Sir Martin was a Thoroughbred racehorse that was foaled in 1906 in Lexington, Kentucky at Hamburg Place, the stud farm of noted turfman and horse trainer John E Madden.
22 Facts About Sir Martin
1.
2.
Sir Martin was a half brother to the first Triple Crown winner Sir Barton, and he raced in the United States, Great Britain and France.
3.
Sir Martin was the betting favorite for the 1909 Epsom Derby, but stumbled and threw his jockey at the Tattenham Corner turn, allowing King Edward VII's horse Minoru to win.
4.
Sir Martin was sired by the imported British stallion, Ogden, who had been imported as a foal with his dam Oriole to Marcus Daly's Bitteroot Farm in Montana.
5.
Sir Martin's dam Lady Sterling was a daughter of Hanover and was the dam of Sir Barton.
6.
Sir Martin inherited the deep chestnut coloring of his damsire, Hanover, and had a prominent white blaze on his fore head and one white sock on his left hind foot.
7.
Sir Martin was a promising two-year-old, winning the 1908 Great American Stakes at Gravesend Race Track and the Flatbush Stakes at Sheepshead Bay for Madden.
8.
Sir Martin was the top male two-year-old earner of 1908 based on purse winnings of $78,560 and was consequently named as the historical American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt of 1908.
9.
Sir Martin found early success overseas during his three-year-old season, winning the Wednesday Welter Handicap held at Newmarket in May 1909 shortly after arriving in Britain.
10.
Sir Martin quickly moved to overtake the leaders, Brooklands and Louviers, at a perilous turn called Tattenham Corner.
11.
Sir Martin was uninjured and continued the race riderless, but he was officially recorded as not finishing.
12.
Sir Martin's jockey escaped with a cut forehead from being trampled by the other horses but ultimately survived his injuries.
13.
Sir Martin followed the Epsom Derby failure with an unplaced finish in the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot and a second in the Grand Prix de Deauville in France.
14.
Sir Martin beat Priscillian to win the 1909 Challenge Stakes and won the Durham Stakes, but he finished third in the Cambridgeshire Handicap to complete his three-year-old season.
15.
Sir Martin did not enter the Ascot Gold Cup or any other races that year possibly due to injury.
16.
Sir Martin was injured soon after a trial run for the City and Suburban Handicap as a five-year-old and was withdrawn from racing for the rest of the season.
17.
Sir Martin did not win a race in 1912 and at age seven won the Ellesmere Handicap in Manchester.
18.
Sir Martin was retired from racing in 1913 and his first season as a breeding stallion in the UK, with Winans retaining ownership, was in 1914 when his services were advertised for the Lordship Stud.
19.
Sir Martin was not considered a good sire in England, but his recent status as a "half-breed" in the British stud book thwarted his chances of breeding with quality mares.
20.
Sir Martin returned to the United States in 1920 and remained at Hamburg Place Stud as a breeding stallion until his death in 1930.
21.
Madden died in November 1929, but as part of his will, Sir Martin was not sold and was allowed to remain on the farm as a pensioner.
22.
Sir Martin is buried in the famous Hamburg Place equine cemetery in Lexington.