The secret daddy

The expression “Who’s your daddy?” is often used as a claim of dominance. In the case of the 1938 foals of Gäel, a champion French trotter, it is more a matter of facts than dominance. Though he officially never sired a single foal in France, it is now common knowledge operated in the shadows at Haras de Ginai and produced several top French trotters.

In 1992 Rene Veslard, son of Albert Veslard who owned Haras de Ginai and Gäel back in the 1938, admitted publicly that mares owned by his father that were supposedly bred by Gael in 1937, were in fact bred by Calumet Delco. The 1938 foals were registered with Gäel as sire, though, because the French studbook had been closed the year before and the foals could not be registered with Calumet Delco as their sire. From this crop we find son Quiroga II and Quiproquo II, both excellent horses on the track and later influential stallions, in addition to Prix de Paris-winning mare Quinauderie. The French association, though, have never changed any of the records and Gäel is still the official sire.

A two-year-old superstar

Calumet Who? In the Milwaukee Journal from Nov 6, 1934 it said “Calumet Delco, Wisconsin’s champion trotter of 1933, is the toast of French harness racing fans. FB Luchsinger Monroe, who sold the colt to European buyers, has received word from Henri Masson, now racing the horse, that Delco has won five times and placed second three times in eight races on French soil (…)” Born in Kentucky at the famous Calumet Farm, Calumet Delco raced primarily in Wisconsin before being exported to France in early 1934. The newspaper article quoted above was inaccurate: Calumet Delco was not that superior in France. Still, the colt was a tremendously able trotter.

At 2, Calumet Delco had swept all 10 races before him, in total setting three world records in the process. Seven were on the half-mile tracks, while three were on the mile tracks in the northwest. He lowered the record for two-year-olds on half-mile tracks to 2:07 3/4 (1.19,4), and also won in 2:07 1/4 (1.19,1) at the mile track in Milwaukee.

The following season, Calumet Delco won all five of his starts in the Bay State circuit, the Review Futurity (Review Stakes) and the Historic Dickerson Cup on the Grand Circuit, as well as numerous smaller fair races in the northwest. At 3, he set his 2:04 (1.17,1) record while winning the third and final heat of the Agricultural Stake in Milwaukee. As payments had not been made he wasn’t eligible to the 1933 Hambletonian, won by the filly Mary Reynolds, but there was no question that he was among the better horses in his crop. In early 1934 it was announced the colt had been sold to France.

In total he won 24 times in France, was one of the better horses at the time and managed a fifth place finish in the 1938 Prix d’Amerique – where he was the pre-race favorite together with another US-born trotter, the legendary mare Tara. Calumet Delco’s most famous race in France is probably the 1937 Grand Prix de la Ville de Nice, where he had a 100 meters handicap in the 2500 meter long race (1 9/16 mile), yet ended up losing by only a nose, and setting a French record of 1.21,4 (2:11) in the process.

The part-time job

In addition to racing, Calumet Delco had a rather interesting “part-time job” working as a “souffleur” at the Haras de Ginai in Normandy. Calumet Delco’s “job” was to “prepare” or “warm up” broodmares for the stallion Gäel who was standing stud there. Certainly an interesting job, but from early on it was suspected that Calumet Delco did more than merely “prepare” the broodmares. In fact, Rene Veslard’s confession only confirmed what everybody knew, that Calumet Delco was in fact the actual sire of the 1938 foals.

That he did well as a sire should come as no surprise. In addition to his excellent results on the racetrack, his pedigree is also impeccable, being the son of Peter the Brewer and Dillcisco. This makes him the sister of Stardrift, herself a good trotter who set a world record holder on a half-mile track and later gave birth to a certain Star’s Pride. He is also the full sister of Josephine Brewer, the fourth dam of Arnie Almahurst and Astro Hill. According to an article in Bulletin 139 of the French breeding association GAET, Veslard stated that “If he had a lot of foals, Calumet Delco would become a leading sire. It was a nice horse, with the right type and size. He was above all, a golden character, being brave and obedient.”

As for Gäel’s 1939 foals, indications are that he was back in business. Whereas none of the 1938 foals were chestnut, the following year 2 of 7 foals were red. In the 1940 crop, 3 out of 5 were red. Calumet Delco doesn’t appear to carry a red gene, hence it seems likely these foals are in fact Gäel’s. To add a little factual insult to injury, whereas the small 1938 crop contained three real stars, the later foals were nowhere near the same level. In fairness, it must be made clear that Gäel wasn’t a horrible stallion, and his 1934 son Messidor was one of the trop trotters in Germany around the outbreak of WWII.

As mentioned above, Calumet Delco sired the stars Quiroga II and Quiproquo II, the former being the paternal grandsire of the French star Hadol du Vivier. That sireline is still hanging on by a thread in Europe, and it’s most notable current stallion is the Spanish-born international group 1-winner Trebol.

During the war Calumet Delco was taken by the Germans and served as a sire there between 1941 and 1948, producing really well, most notably the German Hall of Fame-trotter Ejadon, and again after 1952 – but, if the rumors are true, not before first causing more “mischief” in the French studbook in 1951. According to Rene Veslard “I know he returned to [the Haras de] Ginai but that is a different story.” In fact, it may just be the same story all over as Calumet Delco is rumored to be the sire of several French horses born 1952, including Isard du Padoueng.

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