Genuine Risk (February 15, 1977 – August 18, 2008) was an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse and broodmare best known for winning the 1980 Kentucky Derby.

Background

Genuine Risk was a chestnut filly bred in Kentucky by Sally Humphrey. She was sired by

Exclusive Native Exclusive Native (April 17, 1965 – May 10, 1983) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Sanford Stakes and Arlington Classic. He is best known as the sire of Triple Crown winner Affirmed, who helped Exclusive Native become the lea ...

, a top-class track performer who was even better as a breeding stallion, siring the Triple Crown winner

Affirmed Affirmed (February 21, 1975 – January 12, 2001) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the eleventh winner of the American Triple Crown. Affirmed was well known for his famous rivalry with Alydar, whom he met ten times, includi ...

. Her dam Virtuous was descended from the British broodmare Iona, a half-sister to

Ocean Swell A swell, also sometimes referred to as ground swell, in the context of an ocean, sea or lake, is a series of mechanical waves that propagate along the interface between water and air under the predominating influence of gravity, and thus are ofte ...

and the grandmother of

Tomy Lee Tomy Lee (May 7, 1956 – October 29, 1971) was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1959 Kentucky Derby defeating Sword Dancer, First Landing, Royal Orbit and the filly Silver Spoon. Tomy Lee became only the second non-America ...

Triple Crown races

The first filly to win the Kentucky Derby was

Regret Regret is the emotion of wishing one had made a different decision in the past, because the consequences of the decision were unfavorable. Regret is related to perceived opportunity. Its intensity varies over time after the decision, in regard ...

who won the 1915 Derby 65 years earlier. Genuine Risk was the second in 1980. Since then, the filly Winning Colors won in 1988. Ridden by

Jacinto Vásquez Jacinto Vásquez (born January 4, 1944 in Panama) is a retired Hall of Fame thoroughbred jockey. He rode two Kentucky Derby winners, Foolish Pleasure in 1975 and the filly Genuine Risk in 1980. He was also the regular jockey for the champion fi ...

, Genuine Risk finished second in a very controversial

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () o ...

, after being bumped and carried wide by the winner Codex, after Codex threw a cross-body block at Genuine Risk, and after Codex's jockey Ángel Cordero Jr. hit Genuine Risk in the face with his whip but didn't get disqualified. Genuine Risk also finished second in the Belmont Stakes to Temperence Hill. The only other filly to compete in all of the triple crown legs was Winning Colors in 1988, who won the Kentucky Derby, placed 3rd in the Preakness Stakes, and 6th in the Belmont Stakes.

Breeding record

Genuine Risk's first mating was to the Triple Crown winner

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...

in 1982. While in Kentucky she was boarded at Waterford Farm but foaled at the Firestone's Catoctin Stud in Virginia. The resulting foal expected in 1983 would have made history as the first offspring of two Kentucky Derby winners. Genuine Risk, however, delivered a

stillborn Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. The ter ...

colt due to

dystocia Obstructed labour, also known as labour dystocia, is the baby not exiting the pelvis because it is physically block during childbirth although the uterus contracts normally. Complications for the baby include not getting enough oxygen which may ...

during foaling. Though scheduled to be bred to

Nijinsky II Nijinsky (21 February 1967 – 15 April 1992) was a Canadian-bred, Irish-trained champion Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was the outstanding two-year-old in Europe in 1969 when he was unbeaten in five races. In the following season, he bec ...

in 1983, she was rebred to Secretariat without success. Over the next 17 years, she produced only two living foals: Genuine Reward, a chestnut

colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: *Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People * Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places *Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States ...

Rahy Rahy (February 18, 1985 – September 22, 2011) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in England and the United States. Background Bred by Hill 'n' Dale Farms in Lexington, Rahy was a son of the very important sire Blushing Groom and out o ...

in 1993, and Count Our Blessing, a chestnut colt by Chief Honcho foaled in 1996. Neither colt ever raced. Genuine Reward went to stud in 1997, sired 47 horses with 13 winners, and was in Wyoming until July 2015 when he was moved to

Old Friends Equine Old Friends is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) equine retirement facility in Georgetown, Kentucky, accredited by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA). The organization started with one leased paddock and two horses, but now owns 136 acres, Dreamchase ...

Georgetown, Kentucky Georgetown is a home rule-class city in Scott County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 37,086 at the 2020 census. It is the 6th-largest city by population in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the seat of its county. It was original ...

, due to the philanthropic efforts of author Laura Hillenbrand. He died in 2018 at the age of 25. Count Our Blessing was eventually

gelded A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, makin ...

and became a

show horse A horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days, sometimes longer fo ...

under the name of Westley.

Honors and retirement

Genuine Risk was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1986. In the

Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century ''BloodHorse'' is a multimedia news organization covering Thoroughbred racing and breeding that started with a newsletter first published in 1916 as a monthly bulletin put out by the Thoroughbred Horse Association.

, she is ranked #91. Retired from breeding in 2000 after losing several foals or failing to

conceive Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a new individual organism or offspring and initiate its development. Proce ...

, Genuine Risk spent the rest of her life at the Firestone's

Newstead Farm Newstead Farm is a Thoroughbred horse breeding farm near Upperville, Virginia Upperville is a small unincorporated town in Fauquier County, Virginia, United States, along U.S. Route 50 fifty miles from downtown Washington, D.C., near the Loudo ...

Upperville, Virginia Upperville is a small unincorporated town in Fauquier County, Virginia, United States, along U.S. Route 50 fifty miles from downtown Washington, D.C., near the Loudoun County line. Founded in the 1790s along Pantherskin Creek, it was originally ...

. During Memorial Day Weekend in 2007, several hundred visitors visited Genuine Risk at Newstead during the annual Hunt Country Stable Tour, on what was to be her last public appearance. At the age of 31, she died in her paddock at the Firestone family's

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

-based Newstead Farm on Monday, August 18, 2008.http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/46645.htm

Pedigree

Sources

* McEvoy, Hallie. ''Genuine Risk: Thoroughbred Legends'' Eclipse Press (2003)
Blood-Horse Aug 18, 2008 "Derby Winner Genuine Risk Dies"

Sailing World July 21, 2008 'Genuine Risk Takes Chicago Mackinac Line Honors'

References

{{Authority control 1977 racehorse births 2008 racehorse deaths Eclipse Award winners Kentucky Derby winners Racehorses bred in Kentucky Thoroughbred family 1-n United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees