Peter Davenport Fuller (March 22, 1923 – May 14, 2012) was an American auto dealer, racehorse owner, and boxer who owned
Dancer's Image
Dancer's Image (April 10, 1965 – December 26, 1992) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first winner in the history of the Kentucky Derby to be disqualified.
Background
Dancer's Image was a gray horse owned and bred by busines ...
, the first winner in the history of the
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 ...
to be disqualified, and
Mom's Command
Mom's Command (March 14, 1982 – February 3, 2007) was a multiple Graded stakes race, Grade I-winning American Thoroughbred race horse. In a two-year career, she won eleven of her sixteen races. In 1985, she was voted American Champion Three-Ye ...
, 1985's
American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly The American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a female horse in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971.
The award originated in 1936 when both ...
.
Early life
Fuller was born on March 22, 1923, in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
to
Alvan T. Fuller and the former Viola T. Davenport. The elder Fuller made a fortune as an early dealer of
Packard
Packard (formerly the Packard Motor Car Company) was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana, in 1958.
One ...
s and
Cadillac
Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...
s and was the
Governor of Massachusetts
The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The governor is the chief executive, head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonw ...
from 1925 to 1929.
Fuller was born with an intestinal disease that stunted his physical growth and kept him out of school. He recovered at the age of 10 and began working on getting in shape.
He was the
Milton Academy
Milton Academy (informally referred to as Milton) is a coeducational, co-educational, Independent school, independent, and College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding and day school in Milton, Massachusetts, educating students in g ...
's Outstanding Athlete of the Class of 1942.
He attended
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
for military officer training and served the
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
He was discharged because of a weak ankle in 1944.
He resumed his studies at
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
in 1946 and graduated in 1948.
Fuller wrestled at Milton,
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
, and Harvard and won the
Amateur Athletic Union
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...
(AAU) New England Championship.
Boxing
Fuller compiled a 50–5 record as an amateur boxer, winning 30 of his fights by
knockout
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...
. He won the AAU and
Golden Gloves
The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...
New England heavyweight championships.
In 1955, Fuller became a boxing manager. In 1957, he began managing
Tom McNeeley
Thomas William McNeeley Jr. (February 27, 1937 – October 25, 2011) was a heavyweight boxer in the 1950s and 1960s. He came from Arlington, Massachusetts, and played football for Michigan State University. His son, Peter McNeeley, and father, To ...
and was in his corner for his 1961 world
heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...
title fight loss to
Floyd Patterson
Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in his ...
.
Horse racing
In 1951, Fuller bought his first horse, Oclirock, who ultimately won him $150,000.
By 1956, he owned 16 horses. Fuller's horse Hillsborough won the 1961
Display Handicap
The Display Handicap was an American long distance Thoroughbred horse race held annually from 1955 through 1990. A race for 3-year-olds and up, it was run at the Jamaica Race Course from inception through 1958 at a distance of 2 miles. In 1959 the ...
and the 1962 Bowie Handicap.
In 1958, Fuller acquired Noor's Image for $5,000 and seven years later bred the mare to
Native Dancer
Native Dancer (March 27, 1950 – November 16, 1967), nicknamed the ''Gray Ghost'', was one of the most celebrated and accomplished Thoroughbred racehorses in American history and was the first horse made famous through the medium of television ...
. The resulting offspring,
Dancer's Image
Dancer's Image (April 10, 1965 – December 26, 1992) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first winner in the history of the Kentucky Derby to be disqualified.
Background
Dancer's Image was a gray horse owned and bred by busines ...
, was born with weak ankles and was put up for auction. However, Fuller changed his mind and purchased the horse at the auction for $26,000.
After Dancer's Image won Governor's Gold Cup at
Bowie Race Track
Bowie Race Track was an American horse racing track located just outside the city limits of Bowie, Maryland. It operated from 1914 through 1985. The facility is now a training center for Thoroughbred racehorses.
History
The one-mile oval racetra ...
, Fuller turned down $1 million for the horse. He donated the winner's purse to
Coretta Scott King
Coretta Scott King ( Scott; April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006) was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader who was the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his assassination in 1968. As an advocate for African-Ameri ...
, widow of
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
who had been assassinated two days earlier. Believing the horse had a chance at competing in the Kentucky Derby, Fuller shipped Dancer's Image to
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 within ...
, where he won the
Wood Memorial Stakes
The Wood Memorial Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in April at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. It is run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles (9 furlongs) on dirt. The Wood Memor ...
, a major prep race for the Derby.
At the
1968 Kentucky Derby, a bad break out of the gate caused Dancer’s Image to fall to last place. However, the horse was able to make a comeback and passed
favorite
A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In post-classical and early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler. It was es ...
,
Forward Pass
In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The legal and widespread use of the forward pass distinguishes grid ...
, at the
eighth pole to win the race. Three days later, it was announced that Dancer's Image was disqualified after traces of
phenylbutazone
Phenylbutazone, often referred to as "bute", is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) for the short-term treatment of pain and fever in animals.
In the United States and United Kingdom, it is no longer approved for human use (except in t ...
, a
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are members of a Indication (medicine), therapeutic drug class which Analgesic, reduces pain, Anti-inflammatory, decreases inflammation, Antipyretic, decreases fever, and Antithrombotic, prevents bl ...
