In early 1900, on a farm near St. Louis, a rather ordinary looking Thoroughbred bay colt was born to a mare with the geographically appropriate name, Missouri. The foal’s bloodlines were sprinkled with royalty and throughout his life he crossed paths with many rich and powerful St. Louisans, included August A. Busch Senior and Junior. The colt’s maternal grandmother was sired by Aristides, the winner of the first Kentucky Derby in 1875. His grandsire was Buckden, sire of Buchanan, winner of the 1884 Kentucky Derby. Despite his regal breeding, the bay colt was gelded before age two which narrowed his career paths to one of either racing or common livery horse. As it turned out, the horse’s life would include a little of both plus a dash of mystery. Why should readers of the BeerProfessor’s blog be interested in a story about a horse that is not a Clydesdale? Well, for starters, his name was Budweiser. And, if you need something more to draw you into this tale, he may have come back from the dead to win races at age 18.

​Budweiser the horse and Budweiser the beer have much in common. Both were born in St. Louis and had connections to some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the brewing business and both were embroiled in controversies over the use of the name Budweiser. The recent legal battles of Anheuser-Busch (A-B) about its flagship brand Budweiser with European brewer Budweiser-Budvar are well-documented. But A-B’s vigilance in protecting its brand name is not exclusively a 21st century issue. As early as 1901, the Busch family used the courts to block fellow St. Louis brewer Louis Obert from using a logo design that, in A-B’s mind at least, was too similar to those they used on their Budweiser bottles. Both logos used eagles surrounded by letters. The familiar Anheuser-Busch eagle appeared with the letter “A” and the Obert version had an eagle with the letter “L” plus an “O” representing the brewery owner’s initials. It appears that the A-B’s lawsuit was unsuccessful because the Obert Brewery logo remained unchanged until it was shuttered in 1919 as a result of Prohibition.

But what about Budweiser the horse? What connections, if any, did the horse Budweiser have to the Busch family or A-B products? Was Budweiser the king of his equine peers or just a horse with improper labeling? How could Budweiser disappear from the track for almost a decade and come back to win at an age when most horses have been long put out to pasture, or more likely, headed to the glue factory? Crack open a cold one (I suggest a Budweiser) and let’s find out.

THIS BAY’S FOR YOU
​Budweiser was born on a farm near St. Louis. His dam’s (horse-speak for mother) owner was Charles Chouteau Maffitt, the great-great-grandson of St. Louis’ founder, French-born Pierre Laclede. Maffitt was engaged in the family businesses that included banking, manufacturing, and real estate. He also dabbled in horses and was president of the St. Louis Fair Grounds. On March 29, 1900, the Maffitt-owned mare named Missouri gave birth to a bay colt, one day after Maffitt died of “La Grippe” (pneumonia) in St. Louis at age 48. At the time of his death, Maffitt had fourteen race horses in training and owned four broodmares, one of whom was Missouri. Maffitt never married and the executors disposed of his estate. On May 5, 1900, Maffitt’s string of horses were sold at auction. Missouri and her “suckling colt at foot by Buckmaster,” were sold to Julius C. “J. C.” Cahn for a grand total of $50. J. C. Cahn was a St. Louis horse and mule trader. Born in St. Louis to German immigrants in 1865, his fortunes in the racing business had their ups and downs. In 1897, Cahn was a co-owner of Typhoon II who won the Kentucky Derby but by the early 1900s, his racing operations had become decidedly less prestigious and less lucrative.

​It was J. C. Cahn who named the bay colt Budweiser and decided the horse would have better earnings potential as a gelding rather than as a rank and fractious stallion. No record exists to explain why Cahn chose the name. One could speculate that Cahn was honoring the A-B brewery and its owners or perhaps Budweiser was his beer of choice? No matter the reason for the nomenclature, no objection appears to have been voiced by August Busch Sr. and the two men knew each other through business and social interactions. The Busch family interests in horse racing dates to at least 1887 when the “Adolphus Busch Stake” was run in St. Louis. August Sr. was an investor in the Kinloch race course, a facility located in a streetcar suburb of St. Louis. Although Kinloch race course no longer exists, you may be familiar its location if you have ever flown in or out of St. Louis—today it is Lampkin Field airport. In 1926, August Busch Sr. put a cork in his racing operations after a string of disappointment with some high-priced horses including Chief Uncas, Busch’s Kentucky Derby hopeful who started the famous race but finished dead last in a field of 20. Likewise, Budweiser the horse was not destined for racing greatness. But unlike Chief Uncas, Budweiser managed to become a racing legend of sorts, albeit under a cloud of controversy.

