Hamburg

Hamburg (1895–1915) was an American Thoroughbred race horse. The leading American colt of his generation, Hamburg was retrospectively named the American Horse of the Year for 1898. After his racing career he went on to be a successful sire. Background Hamburg was bred in Kentucky by Cornelius J. Enright at his Elmendorf Farm. Hamburg's sire was the great Hanover by another great, Hindoo. Hamburg's dam Lady Reel was descended from Gallopade, a British broodmare who was exported to Canada in the 1830s and became the female-line ancestor of numerous major winners in North America. Enright had acquired Lady Reel from James E. Kittson, brother to Norman W. Kittson who had been partners in Erdenheim Stud. In 1897, Hamburg was purchased for $1,200 by the Hall of Fame trainer John E. Madden who raced him as a two-year-old. Madden said he was the hardest colt he'd ever trained. But once "tamed," he was quick to exercise and very eager to eat. Racing career At two, Hamburg carried 129 pounds in the Double Event, Flash, and Autumn Stakes, 132 in the Electric Handicap, 134 pounds in the Congress Hall, and in the Great Eastern, he was loaded with 135 pounds. Some of his better rivals carried almost as much, but these weights were, and remain, very high, especially for a juvenile horse. On the Hall of Fame site, it states that Hamburg “carried the highest weights ever by a juvenile.”