(NSAID) commonly used to relieve inflammation of the joints were discovered in the mandatory post-race
urinalysis
Urinalysis, a portmanteau of the words ''urine'' and ''analysis'', is a Test panel, panel of medical tests that includes physical (macroscopic) examination of the urine, chemical evaluation using urine test strips, and #Microscopic examination, m ...
. Forward Pass was declared the winner and Dancer's Image moved to last. Fuller contended that he had been punished for his support of civil rights and his decision to donate a winner's purse to the widow of Martin Luther King, whose demonstration against housing discrimination in
Louisville
Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...
had disrupted Derby events the previous year.
The controversy filled the sporting news of media outlets in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
and was a cover story for ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'', which referred to it as "the year's major sports story." Fuller took legal action and in 1970 a Kentucky Court awarded first-place money to Dancer's Image. That decision was overturned on appeal in April 1972 by the
Kentucky Court of Appeals
The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower of Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illino ...
in ''Kentucky State Racing Comm'n v. Fuller'', 481 S.W.2d 298 (Ky. 1972). Use of phenylbutazone was legalized by the
Kentucky Horse Racing Commission
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission is the state agency responsible for regulating horse racing in the U.S. commonwealth of Kentucky. The agency was established in 1906, making it the oldest state racing commission in the United States.
Agency ...
in 1974, and by 1986 thirteen of the sixteen entrants in that year's Kentucky Derby were running on the medication.
Another of Fuller's horses,
Mom's Command
Mom's Command (March 14, 1982 – February 3, 2007) was a multiple Graded stakes race, Grade I-winning American Thoroughbred race horse. In a two-year career, she won eleven of her sixteen races. In 1985, she was voted American Champion Three-Ye ...
, won 11 of 16 races, including six graded stakes races, in her two-year career.
In 1985, Mom's Command won the
Mother Goose Stakes
The Mother Goose Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Raced on dirt in late October, the race currently offers a purse of $250,000. Inaugurated in 1957 at a mile and a s ...
,
Acorn Stakes
The Acorn Stakes is an American Grade I race at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies. It is raced on dirt over a distance of one mile and a sixteenth with a current purse of $500,000. It is the first leg of the ...
and
Coaching Club American Oaks
The Coaching Club American Oaks is a race for thoroughbred three-year-old fillies and the second leg of the Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing. Originally run at Belmont Park, the Grade I $500,000 stakes race was moved to Saratoga Race Course i ...
to capture the
American Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing, formerly known as the Filly Triple Crown, is a set of three horse races in the United States which is open to three-year-old fillies. Presently the only official Triple Tiara is the three race series in Ne ...
. She was ridden by Fuller's daughter
Abigail Fuller
Abigail Fuller (born 1959) is an American retired Thoroughbred jockey who primarily competed between the early 1980s and early 2000s. While competing in graded stakes races, Fuller won two Grade III events, one Grade II event and four Grade I eve ...
, who became the first female jockey to ever win the Filly Triple Crown.
Business career
In 1952, Fuller was named president of the Cadillac Automobile Company of Boston, which had the
largest automobile showroom in the United States. He also ran Peter Fuller Oldsmobile in
Watertown, Massachusetts
Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Sq ...
, and Peter Fuller Leasing, New England Automotive Distributors, and New England Car Care Center in
Stoneham, Massachusetts
Stoneham ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, north of downtown Boston. Its population was 23,244 at the 2020 census. Its proximity to major highways and public transportation offers convenient access to Boston and ...
. In 1978, he closed his Cadillac dealership, citing high overhead at that location. Fuller's automobile dealership continues to be operated within the family. Now dealing in rentals and used vehicles, it has locations in Watertown and
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the Technological and industrial history of the United States, American Industrial Revoluti ...
.
Politics
Fuller was expected to run as an independent in the
1974 Massachusetts gubernatorial election. He had hired a campaign staff and opened a campaign headquarters. However, on March 29, 1974, he suddenly announced his withdrawal from the race. He later revealed that he had left the race after a masked gunman jumped into Fuller's car and threatened his life and the lives of his wife and children. In the
1978 gubernatorial election, Fuller backed conservative Democrat
Edward J. King over liberal Republican
Francis W. Hatch Jr. and served as co-chairman of Republicans for Ed King with
Lloyd B. Waring.
Personal life
In 1951, Fuller married Joan Beth Marcotte of
Nashua, New Hampshire
Nashua () is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester, New Hampshire, Manchester. It is on ...
.
They had seven daughters and one son.
He lived for many years in
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...
, and at Runnymede Farm in
North Hampton, New Hampshire
North Hampton is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,538 at the 2020 census. While the majority of the town is inland, North Hampton includes a part of New Hampshire's limited Atlantic seacoast.
Histo ...
.
Fuller died of cancer on May 14, 2012, at a nursing home in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Peter D.
1923 births
2012 deaths
American boxing managers
American racehorse owners and breeders
Boxers from Boston
Businesspeople from Boston
Harvard College alumni
Harvard Crimson wrestlers
Massachusetts automobile salespeople
Massachusetts Republicans
Milton Academy alumni
People from North Hampton, New Hampshire
Sportspeople from Brookline, Massachusetts
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II