Tank's Prospect
{{Short description|American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse}}
{{Infobox racehorse
| horsename = Tank's Prospect
| image =
| caption =
| sire = Mr. Prospector
| grandsire = Raise a Native
| dam = Midnight Pumpkin
| damsire = Pretense
| sex = Stallion
| foaled = 1982
| country = United States
| colour = Bay
| breeder = Edward A. Seltzer
| owner = Eugene V. Klein
| trainer = D. Wayne Lukas
| record = 14: 5-2-2
| earnings = US$1,355,645{{cite web|url=http://www.pedigreequery.com/tanks+prospect|title=Tanks Prospect Horse Pedigree|first=Miles|last=Michelson|website=www.pedigreequery.com}}
| race = El Camino Real Derby (1985)
Arkansas Derby (1985)
American Classic Race wins:
Preakness Stakes (1985)
| awards =
| honours =
| updated=
}}
Tank's Prospect (May 2, 1982 – March 2, 1995) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series, the Preakness Stakes.
Background
Bred by Edward A. Seltzer, he was purchased for $625,000 at the 1983 Keeneland July Selected Yearling sale by trainer D. Wayne Lukas for his client, Eugene Klein. Klein named the horse after Paul "Tank" Younger, a former National Football League player and executive with Klein's San Diego Chargers football team.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}
Racing career
At age two, Tank's Prospect won his first start, a six-furlong race at California's Santa Anita Park. While he did not win a major race that year, in the inaugural running of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile he finished second to winner Chief's Crown and ahead of third-place finisher Spend A Buck. Racing at age three in 1985, Tank's Prospect won the El Camino Real Derby and Arkansas Derby{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zAsVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zgIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5548,5061023&dq=tank's+prospect&hl=en|title=Toledo Blade - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}} before running seventh in the Kentucky Derby. He then ran in the Preakness Stakes. Ridden by Pat Day, he caught the favorite, Chief's Crown, close to the finish and won by a head.{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Pt0cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lWIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6355,1194734&dq=tank's-prospect&hl=en|title=The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}} The winning time of 1:53.4 was, at the time, considered a stakes record,{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gHoUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1gIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6326,7372263&dq=tanks+prospect&hl=en|title=Toledo Blade - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}} although a commission in 2012 determined that Secretariat is the official record-holder at 1:53.0.{{cite web|url=http://www.drf.com/news/secretariat-awarded-preakness-record-153-after-review|title=Secretariat awarded Preakness record at 1:53 after review - Daily Racing Form|website=www.drf.com}} In the third leg of the Triple Crown, Tank's Prospect broke down at the top of the stretch in the Belmont Stakes and did not finish the race. The injury ended his racing career.
Stud record
Retired to stud duty, Tank's Prospect met with modest success. One of his best runners, Real Cash, won the American Derby and San Felipe Stakes.
Tank's Prospect was standing at Venture Farms in Aubrey, Texas, when he died on March 2, 1995, from a ruptured arterial blood vessel.
Breeding
{{Pedigree
|name = Tank's Prospect
|f = Mr. Prospector
bay 1970
|m = Midnight Pumpkin
bay 1977
|ff = Raise a Native
ch. 1961
|fm = Gold Digger
bay 1962
|mf = Pretense
drk.brn. 1963
|mm = Me Next
bay 1960
|fff = Native Dancer
|ffm = Raise You
|fmf = Nashua
|fmm = Sequence
|mff = Endeavor
|mfm = Imitation
|mmf = Rough'n Tumble
|mmm = Iltis
|ffff = Polynesian
|fffm = Geisha
|ffmf = Case Ace
|ffmm = Lady Glory
|fmff = Nasrullah
|fmfm = Segula
|fmmf = Count Fleet
|fmmm = Miss Dogwood
|mfff = British Empire
|mffm = Himalaya
|mfmf = Hyperion
|mfmm = Flattery
|mmff = Free for All
|mmfm = Roused
|mmmf = War Relic
|mmmm = We Hail
|}}