Kentucky Derby’s Lucky Losers: Bull Lea (1938)

May 26, 2025 Jennifer Kelly

Bull Lea, a cornerstone of Calumet Farm's legendary success, was more than just a racehorse; he became a transformative sire whose influence shaped the breed for generations. Though relatively brief, his racing career hinted at the brilliance he would later impart to his progeny, many of whom were runners of exceptional talent and stamina, leaving an indelible mark on the American turf. This Lucky Loser might not have found success under the Twin Spires, but he was an essential part of the farm’s stellar record in the Kentucky Derby and beyond.

Buying the Bull

Bull Dog rode brother Sir Gallahad III’s coattails from France to the United States, his case buoyed by Gallant Fox’s 1930 Triple Crown. Charles B. Shaffer of Coldstream Stud needed a new stallion to replace My Play, full brother to Man o’ War, after the latter’s death in 1930, and traveled to Jefferson Davis Cohn’s Haras du Bois-Roussel to purchase Bull Dog after his retirement from the racetrack. At Coldstream Stud, Bull Dog became one of the era’s leading sires, like his brother, producing horses like Kentucky Oaks (G1) winners Canina and Miss Dogwood and 1940 Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, Our Boots. His most famous offspring, though, was a dark bay colt that history would know as Bull Lea.

He went through the sales ring at Saratoga in 1936, in an era when names like Mars, Sloane, and Wright battled each other with bids on the potential inherent in this son of Bull Dog and the Ballot mare Rose Leaves. However, Ethel Mars, widow of the candymaker who created iconic products like Milky Way and Snickers candy bars, was absent on this day, a cold keeping her away from the proceedings. Still, she did send a proxy to bid against Isabel Dodge Sloane of Brookmeade Stables and Warren Wright of the fledgling Calumet Farm. The former had won the 1934 Kentucky Derby with Cavalcade and then the Preakness with High Quest that same year; Calumet had their first Derby starter with Nellie Flag in 1935 and was still looking for the success that the devil red and blue silks would soon be famous for. He bested both Sloane and Mars in the bidding for the Bull Dog colt, securing the future Bull Lea for $14,000, a pricey sum during the Great Depression. But he was built like a champion and promised a fruitful future for Wright and Calumet.

BULL LEA is one of four stallions to sire three Kentucky Derby winners (the others were Falsetto, Virgil, Sir Gallahad III).

Calumet Farm's BULL LEA (1935-1964 Bull Dog -- Rose Leaves, by Ballot) sired Derby winners Citation, Hill Gail, Iron Liege.

Photo 3/28/48 James W. Sames pic.twitter.com/la41nSOHyp

— Barbara D. Livingston (@DRFLivingston) April 15, 2025

Establishing His Excellence

With Irving Anderson in the saddle, Bull Lea broke his maiden in his second start, a 5 1/2-furlong test at Arlington Park. He won a similar test three weeks later before trying stakes company in the Arlington Futurity, where he was fourth. Bull Lea’s last four starts at two were all stakes, three at Saratoga, and then the Champagne at Belmont Park. He was in the money in three of the four but fell short of collecting his first stakes victory until the Mereworth Purse at Keeneland in late April 1938. In that 8 ½-furlong stakes, Bull Lea surprised the favored Menow to win in track record time.

A week later, the Calumet colt was back at Keeneland for the Blue Grass Stakes, where he once again faced Menow over nine furlongs. Menow was on the lead for much of the race, but Bull Lea bore down on him in the stretch, chipping away at his lead until he passed the favorite in the final yards to win by a neck. The pair then met again in the 1938 Kentucky Derby, which also included Belair Stud’s Fighting Fox, C.V. Whitney’s Dauber, and Kansas-bred colt Lawrin, trained by Ben Jones. Fighting Fox went off as the 2-1 favorite with Bull Lea second choice at 3-1. At the wire, though, Bull Lea was a dull eighth behind Lawrin, and then was sixth behind Dauber in the Preakness a week later.

The Calumet colt would win the Kenner Stakes at Saratoga and the Pimlico Handicap among his victories at age three. He would then add the Widener Handicap at Hialeah the following season before retiring to stud at Calumet Farm. Initially, Calumet’s first Triple Crown winner, Whirlaway, might have commanded more attention early on, but soon Bull Lea would pull ahead of his more accomplished stablemate.

In the breeding shed, this good racehorse sealed his place in the sport’s history as one of the greatest sires of the 20th century.

Breeding a Dynasty

Bull Lea’s first crops were just the tip of the iceberg for the stallion’s genetic legacy. His 1941 foals included Twilight Tear, 1944 Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer, and Armed, whose rivalry with 1946 Triple Crown winner Assault helped propel him to Horse of the Year honors and a spot in the Hall of Fame. The 1945 crop was another blockbuster, producing Citation, Triple Crown winner and racing’s first millionaire; Bewitch, champion handicap female and Hall of Famer; and Coaltown, another Horse of the Year in 1949 and later a Hall of Famer. He also sired two additional Kentucky Derby winners in Hill Gail and Iron Liege; a Preakness winner in Faultless; and then another champion and Hall of Famer in Two Lea.

Bull Lea fueled much of Calumet’s success in the 1940s and 1950s, helping Warren Wright build the farm into a dynasty. Those decades saw the devil red and blue silks become a ubiquitous presence in winner’s circles from coast to coast, a success that few owners in the sport’s history have been able to rival, all thanks to a stallion who was a lucky loser in America’s most famous race, the Kentucky Derby.