Black Maria was an American Thoroughbred racing filly who earned national Champion honors three times. Bred in Kentucky by William R. Coe, she was sired by Black Toney, the great foundation stallion of Idle Hour Stock Farm. Her dam was Bird Loose, a daughter of the French stallion Sardanapale a two-time Leading sire in France who won the 1914 Prix du Jockey Club and, at the time France's most important race, the Grand Prix de Paris. Black Maria raced as a two-year-old and won but did not claim victory in any of the top races for her age group. A filly who regularly raced against male horses, after winning the Kentucky Oaks for fillies, she defeated males in the Saratoga Sales Stakes and the Aqueduct Handicap. Her performances at age three would earn her American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly honors. For the ensuing two years, Black Maria was voted the 1927 and 1928 American Champion Older Female Horse, highlighted by her defeat of males in the preeminent race on the U.S. East Coast for milers, the Metropolitan Handicap. Her performance was so impressive that the New York Times called her "a great race mare." At age five, she beat her male counterparts again to win the Whitney Handicap. Wikipedia [ - ]

Black Maria was an American Thoroughbred racing filly who earned national Champion honors three... [ + ]