Editing Middleground

{{Short description|American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse}}

{{Infobox racehorse
| horsename = Middleground
| image = 
| caption = 
| sire = [[Bold Venture (horse)|Bold Venture]] 
| grandsire = St. Germans
| dam = Verguenza
| damsire =  Chicaro
| sex = [[Stallion (horse)|Stallion]]
| foaled = 1947<ref name="pedigree">{{cite web|url=https://www.equineline.com/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm/Middleground?page_state=DISPLAY_REPORT&reference_number=308961&registry=T&horse_name=Middleground&dam_name=Verguenza&foaling_year=1947&include_sire_line=N|title=Middleground pedigree |publisher=Equineline }}</ref>
| country = [[United States]]
| colour = [[Chestnut (coat)|Chestnut]]
| breeder = [[King Ranch]]
| owner = [[King Ranch]]
| trainer = [[Max Hirsch]]
| record =  15: 6-6-2
| earnings =  $237,725
| race =  [[Hopeful Stakes (United States)|Hopeful Stakes]] (1949)<br>[[Kentucky Derby]] (1950)<br>[[Belmont Stakes]] (1950)
| awards =  [[Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Male Horse|U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt]] (1951)<br>[[Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year|United States Horse of the Year]] (1951)
| honours =  
| updated= 
}}
'''Middleground''' (April 22, 1947 &ndash; February 16, 1972)<ref name="TbH">
   "Grave Matters Farm Index North America" (horse graves),
   Thoroughbred Heritage, 2005, webpage:
   [http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/Graves/GraveMattersFarmNAM.html  TB-Graves].</ref> was an American [[Thoroughbred]] [[racehorse]] who won the 1950 [[Kentucky Derby]] and [[Belmont Stakes]] and came second in the [[Preakness Stakes]]. He was named the 1950 [[American Horse of the Year]] and [[American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse|Champion Three-Year-Old Male]].

==Racing career==
Middleground was ridden throughout his career by 16-year-old [[jockey|apprentice jockey]] [[William Boland|Bill Boland]], and he was trained by [[Max Hirsch]], both future [[National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame|U.S. Hall of Fame]] inductees.

As a two-year-old in 1949, Middleground won the [[Hopeful Stakes]] and came third in the [[Arlington Futurity]].

The following year, Middleground started the year with second-place finishes both the [[Withers Stakes]] and [[Wood Memorial]].

He then won the [[Kentucky Derby]], only the second horse to win it with an apprentice jockey after his sire Bold Venture who won with jockey Ira Hanford. Five time Kentucky Derby winning jockey [[Eddie Arcaro]] had the chance to ride Middleground, but he chose to ride [[Hill Prince]] instead, who finished second.

After the Kentucky Derby, Middleground finished second to Hill Prince after a rough trip in the [[Preakness Stakes]], and won the [[Belmont Stakes]].

As a three-year-old he also won the [[Leonard Richards Stakes]].

In the 1950 [[Jerome Handicap]], Middleground broke a bone in his foot and was retired.

==Retirement and stud career==
Middleground was retired to stud at King Ranch in 1951. He sired 101 winners and 7 stakes winners in his stud career, including Resaca, Chistosa, and Here and There.

He died in 1972, and the gravesite is on the [[King Ranch]], in [[Kingsville, Texas]].<ref name=TbH/>

In 2000, he was inducted into the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

==Pedigree==
{{Pedigree
|name = Middleground (USA), chestnut stallion, 1947<ref name="pedigree"/>
|inf =
|f = [[Bold Venture (horse)|Bold Venture]] (USA)<br />1933
|m = Verguena (USA)<br />1940
|ff = St Germans (GB)<br />1921
|fm = Possible (USA)<br />1920
|mf = Chicaro (USA)<br />1923
|mm = Blushing Sister (USA)<br />1932
|fff = [[Swynford]]
|ffm = Hamoaze
|fmf = Ultimus
|fmm = Lida Flush
|mff = Chicle
|mfm = Wendy
|mmf = [[Bubbling Over (horse)|Bubbling Over]]
|mmm = Lace
|ffff = John o' Gaunt
|fffm = [[Canterbury Pilgrim]]
|ffmf = Torpoint
|ffmm = Maid of the Mist
|fmff = [[Commando (horse)|Commando]]
|fmfm = Running Stream
|fmmf = Royal Flush
|fmmm = Lida H
|mfff = [[Spearmint (horse)|Spearmint]]
|mffm = Lady Hamburg
|mfmf = [[Peter Pan (American horse)|Peter Pan]]
|mfmm = Remembrance
|mmff = North Star
|mmfm = Beaming Beauty
|mmmf = Bunting
|mmmm = Stickling (Family: 4-m)
}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/middleground Middleground's pedigree and racing stats]

{{Kentucky Derby Winners}}
{{Belmont Stakes Winners}}

[[Category:1947 racehorse births]]
[[Category:1972 racehorse deaths]]
[[Category:Racehorses bred in Texas]]
[[Category:Racehorses trained in the United States]]
[[Category:Kentucky Derby winners]]
[[Category:Belmont Stakes winners]]
[[Category:Thoroughbred family 4-m]]


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