02/10/2022
History Spotlight Sunday presents Ack Ack
Ack Ack (February 24, 1966 – November 7, 1990)
Sire: Battle Joined
Grandsire: Armageddon
Dam: Fast Turn
Damsire: Turn-To
Breeder: Harry F. Guggenheim
Owner: Cain Hoy Stable
E. E. "Buddy" Fogelson (1971)
Trainer: Woody Stephens (age 2)
Frank A. Bonsal (age 3)
Charlie Whittingham (age 4 & 5)
Record: 27: 19-6-0
Earnings: $636,641
Major wins
Bahamas Stakes (1969)
Forerunner Stakes (1969)
Arlington Classic (1969)
Withers Stakes (1969)
Derby Trial (1969)
Autumn Days Handicap (1970)
Los Angeles Handicap (1970)
Santa Anita Handicap (1971)
American Handicap (1971)
San Antonio Handicap (1971)
Hollywood Gold Cup (1971)
San Carlos Handicap (1971)
San Pasqual Handicap (1971)
Awards
U.S. Champion Older Male Horse (1971)
U.S. Champion Sprint Horse (1971)
United States Horse of the Year (1971)
Honours
United States Racing Hall of Fame (1986)
#44 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century
Ack Ack Handicap at Churchill Downs
Ack Ack Handicap at Hollywood Park
Holds the 5½ Furlong main track record with 5 other horses at the Del Mar Racetrack
Ack Ack was an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse.
Background
Ack Ack was a brown horse bred in Kentucky by Harry F. Guggenheim and owned by Guggenheim's Cain Hoy Stable. He was trained by Charlie Whittingham.
Racing career
He raced with success from age two to four, scoring wins in the important 1969 Withers Stakes and Arlington Classic. In 1971 at age five, Ack Ack blossomed into the year's most dominant horse, winning seven straight graded stakes races on both dirt and grass courses at a variety of distances. His performances earned him United States Horse of the Year honors.
Following Guggenheim's death in January 1971, Ack Ack was sold by the executors of Guggenheim's estate. The horse won the San Carlos Handicap less than a week before Guggenheim died. New owner E. E. "Buddy" Fogelson, husband of actress Greer Garson, bought Ack Ack for $500,000. In 1971, Ack Ack won seven of eight races and finished second in the other start. He won his final race, the Hollywood Gold Cup, in which he carried 134 pounds.
1969:
Won Arlington Classic Stakes (USA, 8FD, Arlington Park)
Won Withers Stakes (USA, 8FD, Aqueduct; new track record 1:34-2/5)
Won Bahamas Stakes (USA, 7FD, Hialeah)
Won Derby Trial (USA, 8FD, Churchill Downs; new track record 1:34-2/5)
2nd Jersey Derby (USA, 9FD, Garden State)
1970:
Won Los Angeles Handicap (USA, 7FD, Hollywood; by disqualification of Right or Wrong)
Won Autumn Days Handicap (USA, about 6.5FT, Santa Anita)
Also set a new track record of 1:02-1/5 for 5.5 furlongs on dirt in an allowance at Del Mar
1971:
Won Hollywood Gold Cup (USA, 10FD, Hollywood)
Won Santa Anita Handicap (USA, 10FD, Santa Anita)
Won American Handicap (USA, 9FT, Hollywood; new course record 1:47-1/5)
Won San Antonio Stakes (USA, 9FD, Santa Anita)
Won San Pasqual Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
Won San Carlos Handicap (USA, 7FD, Santa Anita; equaled track record 1:21)
Won Hollywood Express Handicap (USA, 5.5FD, Hollywood)
2nd Palos Verdes Handicap (Jan) (USA, 6FD, Santa Anita)
Stud record
At the end of the year, Ack Ack was retired to stand at stud at his birthplace of Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky, where he sired 40 stakes winners, including champion sire Broad Brush and Youth, the 1976 American Champion Male Turf Horse, which won a combined four Grade/Group 1 races in France, Canada, and the United States.
Ack Ack died November 7, 1990