Cahn’s Budweiser may have inspired the Busch family to consider using sports to promote their own brewery products. In the 1920s, August Busch Jr., was the owner of a Thoroughbred mare named Lady Busch. Fast-forward to 1950 and August Busch, Jr. purchased a champion show jumper named Circus Queen, and renamed her “Miss Budweiser.” The mare was part of the 1952 U.S. Olympic team that earned a bronze medal in Helsinki. The name “Miss Budweiser” was later applied to a different kind of racer, a speedboat, which dominated the hydroplane powerboat racing circuit 1963 through 2004.

In April 1902, Budweiser made his racing debut at age two at Memphis under the direction of his owner-trainer J. C. Cahn. Budweiser finished second. But his placing was less notable than his jockey. Budweiser made his first start on the track with the famous African American jockey Jimmy Winkfield in the irons. About a month after he rode Budweiser, Winkfield won the 1902 Kentucky Derby, the last African American jockey to achieve that feat. Budweiser left Memphis winless and with a savagely torn forearm from a starting accident. That scar would serve as a reminder of his mediocre debut and later come into play when Budweiser’s identity was called into question.

In August 1902, a winless Budweiser tried his luck on St. Louis’ Kinloch track. It was not a pleasant homecoming. He was fouled at the start and finished 10th out of 12 horses. But on August 18, 1902, his luck changed and Budweiser won his first race. He “broke his maiden” at Kinloch, but no blanket of roses would be in the offing. It was a run-of-the-mill maiden claiming race at a short distance of five-eighths of a mile with a purse of just $400. The track was sloppy and the field was described as a “bad lot.” Budweiser was “very weary at the end,” ridden hard under whip and spurs. He raced five more times in two weeks and, in his last start at Kinloch, he “quit in the stretch.” When the meet statistics for the Kinloch racing season were posted, Budweiser was at the bottom of the barrel, in last place.

Budweiser’s two-year old campaign was unremarkable. He ran in a series of low-rent claiming races, finishing out of the money almost every time. Budweiser changed hands several times but was back in the J.C. Cahn stable by October. The most frequently mentioned description of Budweiser’s running style was, “tired.” From the bettor’s perspective, this Bud was not for you.

In 1903, Budweiser began his three-year old season at Memphis where he had made his two-year old debut but with even less impressive results. He finished last. When the Memphis meet concluded at the end of April, Budweiser exited Tennessee winless and never finishing in the money. He returned home to Missouri and won his second race on May 8, 1903 at the St. Louis Fair Association track. Budweiser “showed speed,” and “finished resolutely.” He won again in August at the Kinloch track, but it would be his last victory for a very long time.

Budweiser continued to barely earn his keep as a low-rent claimer at tracks in Missouri, Louisiana, and Arkansas through the spring of 1906. Other than an occasional second or third place, his results were dismal. He changed hands several times and seemed to run best in the slop. He ran at City Park in New Orleans on March 15, 1906. He was the favorite but finished seventh. And then he was gone.

That is, until ten years later. In 1916, a horse named Budweiser appeared on the card at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. According to the program, he was 16 years old. For some perspective, the oldest horse to ever win a graded stakes race in North America was the then 10-year old German-bred Musketier, who accomplished that feat in 2012 at Woodbine in Toronto. The elderly Budweiser’s presence on the track was a newsworthy event and he quickly became a sentimental betting favorite. On March 30, 1916, Budweiser won his first race since his three-year old season—a thirteen year gap—and just the third win of his career! He came away from the Oaklawn meet with two wins, three second place finishes and three to show. Not bad for a horse who had not seen a starting gate for 13 years.

After Hot Springs, Budweiser was shipped to Baltimore where he was entered in a race at Bowie. He had one win and finished second in his two starts at Bowie. He was shipped to Havre de Grace where he placed twice in two races. Then it was off to Pimlico where the veteran gelding won one race and finished eighth in another. He bounced around tracks in the U.S. and Canada throughout the 1916 racing season, winning a claiming race on occasion but more often than not, finishing out of the money.

As Budweiser’s amazing geriatric comeback continued, questions began to be raised about the horse’s identity. How could this aged gelding who never accomplished much as a young horse suddenly find his form at age 16? Whispers on the backside soon turned to loud claims of fraud. At Oaklawn in 1916, stewards questioned Budweiser’s provenance but former owner J. C. Cahn verified the horse’s identify based on “certain characteristic markings.” According to Cahn and other early owners, Budweiser was a plain bay gelding, save for a few white hairs on his forehead. One of his front feet was smaller than the other and he had a scar on left forearm. The Budweiser of 1916, according to some, bore little resemblance to the genuine article. But in racing, it is bettor beware. Despite mounting evidence, the aged bay gelding continued to race and, incredulously, win.

