Print size 17″ X 22″, Image Size 18.75″ X 14″

This print has been in storage since 1967 and has slight discolorations around the print border which does not distract from the beauty of the print and would be easily covered up when matted and framed.

Citation had won eight of nine starts at two, his only loss coming to his stable mate Bewitch (champion juvenile filly), when trainer Ben Jones had ordered that whoever was in front in the stretch (the Calumet entry finished 1-2-3) should be allowed to win.

Back in training in January, Citation made his debut on February 2 in the $5,000 Ground Hog Purse, an overnight allowance race at Hialeah for three-year-olds and up. Citation was the only three-year-old in the field that included Horse of the Year Armed. Citation, who was still a two-year-old on the human calendar (his actual third birthday was April 15, 1948), carried 113 pounds to 130 for Armed. Big Cy, under jockey Albert Snider, galloped to victory in a sparking 1:10 2/5.

Kent Hollingsworth, writing in “Kentucky Thoroughbreds,” (University Press, 1976) said, “Citation’s first two starts as a three-year-old . . . suggested a greatness that the Turf had not seen since Man O’War.”

The great racing historian Joe Palmer, writing in the 1948 edition of “American Race Horses,” (Sagamore Press, 1949), recalled an interview that he had with the legendary trainer “Sunny” Jim Fitzsimmons after Citation’s first two races as a three-year-old

“Up to this point, Citation’s done more than any horse I ever saw.” He then paused and said, “And I saw Man o’ War.” Palmer, himself, later describes Citation as the greatest horse of the decade and “perhaps of modern Thoroughbred racing.”

Before 1948 was over, Citation would win 19 of 20 starts in what many believe was the greatest single season by a Thoroughbred in the 20th Century.

During this time, horsemen in the county were arguing whether there was any horse who could challenge Citation. The consensus was that only Coaltown had a shot. The brilliant Calumet understudy to Citation was probably the most underrated Thoroughbred of the 20th Century. Coaltown, who would set world time records from six furlongs to one-mile and one-quarter, was named Horse of the Year in 1949 in one major year-end poll.

Coaltown easily smashed the field in Keeneland’s Blue Grass Stakes while Citation took the Derby Trial at Churchill Downs the Tuesday before Derby Day. The stage was set for their initial meeting in the Kentucky Derby. Arcaro feared that he was on the wrong Calumet runner, but his fears proved unfounded as Citation wore down pacesetter Coaltown to score an easy victory in the 74th Kentucky Derby. The Calumet entry paid $2.80, the lowest win price in Derby history.

As usual, the Belmont Stakes answered the question of who could go one-mile and one-half. Eight horses showed up, indicating that some were hoping that Citation could not go that far. They were wrong. Despite stumbling badly at the start, Citation recovered to win the Belmont by eight lengths, securing the coveted Triple Crown. No horse would again wear that crown for 25 years.

Throughout his career, Citation was often compared to Man o’ War. Fifty years later, as we near the end of the century, the comparison still stands. The debate as to who was the better will likely go on into the next century. But one thing is for sure: Man o’ War and Citation stand head and shoulders above the other great Thoroughbreds of the 20th Century.