Housebuster
Housebuster
American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse
Housebuster (foaled March 7, 1987, in Kentucky – May 15, 2005) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was sired by graded stakes race winner Mt. Livermore and was out of the Great Above mare Big Dreams.[1]
Bred by Blanche P. Levy and owned by her son, Robert, Housebuster was originally trained by Ronald Benshoff before being turned over to "Jimmy" Croll. From the outset he was trained as a sprinter, with no race longer than a mile.[2]
Housebuster won 15 of his lifetime 22 starts, often by wide margins. He won the Jerome Handicap by 13 lengths, the Grade III Lafayette Stakes by 11, and the "DeFrancis Dash" by 5, beating Breeder's Cup Sprint champ Safely Kept.
In the 1990 Metropolitan Handicap, he placed second by a neck to U.S. Horse of the Year Criminal Type, beating Hall of Fame Eclipse Award Champion Easy Goer while receiving 14 pounds in weight.
Housebuster made the last start of his racing career a winning one on September 28, 1991 in the Vosburgh Stakes at Belmont Park.[3]
His outstanding record earned him the Eclipse Award for the 1990 American Champion Sprint Horse and again in 1991. He became the first horse to win the sprint title in successive years since Great Above's Hall of Fame dam Ta Wee did it in 1969-70.
In 2013, Housebuster was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York.[4]