Chris Evert (February 14, 1971 – January 8, 2001) was an American

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world champi ...

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

, winning the U.S. Filly Triple Crown in 1974 and earning the

Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Filly An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three c ...

Background

Chris Evert was bred by Echo Valley Farm near

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 sixth-most populous city in Kentucky. It is the seat of its county. It was originally called Lebanon whe ...

, owned by Donald & Shirley Sucher. The couple would later breed Winning Colors, another Hall of Fame filly and winner of the 1988 Kentucky Derby. Carl Rosen (1918–1983), owner of clothing manufacturer Puritan Fashions Corp., purchased the unnamed filly at a Keeneland yearling sale. He named her for the

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player

Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful players of all time, she was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 2 ...

, whom he had signed to endorse his company's line of sportswear.

Racing career

Chris Evert began racing at age two. Of her five starts, she won four and finished second in the other. At age three she dominated her class, winning the U.S. Filly Triple Crown and earning the

. In 1974, Aaron Jones, the owner of the West Coast-based filly Miss Musket, issued a challenge to Chris Evert's owner for their horses to meet in a

match race A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head. In sailboat racing it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams cons ...

. Miss Musket's record included winning the

Hollywood Oaks The Summertime Oaks is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in June at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The Grade III event is open to three-year-old fillies willing to race on dirt at a distance of one and one-sixteenth mil ...

, and her confident owner offered to put up $100,000 if Chris Evert's owner would match it.

Hollywood Park Racetrack Hollywood Park was a thoroughbred horse racing, race course located in Inglewood, California, about 3 miles (5 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and adjacent to The Forum (Inglewood, California), the Forum indoor arena. In 1994, t ...

offered another $150,000 to the winner-take-all race, which it would host and would bill as the Hollywood Special Stakes. Rosen accepted the offer for a match race to be held on July 20, 1974. Chris Evert won by 50 lengths, and the large purse significantly contributed to her becoming 1974's leading money earner in U.S. Thoroughbred racing. At age four, Chris Evert won two more times but was retired early after competing in only four races. Rosen decided to use her as the foundation mare to establish his own

horse breeding Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given Horse breed, breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired chara ...

operation at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Kentucky.

Breeding record

As a broodmare, Chris Evert produced

graded stakes race A graded stakes race is a thoroughbred horse race in the United States that meets the criteria of the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). A specific grade level (I, II, III or listed) is th ...

winners Wimbledon Star and the filly Six Crowns, who was sired by

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 horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winn ...

. Six Crowns in turn produced

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division. The trophy is made by a few small selected A ...

and

Breeders' Cup Juvenile The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually in late October or early November at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup W ...

winner Chief's Crown. Pensioned in 1990, at age 30 Chris Evert was euthanized on January 8, 2001, due to the infirmities of old age. She was buried at Three Chimneys Farm's broodmare cemetery.

Honors

Chris Evert was inducted into the

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred horse racing, Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and Horse trainer, trainers. In 1955, the museum ...

in 1988. Chris Evert at the United States National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

Pedigree

References

{{reflist 1971 racehorse births 2001 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Eclipse Award winners United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Thoroughbred family 23-b Chris Evert