GRAY GANDER, 1819

TELEMACHUS, 1820

JOHN BASCOMB, 1836

John Connolly, a prolific horse breeder, bred a racehorse he named John Bascomb in honor of a Methodist clergyman of great renown. The Conleys held ‘revivalist’ meetings in forested areas, sometimes called ‘camp meetings’ wherein a multiple ministers with compelling oratorical skills would address crowds from wooden stands. Apparently, at camp meeting held on Connolly’s property, the Reverend John Bascombe was especially moving, as he spoke of the ‘Holy Ghost Spirit’ that each attendee should feel, even when away from the church. Attendees shouted in jubilation, prompting John Connally to name his new prized colt John Bascomb.

The Huntsville-bred horse enjoyed a string of victories. Most notably, John Bascomb was sent to New York to race Post Boy, an unbeaten dark chestnut from New York at the Union Race Course on Long Island. In what would become one of the most celebrated horse races of the nineteenth century, the contest began, as one poet remember, as “the drum was sounded by the judge . . . Bascomb won the first and second heat. . . taking in the knowing Northerners by the witty minded Southerners.” Southerners rejoiced at the victory, and the horse John Bascomb returned to the South amid great fanfare.

Essie Ballard Sitgraves is one the most celebrated figures of the extended Conley Family’s legacy in the equestrian world. She owned, bred and trained thoroughbred racehorses with her husband with great success throughout Kentucky.

Essie grew up in Madison County, Alabama at the very end of the Alabama's prominence in the horse world, as Kentucky and Florida began to dominate. Essie moved to Louisville, married Carl Sitgraves, then made history.

Essie & Carl began humbly, maintaining horses, even mucking stalls together. They would eventually buy and train their own thoroughbred horses, as a husband and wife team, with Essie’s competitive personality lifting them into the upper echelons of the equestrian world. Essie Ballard Sitgraves was a successful female owner and breeder from World War 2 era, but it cannot be understated that, as a Black American woman, her career in horse breeding was nothing less than groundbreaking.

SYNDICATE, 1944

DADDY’S PUNKIN’, 1946

BOB’S DISLIKE, 1962

BODINI, 1968