Maryland's First Famed Horses

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The colonial cradle of thoroughbred racing produced the sport’s earliest racehorse heroes 

It was 1719 and Ben Tasker, Mayor of Annapolis, was leading the City Council to a decision on horse racing in the city. A city described as “more British than British,” Annapolis was following the example of a deceased Queen Anne who had invigorated the new thoroughbred racing industry in England. Through her leadership, municipal economies became prosperous by establishing horse racing venues in towns throughout England. 

The Annapolis City Council supported the clearing of a track beyond the city gate off West Street for horse racing. Pubs were organized to help finance the venture. Silversmith Cesar Ghiselin, one of the earliest well-regarded craftsmen in the colonies, was commissioned to design 12 silver spoons to be given as prizes to the winners of the races. 

History doesn’t record the winners of this inaugural happening. Nor does it describe the race as a straight track dual between two horses racing down West Street or a four-mile course race over an oval track. This early action, however, set Annapolis and Maryland on its own course to be “the cradle of thoroughbred racing."

First Studs

Only the wealthy could afford to import the new breed of thoroughbreds to America. Annapolis was a wealthy city growing in cultural sophistication year after year. Tasker, a keen horseman, and Sam Ogle, provincial Governor, were among the early importers of thoroughbreds. In 1743, two thoroughbreds—Spark, a fast-paced first pedigree stallion, and Queen Mab—were gifted to Ogle from the King’s stables. With this pair shipped into Annapolis,

Ogle founded The Belair Stud in 1747. His mansion Belair—in today’s Bowie—became a center for race training and breeding for 200 years. 

Wealthy, cosmopolitan, and sophisticated Annapolis became the highlight of the social season with a full week of racing, theater, and parties each Fall and Spring. In 1743, another silversmith, John Inch, was commissioned to make a trophy, the Annapolis Subscription Plate, for the first formal race of the Maryland Jockey Club. The trophy, now at the Baltimore Museum of Art, is the second oldest horse racing trophy in the United States. The Maryland Jockey Club, itself, is the second oldest such club in the country. George Steuart’s (ancestor of County Executive Steuart Pittman) horse, Dungannon, defeated Charles Carroll’s horse at the May 4, 1743, Annapolis Subscription Plate Race. 

The Race That Won Marylanders’ Hearts

Maryland’s first renowned champion was purchased by Ben Tasker, Jr.—a little mare sired by the great Godolphin Arabian and named Selima. John Eisenberg, writing in Smithsonian magazine said of her that “no thoroughbred before the American Revolution did more for racing’s growing popularity than a plucky mare named Selima.” 

By 1750, horses had become a status symbol for the wealthy and gambling English. In Virginia, William Byrd, III, who presided over a vast estate on the James River, had also become hooked on gambling. Hoping to show off his wealth and make a gambling score, he offered 500 Spanish pistoles (at the time, the currency of trans-Atlantic trade) for any horse willing to race against his new import, Tryal, and win. Three other Virginia horses accepted the challenge and invested 500 pistoles to enter. This was an outrageous sum of money; 500 being enough to furnish a mansion. 

Back in Maryland, Ben Tasker, Jr. heard of the challenge and accepted, with plans to run Selima. His mare had won a race in Annapolis earlier, where her speed and heart unveiled what famed equine historian John Hervey described as “one of those majestic matriarchs, where greatness is monumental.” Tasker knew good horse flesh and he also knew was that Tryal was 10 years old and had never won a race in England. It was worth the risk to accept the challenge. 

The race was to be held on December 5, 1752, and was shaping up to be the most important race of the colonial era. Being held in Gloucester, Virginia, 150 miles away meant Selima had to walk that distance to participate. She did and on that December day, she raced four miles over hill and dale to beat Tryal and the other Virginia horses. The winner-take-all 2,500 pistoles was hers.

Byrd’s race became the first historically significant horse race in America. Selima and Ben Tasker were welcomed home as heroes. The thoroughly mad Virginia horsemen, seeing their wealth move north, declared Maryland horses would no longer be allowed to race in that state. 

Generations of Winners

Selima didn’t race again but she did deliver 10 foals. The most famous was Selim who never lost a race until he was nine years old. Seldom defeated, he raced until he was 13. Selim was as popular in his era as Man o’ War was in the 1900s.

Selima’s bloodline would influence the thoroughbred industry for years. She became the first of America’s “blue hen,” a term that describes a female horse that births generations of thoroughbred champions. Direct descendants of Selima include Lexington, the greatest American sire of the 19th century, and Hanover, winner of 17 straight races including the 1887 Belmont Stakes. The first Triple Crown winner, Sir Barton, descended from Hanover. 

The Belair Stud continued. In its most productive years, 1920–1945, it was led by William Woodward, the 20th owner of Belair mansion. Working with Hall of Fame trainer James “Sonny” Fitzsimmons, the Woodwards’ estate would contribute five Maryland horses to the National Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Gallant Fox would be the second Triple Crown winner and the sire of the third Triple Crown winner, Omaha, who won in 1935. Famed horses Nashua, Granville, and Johnstown also represented the same Belair Stud founded by Sam Ogle 200 years earlier.

For those 200 years, the memory of Selima lived on. Woodward thought so much of the brood mare and undefeated racehorse, that he had a special plaque engraved for her at Belair. He also initiated an effort to create the Selima Stakes at Laurel Park in 1927. 

Though foaled in Kentucky, Man o’ War had a Selima bloodline connection. He also spent years on Maryland’s Eastern Shore at the stables and racing center of Glen Riddle. When departing for races, he would have to walk five miles to the train depot that carried him to racing events in Maryland, New Jersey, and New York. 

In the ensuring years, members of the Vanderbilt and DuPont families continued the Maryland tradition of producing Hall of Fame horses, including Native Dancer and Northern Dancer. Jay Trump—a horse, not a person—was a steeple chase champion in the 1960s and became a Hall of Famer. 

Maryland’s contribution to national horse racing and the Horse Racing Hall of Fame is enormous. It all began with the earliest thoroughbreds imported from England, Queen Mab and Spark (known for his speed); and three horsemen, Ben Tasker, Ben Tasker, Jr., and Sam Ogle, of Annapolis. It continued with the special bloodline of Selima and Godolphin Arabian. Wealthy Annapolis, the sophisticated cultural center of the colonies with its golden age of race week in the 1770s, was at the center of this glory. Indeed, the actions of the city’s colonial-era Mayor Ben Tasker and the council proved pivotal in establishing the horse racing industry in the City of Annapolis, the State of Maryland, and the great United States. 

William Wilson on Exhibit

See more of William Wilson’s collection of equine and horse racing paintings, such as Seabiscuit vs. War Admiral 1938 pictured above, all month long at the gallery of 49 West in Annapolis. For more information, visit marylandracingart.com.