Top Ten Turf Males Twentieth Century
#7
Mongo
(1961 - 1964)
Mongo winning his final race, which was on dirt, the 1964 Trenton Handicap at Garden State Park over Drill Site. His greatest victory on turf was the 1963 D.C. International when he defeated Kelso.
Photo: Jim Raftery/Turfotos
PEDIGREE
Ch H
OWNER
Montpelier
TRAINER
F.A. Bonsal
BREEDER
Marion duPont Scott
Some Facts
- Mongo was born in 1959 at Marion duPont Scott’s Montpelier plantation in Orange County, Virginia. He raced in the colors of Mrs. duPont Scott’s Montpelier Stable and was trained throughout his career by Frank Bonsal.
- Mongo had a solid turf pedigree. He was sired by British-bred Royal Charger, a multiple stakes winning son of Nearco, and was out of Sun Princess, who was a half-sister to Nasrullah. Royal Charger was a three-time stake winner, including the group one Queen Anne Stakes in 1946. Among his progeny were the outstanding sire Turn-to, like himself, classified as Chef-de-Race, and the champion filly Idun.
- Mongo’s dam, Accra, a daughter of the prolific steeplechase sire, Annapolis, also produced Neji, possibly America’s greatest steeplechaser. A three-time national steeplechase champion, Neji was eventually voted into the National museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1966. Another colt, Nahodah by Nasrullah, won four stakes, including the 1957 Salvator Mile.
- Mongo ran thirteen times on dirt before finally making his first start on turf. During his career, he made forty-six starts, with only eight of them being on turf, a surface he clearly excelled on. He broke his maiden in his first start, drawing off to win by ten lengths. He won his very first turf race, the Ventnor Turf Handicap, also drawing off to win it by ten lengths.
- Mongo won five of his eight starts on turf and finished second in another. Among the horses he defeated on this surface were Kelso and Carry Back, both members of the Hall of Fame, champion Never Bend, Wise Ship the American record holder for eleven furlongs with a time of 2:14, Parka the 1965 Turf Champion, and the 1961 turf champion T.V. Lark, who would win several important turf races including the Washington D.C. International over Kelso and the United Nations Handicap over Sword Dancer and Bally Ache,.
- After watching Mongo win the 1963 International in a long stretch duel with Kelso in which Mongo was never headed but did drift out slightly, trainer Frank Bonsal said, “We had hoped to meet Kelso on terms advantageous to us: on the turf, in the slop, in the rain, in cold weather, and receiving ten pounds.” In the end, the only advantage Mongo got was the turf course. But it was all he needed.
- After the race, Milo Valenzuela, Kelso’s rider, claimed foul, contending that Mongo had hit Kelso when he drifted out. But the stewards, after deliberating for fifteen minutes, decided there was no contact and ruled that the foul claim was frivolous.
- When Mongo finished second to The Axe II in the 1962 Knickerbocker Stakes at Belmont Park, the winner’s time of 2:13 1/5 broke Wise Ship’s American record by four-fifths of a second. Mongo, who was defeated by three-quarters of a length, also bettered the previous American mark. Mongo set an Atlantic City turf course record for nine furlongs with a time of 1:48 when he won the 1963 Kelly-Olympic Handicap over Bronze Babu and Parka.
- Mongo was voted Male Turf Champion in 1963, beating out The Axe II, Kelso, and Bronze Babu. He was top-weighted at 130 pounds (the same as The Axe II) in Tommy Trotter’s Experimental Free Handicap.
- At stud, Mongo met with limited success and never sired a champion. He died on March 21, 1983, at Blue Ridge Farm. He was twenty-four.
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