Assault: A legendary Triple Crown 1946 winner
Assault was one of the greatest horses of the mid 20th century. The legendary colt was honoured to win Triple Crown title and Horse of the Year award in the year of 1946.
The son of Bold Venture out of Igual was foaled on March 26, 1943 in Texas. Both of his parents had been high-status runners of their respective times. Bold Venture had won Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 1936 while Igual grabbed some iconic titles.
Thus, the spirit to thrive in Triple Crown races was running through his blood. Luckily, the talented colt got an expert trainer like Max Hirsch who worked really hard to polish the inherent racing skills of Assault.
After starting his career, the young and brilliant runner had to struggle for at least four starts to pick up his maiden victory.
Assault commenced the 1946 season with some epic triumphs. He marvellously grabbed top positions in Experimental Handicap and Wood Memorial Stakes.
These two back-to-back victories gave the horse great confidence and increased his chances to thrive in the coming gala event of Triple Crown.
Finally the day came which Assault was meant for. For the Kentucky Derby, the bookmakers were reluctant to give him high odds. So, he was ranked fourth on the betting card.
But Assault shut the mouths of his critics and stunned the punters by finishing first elegantly in the opening race of the Triple Crown.
For the second contest of the event named as Preakness Stakes, the bettors regarded Assault as the hot favourite runner. The maverick colt marvellously came up to the expectations of his fans and investors by winning this time as well.
Assault ran in the Belmont Stakes again without a favourite tag but made a big impact by notching up top spot convincingly.
Thus, Hirsch’s brilliant horse walked away with the ace title of the most prestigious event of the sport.
The triumphant runner went on to perform well in the subsequent outings till he passed away on September 2, 1971.
During his glorious career, Assault won 18 out of his total 42 starts. He finished second in 6 races and grabbed third position in 7 outings. He earned $675,400 as prize money.
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