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

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 and broodmare best known for winning the 1980

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

Background

Genuine Risk was a chestnut mare 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 l ...

, 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 horse racing, racehorse who is the eleventh winner of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States), American Triple Crown. Affirmed was well known ...

. 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 The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also ref ...

and the grandmother of Tomy Lee.

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 one did make were unfavorable. Regret is related to perceived opportunity. Its intensity varies over time after the decisi ...

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) is a retired Panamanian thoroughbred horse racing 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 fill ...

, Genuine Risk finished second in a very controversial

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually on Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland (except in 2026 when it will move to Laurel Park (race track), Laurel Park dur ...

, after being bumped and carried wide by the winner

Codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

, after Codex threw a cross-body block at Genuine Risk, and after Codex's jockey

Ángel Cordero Jr. Ángel Tomás Cordero Jr. (born November 8, 1942) is a Puerto Rican jockey. He is known for being one of the winningest Thoroughbred horse racing jockeys of the late 20th-century and the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the United States' ...

hit Genuine Risk in the face with his whip but didn't get disqualified. Genuine Risk also finished second in the

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over the worldwide classic distance of . Colt (horseracing), Colt ...

Temperence Hill Temperence Hill (March 1977 – June 2003) was a Champion American Thoroughbred racehorse. Background Temperence Hill was a bay horse bred in Kentucky by Dr. Albert F. Polk, Jr.'s Oriskany Farm. He was sired by Stop The Music out of the Etonian ...

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

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 often result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. T ...

colt due to

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

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 horse-racing, racehorse and Horse breeding, sire. He was the outstanding two-year-old in Europe in 1969 when he was unbeaten in five races. I ...

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 by

Rahy Rahy (February 18, 1985 – September 22, 2011) was a Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who competed in United Kingdom, England and the United States. Background Bred by Hill 'n' Dale Farms in Lexington, Kentucky, Lexington, Rahy was a son of ...

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) organization, 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 it now ...

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 ...

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

under the name of Westley.

Honors and retirement

Genuine Risk 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 1986. In the

Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century Around 1998, '' The Blood-Horse'' magazine polled a seven-person panel of distinguished horse racing officials and journalists: Keeneland racing secretary Howard Battle, Maryland Jockey Club vice president Lenny Hale, '' Daily Racing Form'' c ...

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

conceive Conception commonly refers to: * Concept, an abstract idea or a mental symbol * Conception (biology), fertilization of the ovum Conception may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Conception'' (album), an album by Miles Davis * "Conception" (son ...

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

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

. 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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

-based Newstead Farm on Monday, August 18, 2008.

Pedigree

Sources

* McEvoy, Hallie. ''Genuine Risk: Thoroughbred Legends''

Eclipse Press Blood-Horse Publications is an American multimedia publishing house focused on horse-related magazines headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. It began in 1916 through its flagship magazine, ''The Blood-Horse''. From 1961 to 2015, Blood-Horse Public ...

(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