1. Kelso was foaled in Paris, Kentucky in 1957 at the Clariborne Farm, and was bred by his owner, Mrs. Richard C. DuPont by Your Host out of Maid of Flight.
2. Your Host suffered an injury and had to be destroyed after his son, Kelso, attained prominence.
3. A rather plain-looking bay or brown as a three-year-old and a thin neck on a scant body showed little by appearance which would suggest that Kelso would become a king of the turf.
4. As a bay or brown with 2 hind socks, Kelso's precise color was so difficult to pinpoint that he was registered with an alternate description.
5. By the time Kelso was a five-year-old, he stood just over 16 hands, his girth measuring 73 inches, and he was very wide across the hips, and with long, smooth muscles up front.
6. Starting his racing career as a two-year-old, Kelso had three starts (two of which were seconds and one was a first). He wouldn't run again until he was a three-year-old (winning eight of nine starts).
7. In 1960, Kelso was the first three-year-old male horse voted the Horse of the Year without having won at least one of the Triple Crown events for his age.
8. In an even more difficult trio of events, Kelso won these in the following year.
9. By 1961, Kelso became known as "Kelly" by his admirers, and in that year he joined the elite group of the American turf -- winners of the Handicap Triple Crown (Matropolitan Hanicap, 1 mile; Suburban Handicap, 1 1/4 mile; Brooklyn Handicap, 1 1/4 mile).
10. Kelso's only defeat as a three-year-old was when he was carrying 132 pounds -- 20 more pounds than the horses which outran him -- finishing fourth "showing a definite dislike for the going."
11. Without losing stature through the defeat, "King Kelly" went on through that season shattering former track records, and becoming a landslide winner in the voting for the Horse of the Year for a second term.
12. When Kelso was 6 years old, he was better-looking than ever and ran as well as he looked, but his turf did not include grass -- while he did not win any of the four starts on grass, he did finish second in all of them (all international races).
13. Kelso was elected Horse of the Year for a third time, by an overwhelming majority, with nine wins out of twelve starts. Kelso's international loss was more than offset by his previous accomplishments.
14. While many other countries exclude geldings from classic races, geldings are never barred from racing in American classics -- Kelso being the most successful gelding of all. Many geldings have been able to compile remarkable records since thay have no ultimate stud duty to factor in their retirement.

More Bits 'N' Pieces about real horses in the next newsletter.

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