When Claiborne home-bred Doubledogdare made her racing debut on Feb. 23, 1955, it was nearly a month before her second birthday. She finished a respectable fifth that day, but in the coming months she went on to prove that she was a force to be reckoned with.
It was obvious that the strapping daughter of Double Jay had talent, and by the end of the summer she had won or placed in a half-dozen stakes. As the favorite in the Matron S., Doubledogdare “appeared beaten with an eighth of a mile to go,” but launched a move on the turn that put her in front by a length at the wire. Reports from the day suggested that her performance had clinched the divisional championship. Described as “bigger and stronger than most of the colts her age,” Doubledogdare won her final race of the year, Keeneland’s Alcibiades S. “easily,” and, as predicted, was voted Champion 2-Year-Old Filly.
At three, Doubledogdare was a model of consistency. She won or placed in 9 stakes races from spring to fall. Her victories included an easy win in Keeneland’s Ashland S., the Falls City H. at Churchill Downs, and the inaugural running of Keeneland’s Spinster S. which was open to 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds. Doubledogdare’s most notable loss came in the Kentucky Oaks, when her late charge fell short of Calumet’s Princess Turia by a nose at the wire. At the end of the year, she was again named the year’s Champion.
An attempt to race again at four was cut short due to a persistent ankle injury, and Doubledogdare was retired. As a broodmare she failed to produce a runner as talented as herself, but does appear in some hardy European pedigrees. Doubledogdare died in 1974.