Ack Ack (KY)

Named after a type of artillery gun, Ack Ack was the final horse bred and raced by Harry Guggenheim. A son of Battle Joined out of the unraced Turn-to mare Fast Turn, Ack Ack was foaled at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington, Kentucky, in 1966. Guggenheim dispersed all his racehorses in 1969, but decided to hold on to Ack Ack.

Inducted

1986

Foaled

1966

Sire

Battle Joined

Dam

Fast Turn

Damsire

Turn-to

Breeder

Harry F. Guggenheim

Owner

Cain Hoy Stable
Forked Lightning Ranch

Trainer

Frank A. Bonsal
Charles Whittingham

Career

1968-1971

Earnings

$636,641

Racing Record

27

Starts

Year	Starts	First	Second	Third	Earnings
Year	Sts	1	2	3	$
1968	3	1	2	0	$6075 $6,075
1969	11	7	3	0	$177491 $177,491
1970	5	4	0	0	$59775 $59,775
1971	8	7	1	0	$393300 $393,300

Biography

Named after a type of artillery gun, Ack Ack was the final horse bred and raced by Harry Guggenheim. A son of Battle Joined out of the unraced Turn-to mare Fast Turn, Ack Ack was foaled at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington, Kentucky, in 1966. Guggenheim dispersed all his racehorses in 1969, but decided to hold on to Ack Ack.

A proven sprinter at ages 3 and 4 when he won the Arlington Classic, Withers, Bahamas, and Derby Trial (setting a track record of 1:34⅖ for a mile), as well as the Autumn Days and Los Angeles handicaps, Ack Ack had his best season at age 5 in 1971 when he won the inaugural Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year, Champion Sprinter, and Champion Older Male.

When Guggenheim died in January 1971, Ack Ack was sold for $500,000 to E. E. Buddy Fogelson, who raced the horse under the banner of Forked Lightning Ranch. Conditioned at ages 4 and 5 by Charlie Whittingham, Ack Ack won seven consecutive stakes in 1971, including races on both dirt and grass at distances ranging from 5½ furlongs to 1¼ miles.

Ack Ack’s 1971 victories included the Santa Anita Handicap under 130 pounds, the 5½-furlong Hollywood Express Handicap with 130, a course record in the 1⅛-mile American Handicap on grass with 130 and the 1¼-mile Hollywood Gold Cup with a career-high 134 pounds in his final career start.

Ack Ack was retired to stud at Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky, where he sired 51 stakes winners, including Broad Brush and Youth. Ack Ack died Dec. 28, 1990, at Claiborne.

In a 1986 edition of the Thoroughbred Record, Whittingham said Ack Ack was “the best horse I ever trained. He could do about everything. He was never beaten in the mud, he ran twice on the turf and won both times, he carried the weight, and he went the distance.”