High Time

High Time (1916–1937) was a chestnut Thoroughbred known for his brilliant spreed in a career cut short by unsoundness. He was the leading sire in North America of 1928 and the leading broodmare sire in both 1936 and 1940. Background High Time was bred in Kentucky by Wickliffe Stud, a partnership between Price McKinney and Ed Corrigan. During his racing career, he was owned by Henry Porter. He was sired by Ultimus, who never raced due to unsoundness but became an influential sire. High Time's dam, Noonday, was a stakes winning daughter of Domino who also produced four other stakes winners (High Noon, Besom, Suffragette and Meeting House) and two notable broodmares, Meridian and Noontide. Her female line is still active, most notably producing Triple Crown winner Justify in 2018. High Time had badly conformed forelegs, magnified by his being a "bleeder" – he bled through the nostrils during his races – which limited his stamina. His trainer Phil Chinn once commented that High Time was the only horse that he knew of who could enter the stretch leading by 15 lengths only to lose by 80. Race career High Time made seven starts at age two at a time when this was considered a light campaign. His only victory came on June 24, 1918 in the Hudson Stakes at Aqueduct, when he "spreadeagled the field" to win in :58 2/5 for five furlongs, breaking the stakes record by two seconds and the track record by two-fifths. He also placed third in the Great American Stakes.