Equipoise (horse)
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Equipoise (1928 - 1938) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse, a chestnut bred in the United States by Harry Payne Whitney and owned by his son, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. He was by Pennant Swinging out of Broomstick.
As a two-year-old, Equipoise got his first stakes victory when he won the Keene Memorial Stakes at Belmont Park. He then beat Twenty Grand and Mate to win the Pimlico Futurity, despite being left in the gate and racing in only two shoes. A hoof crack cut his two-year-old season short, and as a three-year-old he raced only three times.
At 4, however, he won the Metropolitan, Stars and Stripes, and Whitney Stakes and set a world record of 1:34 2/5 for the mile at Arlington Park. At 5 Equipoise gave 26 pounds to the runner-up in winning the Metropolitan again. He also won the Suburban carrying 132 pounds. At 6 he won the Philadelphia and Dixie Handicaps and the Whitney Gold Trophy.
His career was greatly restricted by hoof problems, but he was still chosen Horse of the Year in both 1932 and 1933.
In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Equipoise was ranked #21.