1968 - 1980

HOIST THE FLAG

Never Finished Behind Another Horse

TOM ROLFE - WAVY NAVY, by WAR ADMIRAL
Lifetime Race Record: 6-5-0-0, $78,145

Bred by John Schiff.
Owned by Mrs. Stephen Clark Jr.
Trained by Sidney Watters.

1970 - Champion Two-year-old Colt
1978 - 2nd-Leading General Sire
1981 - Leading Juvenile Sire
1987 - Leading Broodmare Sire

Marquee Races Won

Bay Shore Stakes
Cowdin Stakes
Champagne Stakes (DQ’ed from 1st for interference)
Never finished behind another horse.

Accomplished Progeny

Alleged

1977 European Horse of the Year, two-time winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

Delta Flag

Grade 1 winner; Sire

Flying Partner

Grade 1 winner; Placed in Kentucky Oaks

Grecian Banner

Broodmare of the Year; Dam of champion Personal Ensign

Hoist The King

Sold for record-setting $1.6 at Keeneland Sales in 1979

Linkage

Grade 1 winner; American classic-placed; Sire

Nalees Flying Flag

Dam of champion Scahuista

Up the Flagpole

Dam of Champion Flagbird; Dam of multiple Grade 1 winner and Broodmare of the Year Prospectors Delite

Sensational

Multiple Grade 1 winner, American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly

Stalwart

Grade 1-winning juvenile; Sire

Hoist the Flag was purchased by the late Mrs. Stephen Clark Jr. as a yearling for a mere $37,000 as he had sustained an eye injury while in transport to Saratoga, However, he soon turned out to be quite a bargain – undefeated Champion 2-year-old, Experimental Free Handicap Highweight and winter-book favorite for the 1971 Kentucky Derby. The way he skimmed through his wins conjured up images of his immortal grandsire, Triple Crown winner War Admiral.  Classic hopes crumbled for Mrs. Clark and his legion of fans, when he shattered a hind leg in a training accident while being prepared for the Kentucky Derby. With the heart of a champion, Hoist the Flag overcame great odds and survived ground-breaking surgeries in the months following his injury.

Retired to Claiborne, Hoist the Flag went on to sire two-time Arc de Triomphe winner Alleged, and an American champion who lived up to her name, Sensational. He is the broodmare sire of 85 stakes winners, including champions Personal Ensign, Sacahuista, and sires Cryptoclearance and Broad Brush. Thirty years after Hoist the Flag’s Triple Crown campaign came to a sudden and disappointing halt, his great-great grandson and Personal Ensign’s grandson, War Emblem, fulfilled the family’s promise with wins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.

In 1987, Claiborne sires topped the General Sire List (Mr. Prospector) and the Broodmare Sire List (Hoist the Flag). Not entirely coincidentally, that nick is responsible for more than 70 stakes winners including a winner of America’s richest race, the Breeders’ Cup Classic-G1. Like his racing career, Hoist the Flag’s stud career was brilliant and all too brief – he sired 51 stakes winners from only 246 foals during his eight seasons in the Claiborne breeding shed.

Buried at Claiborne

CLAIBORNE FARM
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