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Known as The Iron Horse of steeplechasing, Elkridge ran 123 times during 11 seasons, winning 31 races, placing 18 times, and running third 15 times. He retired sound at age 13, after winning $235,255, a world record for a steeplechaser at the time. Bred in Maryland, he was sold to the prominent US steeplechasing owner, Thomas Hitchock, who died in 1941, after which he was purchased by novice owner-trainer Kent Miller, who had been working with trotters and pacers. Elkridge's dam, Best by Test, produced 3 other stakes winning steeplechasers, although none approached Elkridge's durability or ability. His sire, Mate, passed on his light frame, and apparently his gameness, if not his brilliant speed; Mate was a top horse in 1931, beating Twenty Grand at Pimlico and again in the Belmont Stakes, and also winning the American Derby and other top races at 3, placing second in the Hawthorne Gold Cup largely due to conceding 25 pounds to the winner. However, Mate failed to win a major race at age 4, and only produced four other (moderate) winners at stud. |
