Gallo Blue Chip

{{Short description|American Standardbred racehorse (1997–2025)}}

{{Infobox racehorse

|horsename= Gallo Blue Chip

|image=

|caption=

|breed= Standardbred

|sire= Magical Mike (1991) (1:50.2) ($1,682,080)

|grandsire= Tyler B. (1977) (1:55.1) ($887,338)

|dam= Camatross (1981)

|damsire= Albatross (1968) ($1:54.3)

|sex= Gelding

|foaled= 1997

|death_date = {{death date and given age|2025|01|22|28}}

|death_place = Wallkill, New York, U.S.

|country= United States

|colour= Bay

|breeder= Dan Gernatt Farms (Collins, New York)

|owner= Martin Scharf

|trainer= Mark Ford

|record=

|earnings= $4,260,959

|wins= 53

|awards= Best mile rate: 1:48.4
Leading Money Pacer of All Time
World Champion on a 5/8 mile track
American Harness Horse of the Year (2000)
United States Pacer of the Year (2000, 2001)

|honours= United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame (2011)

|updated=2014-07-06}}

Gallo Blue Chip (1997 – January 22, 2025) was an American Standardbred harness racing horse who earned $4.2 million in total winnings during his racing career.{{cite web|url=http://www.harnessracing.com/news/formerbreederdangernattsrdiesat97.html|title=Former breeder Dan Gernatt Sr. dies at 97|publisher=Harness Racing.com/Horseman Publishing Co. (Lexington, Kentucky)|date=8 May 2014|access-date=18 June 2014}} Gallo Blue Chip's sire was Magical Mike, and his dam was Camatross.{{cite web|url=http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/gallo+blue+chip|title=Gallo Blue Chip, G, 1997|date=2014|access-date=19 July 2014|publisher=Select Web Ventures, LLC}}{{cite web|url=http://www.reocities.com/racepedigrees/pedigrees/gallobluechip.html|title=Gallo Blue Chip|publisher=ReoCities|author=Reid, J.|access-date=5 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714144217/http://www.reocities.com/racepedigrees/pedigrees/gallobluechip.html|archive-date=14 July 2014|url-status=dead}} Magical Mike's sire was Tyler B., and his dam was Racing Date; Camatross' sire was Albatross, and her dam was Bye Bye Camille.

Background

Gallo Blue Chip was purchased by his owner, Martin Scharf, for $100,000 from Chris Oakes of Lockport, New York.{{cite web|title=Who wants to be a millionaire? Chris Oakes says don't ask|publisher=Buffalo News (Buffalo, New York)|author=Summers, B.|date=23 December 2000}} He was bred by Dan Gernatt Farms in Collins, New York.

Career

Gallo Blue Chip won eight of eight starts in 1999, including seven New York Sires Stakes and the $150,000 championship.{{cite web|url=http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/article.aspx?articleid=40672&zoneid=1 |title=Gallo Blue Chip, Eternal Camnation elected to Hall of Fame |publisher=United States Trotting Association (Columbus, Ohio) |date=5 January 2011 |access-date=5 July 2014 |author=Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714170804/http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/article.aspx?articleid=40672&zoneid=1 |archive-date=14 July 2014 }} In 2000, Gallo Blue Chip won the Meadowlands Pace horse race at the Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey with a time of 1:50.4.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfej4s-JpI4|title=2000 Meadowlands Pace - Gallo Blue Chip & Daniel Dube|publisher=YouTube/Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment|date=15 July 2000|access-date=5 July 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/16/sports/harness-racing-gallo-blue-chip-triumphs-in-meadowlands-showdown.html|title=Harness Racing; Gallo Blue Chip triumphs in Meadowlands showdown|author=Popper, S.|publisher=New York Times (New York, New York)|date=16 July 2000|access-date=5 July 2014}} The same year, he also won the Breeder's Crown Three-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Pace at Mohawk Racetrack in 1:51.1.{{cite web|url=http://www.hambletonian.org/resources/BreedersCrownChampionsTableTwoandThree.pdf|title=Breeder's crown: 1984-2009|publisher=Hambletonian.org|date=2010|access-date=5 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924024714/http://www.hambletonian.org/resources/BreedersCrownChampionsTableTwoandThree.pdf|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}} Winning the North America Cup (1:50.1; $1 million),{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/12/sports/horse-racing-gallo-blue-chip-is-favorite-for-pace.html|title=Horse racing: Gallo Blue Chip is favorite for Pace|date=12 July 2000|publisher=New York Times (New York, New York)|access-date=5 July 2014|author=Yannis, A.}} Tattersalls Pace, and Art Rooney Pace were additional major victories for him that year. He set the world record for three-year-old pacers on a 5/8 mile track in his win at the Little Brown Jug Preview with a time of 1:50, becoming World Champion.

