Joe Patchen
{{Short description|American Standardbred racehorse}}
Joe Patchen (May 5, 1889 – February 18, 1917) was a Standardbred racehorse foaled in Peabody, Kansas, United States. His sire was Patchen Wilkes and his dam was Josephine Young.[https://www.harnessmuseum.com/content/joe-patchen Joe Patchen; Harness Racing Museum and Hall Of Fame.] Though best remembered for siring the famous Dan Patch, Joe Patchen enjoyed a successful racing career of his own: he was nicknamed "the iron race-horse of the age."{{Cite book |last=Agriculture |first=Kansas State Board of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GDsNAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22joe+young%22+horse+racing&pg=PA277 |title=Report |date=1901 |language=en}}
Breeding
Racing career
A large-bodied horse with unusually long legs, Joe Patchen was a strong contender on half-mile tracks. Joe Patchen won 53% of the races in which he started, and finished second in 39%. He was unplaced (out of the top four) in only 3% of his races. Though his exact career winnings are unknown, estimates place them in excess of $50,000. In August 1896, Joe Patchen broke the world records for both a half-mile and mile track by completing two laps on the half-mile Combination Park in 2:05¼ on August 8 and one lap of the mile-long Rigby Park in 2:03 on August 21.{{cite news |title=New Champion: Joe Patchen Now Holds a World's Record |work=The Boston Globe |date=August 9, 1906}}{{cite news |title=World's Champion: Joe Patchen Makes the Stallion Pacing Record 2.03 Even |work=The Boston Globe |date=August 22, 1906}} The half-mile record stood for seven years until his son Dan Patch lowered it to 2:04.
The Kansas State Board of Agriculture said that "[Joe] Patchen's untiring courage as a race horse seems to be without a peer."
Patchen was trained by Harness Racing Hall of Fame trainer John Dickerson, and was himself inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1954.
Pedigree
Joe Patchen was a part of the "Joe Young" lineage that was desired for Kansas racehorses at the time. His sire Patchen Wilkes also had desirable racing genes and traced to Wilkes Boy, Guy Wilkes, and Baron Wilkes.
External links
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.mi-harness.net/publct/hh/joeptchn.html Joe Patchen, sire of Dan Patch]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Category:1889 racehorse births
Category:1917 racehorse deaths
Category:American Standardbred racehorses
Category:Racehorses bred in Kansas
Category:Racehorses trained in the United States
Category:United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame inductees