Afternoon Deelites Explained

Horsename:Afternoon Deelites
Sire:Private Terms
Grandsire:Private Account
Dam:Intimate Girl
Damsire:Medaille d'Or
Sex:Stallion
Foaled:28 February 1992
Country:United States
Colour:Dark Bay
Breeder:Blue Seas Music Inc.
Owner:Burt Bacharach
Trainer:Richard Mandella
Record:12:7-3-0
Earnings:US$ $1,061,193

Afternoon Deelites (February 28, 1992 – February 14, 2023) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.

Background

Afternoon Deelites was bred and raced by pianist, composer and music producer, Burt Bacharach (1928–2023) and trained by Hall of Fame inductee Richard Mandella.

The horse was born in West Virginia, sired by Wood Memorial Stakes winner Private Terms, out of the mare Intimate Girl, whose sire was the 1978 Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Colt Medaille d'Or, a son of the legendary Secretariat.[1]

Racing career

Afternoon Deelites won several Graded stakes races including two Grade 1 events. In 1994 he won the Hollywood Futurity in stakes record time for a mile and a sixteenth that still stands as at the end of 2022.[2] In 1995, three-year-old Afternoon Deelites was narrowly beaten in the Santa Anita Derby and went on to run eighth in that year's Kentucky Derby.[3]

Stud record

Afternoon Deelites did stallion duty at Airdrie Stud in Kentucky before being moved to a Clear Creek Stud breeding farm in Louisiana. He was the sire of 23 graded stakes winners; one of his offspring, Popcorn Deelites, became known for roles in motion pictures, especially as Seabiscuit in the 2003 film of the same name.[4]

Afternoon Deelites' descendants include:

c = colt, f = filly

FoaledNameSexMajor Wins
1998Deelightful IrvingcPan American Stakes
1998Miss Pickums f
2001No TolerancecRobert F. Carey Memorial Handicap
2002ZappacSan Pasqual Handicap, Cougar II Handicap

Illness and death

Due to age related infertility problems, in May 2011, Afternoon Deelites was sent to the Old Friends Equine retirement home for Thoroughbred racehorses in Georgetown, Kentucky.[5]

Afternoon Deelites was euthanized on February 14, 2023, following complications from colic. He died 2 weeks before his 31st birthday and five days after his owner Burt Bacharach.[6] [7]

Notes and References

  1. http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Results.cfm?type=Horse&refno=677994&registry=T Medaille d'Or at Equibase.com
  2. http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Results.cfm?type=Horse&refno=1362030&registry=T Equibase.com
  3. http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/62053/afternoon-deelites-pensioned-to-old-friends BloodHorse.com - March 22, 2011
  4. http://www.pedigreequery.com/progeny/afternoon+deelites Afternoon Deelites' progeny
  5. http://www.oldfriendsequine.org/horses/afternoon-deelites-3285.html Old Friends, Inc.
  6. Web site: Afternoon Deelites, Bacharach's Best Runner, Dies at Old Friends. Thoroughbred Daily News. 15 February 2023. 15 February 2023.
  7. Web site: Afternoon Deelites has Died at Old Friends . 2023-02-15 . Old Friends . en-US.