_Stakes), the grade three [Vagrancy Handicap](/source/Vagrancy_Handicap), the [Sport Page Handicap](/source/Sport_Page_Handicap), the Suwanee River Handicap and the Egret Handicap. ## Honors What A Summer was named Maryland-bred horse of the year in 1977 and twice was named champion older mare for the state of Maryland in both 1977 and 1978. She was retired in 1978 and as a broodmare she produced several graded stakes winners. After her retirement, [Laurel Park Racecourse](/source/Laurel_Park_Racecourse) named a race in honor, the [What A Summer Stakes](/source/What_A_Summer_Stakes). She was an Eclipse Award winner and was named [American Champion Sprint Horse](/source/American_Champion_Sprint_Horse) in 1977. What A Summer ended her career with a record of 18 wins out of 31 starts in her career. Her most memorable race was perhaps her dominating performance in the de facto second leg of the filly Triple Crown, the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. In addition to her 18 wins, she placed nine times with earnings of $479,161. That record of 27 first or second finishes in 31 starts at 87% is among the best in history.[2] ## References - [What A Summer's pedigree and partial racing stats](http://www.pedigreequery.com/what+a+summer) 1. [\[1\]](http://www.pedigreequery.com/what+a+summer) What A Summer's pedigree and partial racing stats 1. 2007 Maryland Jockey Club Media Guide, page 466 on March 3, 2007. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [What A Summer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_A_Summer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_A_Summer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.