The unique legacy of John Madden
Madden, who enjoyed success in various aspects of racing, is the only person to be inducted into both the thoroughbred racing and harness racing halls of fame
In the annals of American horse racing — both thoroughbred and standardbred — no individual has a ledger of achievements as diverse and unique as the incomparable John E. Madden.
Inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1956, Madden was elected to the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame downstate in Goshen two years later. He remains the only person in racing history to earn the distinction of being honored by both institutions.
As a horseman, Madden is perhaps summed up best by a 1903 report in the Thoroughbred Record: “Mr. Madden is the only millionaire breeder of thoroughbreds who trains, develops, and races his own horses. He leaves nothing to chance. Every detail about his stable — the quantity and quality of food, ventilation, disposition of every horse, the kindness of attendants — is planned by Mr. Madden and must be rigorously carried out.”
Born in 1856 in Bethlehem, Pa., to immigrant parents from Roscommon County, Ireland, Madden became a standout athlete in his youth. Growing to be nearly six feet tall and 180 pounds, Madden became a successful boxer and runner, demonstrating his abilities at numerous county fairs. He then began driving trotting horses and eventually dealt in his own stock.
Having a keen eye for talented horses, Madden bought and sold trotters and draft horses until it was reported he had around $150,000 to his name by the age of 30. With thoroughbred racing on the ascent, Madden began to broaden his horizons, which led him to Kentucky.
During his early days in Lexington, Madden lived at the Phoenix Hotel and conducted the majority of his business affairs there. In 1897, Madden spent the best $1,200 of his life when he decided to purchase a racing prospect from Con Enright of Elmendorf Farm. The acquisition, a son of the great Hanover out of the Fellowcraft mare Lady Reel, became known as Hamburg.
A difficult horse to train, Madden unveiled Hamburg at the Gravesend racetrack in New York in June 1897 and the 2-yearold quickly won three of his first four starts, including the Great Trial Stakes. Hamburg began to draw raves when he won the Great Eastern Handicap under 135 pounds, a considerable impost even for that era. Hamburg concluded his 2-year-old campaign with 12 wins in 16 starts. His success even prompted celebrated owner James R. Keene to declare Madden’s colt to be better than his own Domino, who won 19 of 25 starts in the 1890s.
In December of 1897, Madden turned his initial $1,200 investment into a reported $40,000 when he sold Hamburg to Marcus Daly. Versions of the story surrounding the sale state the sale price was $40,001, as to top the previous record sale price of a horse in training set when Leonard Jerome purchased Kentucky for $40,000 in 1866.
Hamburg went on to be regarded as the unofficial Horse of the Year in 1898 as a 3-year-old, winning the Lawrence Realization and Brighton Cup (at 2¼ miles) along the way. Hamburg was then retired with 16 wins from 21 starts. He became a leading stallion and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986. Like Hamburg, Madden also had a good year in 1898, as he won the Kentucky Derby with Plaudit, a horse he owned, and started down the path to becoming one of the most influential breeders in racing history. Using $30,000 of the money he received from Hamburg’s sale, Madden decided to purchase a farm of 235 acres near Lexington. He named the property Hamburg Place and eventually expanded it to more than 2,000 acres.
In the years that followed, Madden built Hamburg Place into one of the most successful breeding operations in the world. He stood several stallions at the farm and built his broodmare band to approximately 140. Madden’s most impressive stallion was *Star Shoot, five-time leading stallion in America, and the sire of immortals Sir Barton and Grey Lag, among others.
Madden bred an impressive total of 182 stakes winners (this number does not include his impressive accomplishments breeding standardbreds), including 14 champions and five winners of both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. Five of the horses Madden bred – Old Rosebud, Sir Barton, Grey Lag, Zev and Princess Doreen – were later inducted into the Hall of Fame. Sir Barton, in 1919, became America’s first Triple Crown winner.
Augmenting his breeding operation, Madden continued to have success as a trainer. Along with his Kentucky Derby victory, Madden won four editions of the Saratoga Special between 1902 and 1908, two runnings of the Metropolitan Handicap and the 1905 Travers Stakes with Dandelion, among other significant races.
In 1912, Madden retired as a trainer to focus exclusively on breeding and selling racehorses and advising others. He had previously been a trusted confidant of William Collins Whitney and was now working with his son, Harry Payne Whitney, and others such as Herman Duryea. Madden’s success was staggering. He was America’s leading breeder in wins for 11 consecutive years from 1917 through 1927 and in earnings for seven consecutive years from 1917 through 1923. He topped the earnings list again for an eighth time in 1925. Horses bred by Madden won more than 400 races in both 1921 and 1923. No other breeder surpassed 400 in a year again until Rex Ellsworth in 1974.
In 1926, as he neared his 70th birthday, Madden sold the majority of his stock at Hamburg Place — 139 horses for a total of $446,200 — and began distancing himself from horse racing. In October 1929, Madden developed pneumonia and soon after died of a heart attack at the age of 72. He was buried in Cavalry Cemetery in Lexington. Along with the money he made in breeding and racing, Madden’s investments in the corn refining business helped his estate to be valued at $9 million. At the time of Madden’s death, he had bred the leading money earner of all time in Zev ($313,639) and the all-time leader among distaffers, Princess Doreen ($174,745).
Following his death, Madden’s sons, Joe and Edward, inherited a reported $2 million and control of Hamburg Place. Madden’s sons, however, did not have much of an interest in racing or breeding and both met a sad demise. Joe Madden committed suicide in 1932 and Edward Madden killed himself 11 years later. Edward Madden, who raised mostly polo ponies at Hamburg Place, was survived by his wife and two sons. One of his sons, Preston Madden, took up an interest in racing and stood the notable stallion T.V. Lark, leader of the general sire list in 1974, at Hamburg Place. Preston Madden later added to his grandfather’s rich Kentucky Derby legacy by breeding 1987 winner Alysheba.
John Madden would have been proud.