Thoroughbred racing
An avid sportsman, Pierre Lorillard and his brother, George Lyndes Lorillard, were both major figures in Thoroughbred horse racing. In 1874, Pierre's horse, Saxon, won the Belmont Stakes. Although his horse "Parole" finished fourth in the 1876 Kentucky Derby, it went on to race with considerable success both in the United States and in Europe. In the 19th century, shipping horses from New York to Louisville, Kentucky was a major undertaking and as the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes were both held in the New York City area in the period, neither of the Lorillard brothers entered horses again in the Kentucky Derby.
Lorillard established Rancocas Stable, named for the New Jersey town where he owned a country house. He spent time in Paris and in England where, in 1881, his horse Iroquois became the first American-owned and bred horse to win a European classic race. Ridden by the champion English jockey Fred Archer, Iroquois won The Derby and then went on to capture the St. Leger Stakes as well. Iroquois, foaled in 1878 in Pennsylvania and bred by Aristides Welch, was described as notoriously difficult to handle. Archer, known as "The Tin Man," was originally contracted to ride a different horse at Epsom but requested the mount on Iroquois; his owner Lord Falmouth consented. The victory caused a sensation in the United States and is credited with boosting American racetrack attendance upon Iroquois's return home in 1883. The horse went on to become the leading sire in North America in 1892. His legacy endures in several named races, including the Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs — a Road to the Kentucky Derby prep race — and the Iroquois Steeplechase held annually at Percy Warner Park in Nashville, whose organizers adopted Lorillard's racing colors of cherry red and black as the event's official colors. Lorillard had other successes in England, notably with the horse named for the actor David Garrick, which won the 1901 Chester Cup ridden by American jockey, Danny Maher.
