Devil His Due (April 18, 1989 – May 22, 2017) was a multimillionaire American Thoroughbred racehorse and successful sire. Bred in Kentucky by Peter E. Blum and raced under the Blue Ribbon Farm banner, he had a record of 41: 11-12-3 with career earnings of $3,920,405. Pedigree Online Thoroughbred Database
At the time of his retirement, he was fourth on the all-time career earnings list. Devil His Due was best known for his three races in the grade one Pimlico Special (1 win and 2 seconds) and his two wins in the grade one

Suburban Handicap The Suburban Stakes is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is now run at the mile distance on dirt for a $700,000 purse. Named after the City and Su ...

. He was registered as a dark bay colt; but was later classified as a "true black."

Three-year-old season

Devil His Due was a late-developing colt and did not race as a two-year-old. As a three-year-old, he started in 15 races. His marquee wins both came at

Aqueduct Racetrack Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone Park and Jamaica, Queens, Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack locate ...

when he won both of New York's top Triple Crown prep races. Devil His Due won the $500,000 Grade I Wood Memorial Stakes at nine furlongs on the dirt. Prior to the Wood win, he finished in a dead heat with Lure in the $250,000 Grade II Gotham Stakes. He also finished eleventh in the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

way behind winner Lil E. Tee. Later that summer, he placed third in the Grade II Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course as a prep race for the $1,000,000 Grade I Travers Stakes. In that race, Devil His Due ran second to Thunder Rumble. He finished the year with a record of (15): 4-2-1 and earnings of $688,365.

Four-year-old season

At age four, Devil His Due posted perhaps the best year of his career when he raced eleven times and won three Grade I and one Grade II stake races. His record was four wins, two seconds, and two thirds in eleven races for earnings of $1,939,120.Directory of Thoroughbred Race Horses
In the Pimlico Special, he was a slight favorite at 1.3 to 1 over the prior year's Derby winner,

Strike the Gold Strike the Gold (March 21, 1988 – December 13, 2011) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1991 Kentucky Derby. Upon the death of 1987 Derby winner Alysheba in March 2009, Strike the Gold became the oldest living Ke ...

, at 1.7 to 1. That year, the country's top racetracks, owners, and breeders established a series of seven handicap races for older horses to showcase the industry's top division and called it the American Championship Racing Series or A.C.R.S. The Pimlico Special was the capstone of that series. As they broke from the gate and passed the stands for the first time, Ibex took the lead by a length over

Pistols and Roses Pistols and Roses (foaled 1989 in Florida) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by Happy Alter, he was sired by Darn That Alarm, whose sire, Jig Time, was a son of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Native Dancer. His dam was To Be C ...

while Devil His Due trailed two lengths behind him. Jockey Herb McCauley kept Devil His Due in a stalking position of third throughout the first mile. On the far turn, Valley Crossings passed everyone to lead. Devil His Due and Pistols and Roses made a charge at the leader, but only the former got by. Devil His Due finished the race in 1:55.2 on a track listed as fast. Valley Crossing finished second, and Pistols and Roses finished third. Derby winner Strike the Gold was never a factor and finished sixth. That win in the Grade I $600,000 Special was the largest of Devil His Due's career. He received a $150,000 bonus for winning the ACRS series (after four races). Devil His Due also won the $400,000 Grade I Gulfstream Park Handicap at ten furlongs at Gulfstream Park and the $300,000 Grade I

Belmont Park Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905. It is operated by the non-profit New York Racin ...

that year. In other races at age four, he won the Grade II

Excelsior Handicap The Excelsior Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the first week of April at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. A Listed event for three-year-olds and up, it is contested over a distance of one-and-on ...

, was second in the Grade I Woodward Stakes, finished second in the Grade I

Philip H. Iselin Handicap The Philip H. Iselin Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. Open to horses three years of age and older, the race was first run in 1884. In 1891, New Jersey state legisla ...

, and ran third in the Grade I Whitney Handicap.

Five-year-old season

Devil His Due won three graded stakes races, placed in six more, and showed in another in twelve races for annual earnings of $1,142,000. At age five, he repeated his win in the prestigious grade one

and won the grade two

Brooklyn Handicap The Brooklyn Invitational Stakes (formerly known as the Brooklyn Handicap) is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on Long Island. It currently is a Grade II event open to four-year-ol ...

, both at

. He also won the grade three

Broward Handicap The Skip Away Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. A Listed event open to horses age four and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of miles (9 furlongs). The race ...

at Gulfstream Park in 1994. His runner-up placings were seconds in the grade one Jockey Club Gold Cup, the grade one Oaklawn Handicap, the grade one Pimlico Special, the grade one Woodward Stakes, the grade one Whitney Handicap, and the grade one NYRA Mile Handicap. In addition, he was third in the grade one Metropolitan Handicap.

Six-year-old season

As a six-year-old, Devil His Due was in the twilight of his career and raced only three times between February and May 1995. In his last year of racing, he placed second in the $110,000 Grade III Westchester Handicap at

. In his next start, he finished off the board. His trainer and owner then ran him against that decade's super horse,

Cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...

, in the Pimlico Special. Cigar won by two and 1/4 lengths. Devil His Due earned $120,000 for his second-place performance. In the process, he set a career earnings record that still stands for "Special" runners at $900,000. One of Devil His Due's claims to fame is that in an era of vast Lasix use, he ran Lasix-free in 41 starts for a total of over 44 miles of racing.

Retirement

Devil His Due stood at Margaux Farm, LLC in Midway, Kentucky. As a sire, he was considered a success, as his progeny earned over $35 million. Some of his prominent offspring included: grade one winner Roses in May who earned $5,480,187; graded stakes winner Spite The Devil with earnings of $849,512; grade two-winning filly She's a Devil Due with earnings of $533,820; Devil Time with earnings of $490,351; Hostility with earnings of $401,829; and in 2008, multiple stakes winner Stop a Train with earnings of $482,084. He was pensioned following the 2013 season.

Death

Devil His Due was

euthanized Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditio ...

on May 22, 2017 due to the infirmities of old age, at the age of 28.

References

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1989 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States American Grade 1 Stakes winners Thoroughbred family 2-h 2017 racehorse deaths