Gallo Blue Chip's owner, Martin Scharf, described his feelings about the horse's North America Cup victory, saying, "Winning the North America Cup was a thrill and a relief. Even if you know a horse is good, he has to prove it. I've been in this business for 10 years and you never really know if you have that caliber of a horse. The horse's trainer, Mark Ford, said of him in July 2000, "He's a little hard to train. You won't be impressed if you train him in the middle of the week, but he is good when he races."

{{Quotation|He was a great horse - a big horse. If you sat behind him and he was going slow you would never think that he was a great horse. He felt like a horse with not a lot, but when you got him going there was nothing like him. He was so powerful in the Meadowlands Pace and especially the Jug Preview. Those are the races that I will always remember most. In the Jug Preview, he was parked the whole mile. You know, not many horses can do that, and the way he did it is very hard to describe. (Daniel Dube, February 21, 2008){{cite web|url=http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/article.aspx?articleid=25760&zoneid=1 |title=Daniel Dube remembers Gallo Blue Chip |publisher=United States Trotting Association (Columbus, Ohio) |author=Mattia, D. |access-date=5 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714135550/http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/article.aspx?articleid=25760&zoneid=1 |archive-date=14 July 2014 }} }}

At the close of 2000, Gallo Blue Chip had won more than $2.4 million, becoming the Standardbred record holder for winning the most money in any single racing season. Gallo Blue Chip won additional awards early in his career, including being named 2000 American Harness Horse of the Year; and 2000 and 2001 Pacer of the Year in the United States and Canada. He also won the United States Trotting Association and Canadian (O’Brien) Three-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year awards in 2000.

Gallo Blue Chip became the all-time leading money-winning pacer in 2001 with $3,227,861 by winning the Canadian Pacing Derby Prep. That year, he won 10 out of 19 starts, including the Battle of Lake Erie, Graduate Pace, Canadian Pacing Derby, and American-National. He was the first pacer in the history of harness racing to earn more than $4 million in winnings, having done so in 2003 as a six-year-old at the Presidential Series final.

As an eight-year-old in 2005, he was continuing to race prior to his retirement on March 12, 2005.{{cite web|url=http://www.harnessracing.com/news/gallobluechipretired.html|title=Gallo Blue Chip retired|date=13 March 2005|publisher=Harnessracing.com (Lexington, Kentucky)|access-date=5 July 2014}} In 2005, Gallo Blue Chip retired "as the sport's leading money winning pacer" and Standardbred gelding of all-time.{{cite web|url=http://www.bluechipfarms.com/about/graduates.shtml|title=Gallo Blue Chip|publisher=Blue Chip Farms (Wallkill, New York)|access-date=5 July 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402132212/http://www.bluechipfarms.com/about/graduates.shtml|archive-date=2 April 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/notices/5-9-14/dan-gernatt-sr-passes.html|title=Dan Gernatt Sr. passes|publisher=Standardbred Canada (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada)|date=9 May 2014|access-date=18 June 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/article.aspx?articleid=58826|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714223718/http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/article.aspx?articleid=58826|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 14, 2014|title=Dan Gernatt Sr., 97, dies|publisher=United States Trotting Association (Columbus, Ohio)|date=8 May 2014|access-date=18 June 2014}} He is the first horse to have won more than $4 million in the sport.

Gallo Blue Chip was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame on July 3, 2011, having received 34% of the votes from members in good standing of the United States Trotting Association. He had a total of 53 wins of 133 starts during his career.

Retirement and death

Gallo Blue Chip was retired to Blue Chip Farms{{cite web|url=http://www.bluechipfarms.com/|title=Blue Chip Farms|publisher=Blue Chip Farms|date=2014|access-date=6 July 2014}} in Wallkill, New York. He died on January 22, 2025, at the age of 28.{{cite news |title=Gallo Blue Chip Passes |url=https://standardbredcanada.ca/notices/1-22-25/gallo-blue-chip-passes.html |access-date=23 January 2025 |publisher=Standardbred Canada |date=22 January 2025}}