Colorado King
Today’s Gr2 Colorado King Stakes at Turffontein is named in honour of one of our greats of a half century ago.
Conditioned by renowned trainer Syd Laird, Colorado King won ten races in South Africa including the Cape Derby and the Durban July Handicap.
Sold to an American racing partnership led by William R. (Fritz) Hawn, he raced under the Poltex Stable banner in California.
In the care of trainer Wally Dunn, Colorado King won six races in 1964 including the Hollywood Gold Cup in which he defeated Native Diver, the American Handicap where he equalled the world record for 1800m and the Sunset Handicap at 1700m by seven lengths.
In 1965 he won only once in nine starts before being retired to stud where he met with limited success as a sire.
