Y – #10 – Ta Wee – horseracing20thcentury99.com

Top Ten Fillies & Mares Twentieth Century

#10

Ta Wee

(1968 - 1970)

A younger half-sister to Dr. Fager, Ta Wee won her final start, the Interborough Handicap, carrying 142 pounds, which was 29 more than runner-up Hasty Hitter.

Photo: Sports Illustrated

PEDIGREE

Dk B/Br Filly

OWNER

Tartan Stable

TRAINER

John Nerud/Flint Schulhofer

BREEDER

Tartan Farms

Some Facts

Ta Wee was foaled at William L. McKnight’s Tartan Farm on March 26th, 1966, and would race in the colors of Tartan Farm. She was sired by Intentionally and was out of the Better Self mare Aspidistra, making her a half-sister to the great Dr. Fager.
She won 13 stakes in her career, but as fast as she was, she never set a track record. The closest she came was 1:08 3/5 at Monmouth Park when she won the six-furlong Miss Woodford, missing the mark by one-fifth of a second.
Ta Wee was a superior sprinter. After finishing 4^th in her first try at six furlongs, the Spinaway at Saratoga, her third career race, she won 11 of 12 starts at the distance, all but one in stakes races (she won 11 stakes in a row at the distance).
Ta Wee faced males four times and won three: the Fall Highweight (2x) and the Vosburgh. The race she lost was the 1970 Gravesend when Distinctive beat her by four lengths. In that six-furlong race, she carried 134 pounds, which was twenty pounds more than the winner carried.
Ta Wee was a weight carrier. She won the Correction Handicap (131), Hempstead Handicap (132), the Distaff Handicap (134), the Regret Handicap (136), and in her career finale, the Interborough Handicap (142). She also won two editions of the Fall Highweight against males, in 1969 under 130 pounds and in 1970 while totting 140 pounds, which was 19 more than the second-place finisher, a colt named Towzie Tyke’s who carried 121.
Ta Wee had two trainers in her career. John Nerud handled her in her first ten races. When he retired as Tartan Farm’s exclusive trainer, Flint Schulhofer took over and handled her in her final eleven starts.
Ta Wee had five foals, four of which were stakes winners. Her first foal, Great Above, by Minnesota Mac, sired Holy Bull, who has been enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Ta Wee was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1994. She died on October 12th, 1980.