In the winter season of 1917, Budweiser won five races. The horse was now 17-years old and more often than not finished in the top three. With more wins came more rumors about Budweiser’s identity. Could a horse really improve at this age? A turf writer joked that Budweiser was almost old enough to vote. Where did he go between 1906 and 1916? One person claimed that Budweiser had been racing at bush tracks in Louisiana and Texas. A Missouri horseman claimed that he examined Budweiser’s teeth and the animal could not be more than eight years old so certainly Budweiser was a fraud. The same horseman asserted that the real Budweiser retired from the track and was used as a livery horse in St. Louis, “until he lived out his usefulness and is now dead.” Still another claimed that after 1906 Budweiser pulled a milk wagon on the streets of St. Louis. Budweiser’s identity was challenged everywhere he went. But despite the protestations, the horse was allowed to race with the exception of Canada where authorities ruled against Budweiser when stewards could not verify the horse’s identity.

On January 19, 1918, at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, Budweiser won for the last time. He was 18-years old. The owner of the horse who was defeated by the geriatric bay gelding lodged a protest. George Scott, owner of the second-place horse alleged that Budweiser was actually a horse named “Ginger Snap II,” and produced a retired jockey to prove his point. The jockey claimed to have ridden Ginger Snap II at bush tracks in Louisiana and that the horse was also used for riding lessons at a St. Louis riding academy. Scott took his complaint to court but could not provide any proof to satisfy the judge that Budweiser was really Ginger Snap II and the case was dropped. Scott complained to the Jockey Club but racing’s ruling body refused to disqualify the horse because Scott could not provide evidence that Budweiser was really a ringer named Ginger Snap II. Budweiser continued to race with middling results at New Orleans and at Hot Springs through March 1918. No one was ever able to prove that the horse named for the beer was nothing less than the genuine article. The Busch family never weighed in on the controversy, perhaps one of the rare occasions when they did not fight to protect their most valuable brand name.

The last record of Budweiser starting a race came on March 19, 1918 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. One of the newspaper headlines made note of the horse’s alcoholic name and local prohibition by proclaiming, “Budweiser Will Be Allowed to Run at Hot Springs Despite the Fact That Arkansas is Dry.” He finished fifth and came up lame. It was reported that, “he will probably not be a starter again this meeting.” Prophetic words as he did not race again. In January 1919, the Washington Post reported that Budweiser had retired. It is unknown what happened to Budweiser after his final race in Hot Springs. Given the harsh realities of horse racing, it is unlikely that the broken-down aged 18-year old gelding had a happy ending to his life.

TRUTH IN LABELING
Beginning in 1901, Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association began placing advertisements in newspapers warning patrons that some dealers were filling used Budweiser bottles with inferior beer and charging customers a higher price. Beer consumers were told to ask for the bottle to be opened in their presence so they could see for themselves the branded A-B cork and “A and Eagle trade mark” on the label. In 1906, A-B successfully sued a St. Louis saloonkeeper for label swapping resulting in a $100 fine. The attorney for A-B argued that his client had, “suffered much annoyance and pecuniary loss by the practice of some saloonkeepers of substituting ‘Budweiser’ labels for those of cheaper grades of beer.” Ironically, this same buyer-beware message could have been applied to the horse named Budweiser. Was Ginger Snap II the equine equivalent of inferior beer used to fill a Budweiser bottle? The Budweiser who ran at age 18 may have been a ringer, but no one was ever able to provide conclusive evidence to support the claim of improper labeling.

THE FINISH LINE
In 2015, the Fullsteam Brewery of Durham, North Carolina released a beer called, “Cack-a-Lacky Ginger Pale Ale. Comments made online by those who tasted the brew claimed it tasted like a cross between Budweiser and ginger snaps. How appropriate is that?

 

 

 

​This blog entry was written by guest blogger Margaret M. “Peggy” Gripshover. Peggy  is an associate professor of geography in the Department of Geography and Geology at Western Kentucky University. She received her Ph.D. in geography from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her research interests are centered in cultural, historical, and urban geography. She has published book chapters and journal articles on topics including horse racing, baseball, historic preservation, material culture, and cultural landscapes. She lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky, with her husband and fellow geographer Thomas L. Bell. She prefers beer you cannot see through and does not, as a rule, drink Budweiser.

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