Bally Ache

Bally Ache (February 3, 1957 – October 28, 1960) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Preakness Stakes in 1960 but died later that year. In her book American Classic Pedigrees (1914–2002), author Avalyn Hunter wrote that Bally Ache was "a crowd favorite" who "won hearts by his sheer determination."

Bally Ache
Sire	Ballydam
Grandsire	Ballyogan
Dam	Celestial Blue
Damsire	Supremus
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1957
Died	1960
Country	United States
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Marvin & Alan Gaines
Owner	1) Edgehill Farm (Leonard D. & Morris Fruchtman) 2) Turfland Syndicate (Joseph L. Arnold, et al)
Trainer	Jimmy Pitt
Record	31: 16-9-4
Earnings	$758,522
Major wins
Comely Stakes (1959) Great American Stakes (1959) Juvenile Stakes (1959) Mayflower Stakes (1959) Flamingo Stakes (1960) Florida Derby (1960) Stepping Stone Purse (1960) Jersey Derby (1960) American Triple Crown races wins: Preakness Stakes (1960)
Last updated on June 23, 2010

Background

Bally Ache was a bay horse bred by brothers Alan and Marvin Gaines at their Twin Oak Farm in Walton, Kentucky. He was sired the Irish import Ballydam out of Celestial Blue. The colt was sold as a yearling as part of a $5,000 two-horse deal. His purchasers were Leonard D. Fruchtman and Morris Fruchtman, steel company executives from Toledo, Ohio, who raced a small string of horses racing under the nom de course Edgehill Farm.^[1] The colt was trained by Homer James "Jimmy" Pitt.

Racing career

As a two-year-old, Bally Ache made sixteen starts. He won five stakes races, set a new track record at Jamaica Race Course for five furlongs, and finished out of the money just once. He ended the year ranked second in earnings to Bellehurst Stable's 1959 Champion Two-Year-Old, Warfare.^[2]

At age three, Bally Ache won the Flamingo Stakes and Florida Derby on the way to the Triple Crown. In the Kentucky Derby, C. V. Whitney's colt Tompion, ridden by Bill Shoemaker, was coming off wins in the Santa Anita Derby and the Blue Grass Stakes^[3] and was sent off as the betting favorite. Bally Ache, under jockey Bobby Ussery, was the second choice. However, jockey Bill Hartack aboard 6:1 outsider Venetian Way, whom Bally Ache had already beaten four times, won. Despite Bally Ache's second-place finish, it did not deter the Turfland racing syndicate led by Joseph L. Arnold, who bought the colt for what Sports Illustrated magazine described as the "staggering price of $1,250,000".^[4] Bally Ache then won by four lengths in the 84th running of the Preakness Stakes.

Entered in the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown, Bally Ache came up lame the day before the race and was withdrawn. After returning to racing, in his fourth outing he suffered a career-ending ankle injury. He was scheduled to stand at stud for his owners but developed an intestinal ailment that led to his death on October 28, 1960. He was buried at Bosque Bonita Farm in Versailles, Kentucky.^[5]

Breeding

Pedigree of Bally Ache (USA)

Sire Ballydam (IRE) ch. 1947	Ballyogan (GB) ch. 1939	Fair Trial	Fairway
			Lady Juror
		Serial	Solario
			Booktalk
	Damians (IRE) ch. 1942	Panorama	Sir Cosmo
			Happy Climax
		Thirteen	Bulger
			Credenda
Dam Celestial Blue (USA) bay 1943	Supremus (USA) bay 1922	Ultimus	Commando
			Running Stream
		Mandy Hamilton	John O'Gaunt
			My Sweetheart
	Vanda Cerulea (USA) bay 1932	Blue Larkspur	Black Servant
			Blossum Time
		Binnacle	Man o' War
			Smoky Lamp

References

1. Thoroughbred Times.com Fruchtman, owner of Preakness winner Bally Ache dies 2007-12-28 at the Wayback Machine
2. The Bloodhorse.com Champion's history charts September 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
3. . Time. 1960-05-09. Archived from the original on April 8, 2008. Retrieved 2013-02-02.
4. Whitney Tower (1960-05-23). "In the Preakness, Bally Ache will try to justify the huge..." Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2013-02-02.
5. "Bally Ache Dies at Breeding Farm - Digestive Tract Ailment Is Fatal to 3-Year-Old Colt That Won Preakness". The New York Times. 2012-06-10. Retrieved 2013-02-02.