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Round Table by Eva Jolene Boyd Any Breeders' Cup Turf "dream field" would have to include Round Table. In the January 31, 1959, issue of The Thoroughbred Record, Leon Rasmussen wrote, "When it comes to this grass course context, Round Table is a Man o' War, the one to which all other horses must be compared." And 38 years later, Rasmussen will tell you that this small brown son of Princequillo - Knight's Daughter is still the standard for turf horses. Rasmussen, the Record's west coast correspondent, had just witnessed Round Table's smashing performance in the San Marcos Handicap, wherein the five-year-old led every step of the ten furlongs on Santa Anita's turf course to win by five lengths, eased, in 1:58 2/5, a new American record. For any other horse, it would have been extraordinary. For Round Table, it was just another day at the office. In all, Round Table started on the grass 16 times, winning 14. He carried 130 or more in nine of those starts, set three American records (all with 132 pounds) and equaled a track record in another. But Round Table was not a one-dimensional horse; he was as good on the dirt as he was on the green. In the course of his career, which spanned 66 starts over four years, he won from distances from four furlongs to a mile and five-eighths, from one end of the country to the other. Talk about durability. Round Table started 22 times at three, raced in every month of the year, and crossed the continent five times. At four, he competed January through October in every month but April. He campaigned for 15 months straight during one stretch, starting 27 times and winning 22. Miraculously, Round Table was as sound when he retired as he was in his first start. In fact, he took only two lame steps in his entire career, neither of them structural. At five, he suffered a quarter-crack and, in one of only two losses on the grass, he rapped himself badly and was eased. He was not a remarkable two-year-old, but Round Table set the tone for the rest of his career that year, making his first start in February and his last in November, running ten times and winning five in the colors of his owner/breeder, A.B. Hancock, Jr.'s Claiborne Farm where he was foaled in 1954. Oklahoma oilman Travis M. Kerr purchased the colt for $145,000 after Round Table's second sophomore start and put him under the tutelage of trainer Bill Molter. He won one of the next three, then turned the corner. Round Table's fifth place finish in the San Bernardino Handicap on March 11 was the last time he would finish worse than third until August 9, 1958, going to the post in the interim 30 times and winning 25. Round Table began turning heads when he took the Bay Meadows Derby by 4 1/2 lengths and then demolished the track record to win the Blue Grass Stakes by six before going to Churchill Downs where he ran third in the Kentucky Derby to Iron Liege and Gallant Man and in front of Bold Ruler. Back in California, he finished second in his first outing against older horses, then put together a string of 11 straight tallies and a remarkable record of 22 wins in his next 24 starts. He became the first of his age to win the Hollywood Gold Cup, beating such older horses as Find, Terrang, and Porterhouse, and equaling the track record for a mile and a quarter in the process. In Illinois, he beat older horses again in the United Nations Handicap on the grass and the Hawthorne Gold Cup in track record time, beating Swoon's Son and Find. His winning streak came to an end in the Trenton Handicap, finishing third to Bold Ruler and Gallant Man, then closed out the season back at Santa Anita winning the Malibu Sequet Stakes with 130 pounds. Having won all four starts on the grass, Round Table earned his first turf division title, but conceded the overall championship to Bold Ruler. He was not yet a great racehorses. That would come soon. In 1958, Round Table went to the post 20 times and won 14, including his first seven starts, among them the Santa Anita Maturity, the San Antonio, Santa Anita, and Gulfstream Park Handicaps. He equaled one world and two track records, and broke four track records. In the Washington Park and United Nations Handicaps, it took concessions of 21 and 17 pounds, respectively, for Clem to beat him and he had to break track records in both to do it. Round Table topped the million- dollar mark in the Caliente Handicap in Mexico, which he won by 9 1/4 lengths in track record time. On the year, he carried 130 or 131 pounds a dozen times. He won five of his six turf races. At year's end, he was voted champion in every category for which he was eligible: Handicap, Turf, and Horse of the Year. At an age when most quality horses are serving their first or second crop of mares, Round Table enjoyed the finest season of his career at five. The competition got tougher and the handicapper was unyielding, but he held his own. He started 14 times, 11 of which were with 132 to 136 pounds, and won nine at distances from a mile to a mile and five-eighths. The Citation Handicap at Washington Park was the kind of performance that separates the greats from the wannabes. Carrying 130 pounds, the colt was bumped and nearly knocked off his feet and still got up to beat Etonian (104 pounds) in 1:33 2/5 for the mile, equaling Swaps' track record. Afterwards, jockey Steve Brooks, who was subbing for regular rider Bill Shoemaker, said that Round Table was the best horse he'd ever ridden. In the Stars and Stripes Handicap, he packed 132 pounds, gave weight to a classy field of turf horses, including Tudor Era, Manassa, and One-Eyed King, winner of his last four starts, and whipped them in the new American record time for the 1 1/8 mile. The United Nations Handicap in Atlantic City was another gutsy show. Carrying 136 pounds, the little brown colt (15.3 hands) conceded 16 to 22 pounds to the best turf horses on the planet and proved once again that he was better than any of them. After losing the Woodward to the three-year-old sensation, Sword Dancer, Kerr surely had easier spots to send his campaign-weary colt than the Manhattan Handicap at Aqueduct. At 1 5/8 miles, it was the longest distance he had yet attempted, and he was handed 132 pounds. But Round Table not only gave the wonderful Bald Eagle ten pounds, he beat him a length in 2:42 3/5, breaking the old track record by nearly two seconds. Travis Kerr had a decision to make now. His horse had $1.7 million in his coffer, the richest Thoroughbred in the world. Victories in the Hawthorne Gold Cup and the Man o' War Handicap, both on grass, would make him the first $2 million earner in racing history. So do you send him there, or go after Sword Dancer again in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, where a win would assure him of another Horse of the Year title? Kerr, the sportsman, chose the latter. Round Table's heart was willing, but sometimes class and courage alone can't squeeze another furlong out of weary limbs. Sword Dancer went on to a smashing victory in track record time and, with previous wins in the Belmont and Travers stakes, was voted Horse of the Year. Round Table earned his third consecutive Turf and second Handicap championships. Round Table was to have ended his career in the Washington D.C. International, but Kerr decided to retire him. He certainly didn't have anything left to prove. He'd won 43 of his 66 starts, 31 of them stakes. He was off the board only ten times and you have to throw out two of those: the George Woolf Memorial Stakes at two when he lost his rider at the start, and the Washington's Birthday Handicap at five when he was injured. He earned $1,749,869, in a day when there were no inflated purses, no million-dollar bonuses. He ran the mile and a quarter in under 2:00 five times on four different tracks, twice with 130 pounds, once with 132. He set or equaled 16 time standards which is, to this writer's knowledge, more than any other horse in history. From his first race on January 19, 1957, to his final start on October 31, 1959, he missed only six months of racing altogether, raced on 15 different tracks in three time zones, and carried 130 to 136 pounds on 25 occasions, winning 17. Round Table retired to Claiborne Farm as sound as the day he left it. Moreover, he passed his soundness on to his offspring here and abroad. He sired 83 stakes winners and his daughters foaled another 81. He was so respected as a stallion in Europe that in 1984, while touring the Kentucky horse farms, Queen Elizabeth learned that he was still living at age 30 and went out of her way to see him. He died three years later. Round Table remains the best turf horse in history and one of the best ever on any track. Pedigree:
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