Foxhall P. Keene
Foxhall Parker Keene | |
|---|---|
 Keene in 1909 | |
| Born | December 18, 1867 |
| Died | September 25, 1941 (aged 73) |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's polo | ||
Representing a  Mixed team
| ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 |
1900 Paris | Team competition |
Foxhall Parker Keene (December 18, 1867 - September 25, 1941) was an American thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder, a World and Olympic Gold Medallist in polo.[1] He was rated the best all-around polo player in the United States for eight consecutive years, a golfer who competed in the U.S. Open, and a pioneer racecar driver who vied for the Gordon Bennett Cup.
Biography
He was born in San Francisco, California on December 18, 1867 to Sarah Jay Daingerfield and James Robert Keene.[2] At the time of his birth, his father was president of the San Francisco Stock Exchange. James R. Keene was also a major owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses and a founder of The Jockey Club from whom Foxhall Keene inherited Castleton Farm, an important breeding operation near Lexington, Kentucky. In addition to his substantial involvement in flat racing, he was also a founding member of the National Steeplechase Association.
Keene was an avid golfer who competed in the 1897 U.S. Open and who made it to the quarterfinals in the 1898 U.S. Amateur. Although he played at a high level in a number of sports, he excelled at the game of polo. A 10-goal player, he was a member of the Rockaway Hunting Club in Lawrence, Nassau County, New York, today the oldest country club in the United States. With team captain Tommy Hitchcock, in 1886 he was part of the first U.S. international polo team that competed in the inaugural International Polo Cup matches against England. He was rated the best all-around polo player in the United States for eight consecutive years and won the Gold Medal in Polo at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Following its formation, he was inducted posthumously into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in 1992.
With the advent of automobile racing, Keene competed in the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup at Athy, County Kildare, Ireland driving a Mercedes. In a race won by Camille Jenatzy, he did not finish after his car experienced axle problems.
Several publications, including The American Heritage Cookbook and Illustrated History of American Eating and Drinking and the Encyclopedia of North American Eating and Drinking Traditions, Customs and Rituals claim that Chicken à la King was prepared at Keene's suggestion.
Keene maintained a country home at Monkton, Maryland and a home in England with a stable at Melton Mowbray where he kept up to ten field hunters for fox hunting. In addition, he had a seasonal residence at Ayer's Cliff, Quebec on Lake Massawippi where he died on September 25, 1941.[2][3]
Legacy
His father named one of his horses Foxhall who won the 1882 Ascot Gold Cup in England. Recently, two Thoroughbred racehorses, one born in 1983 and another in 2002, were named after Foxhall Keene.
References
- ^ "Foxhall Parker Keene". Retrieved 2011-04-13.
In 1929, Newell Bent in his book, American Polo, wrote of him.."Mr. Keene was a very brilliant and finished No. 3 and his play both in England and America was so outstanding over so many years, that he was long considered above all other polo players in this country. Handicapped from 1888 to 1918-fourteen years at ten goals and sixteen years at nine goals-with never a man handicapped above him and for eight years standing alone at the head of the handicap list, is Mr. Keene's long record at polo play.
- ^ a b "Foxhall Keene, gentleman sportsman of a gilded age, became a living legend in America at the turn of the century. Here is the amazing story of the man who would never stay down". Sports Illustrated. February 16, 1959. Retrieved 2011-04-13.
On September 25, 1941 death came to a lonely, penniless 71-year-old man in a cottage on an estate near the village of Ayer's Cliff in the province of Quebec. His body bore the marks and scars of 17 serious injuries sustained in a long and reckless career.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Foxhall P. Keene, Famous Poloist. Captain of the 1913 American Team That Went to England Is Dead in Canada". New York Times. September 26, 1941. Retrieved 2011-04-13.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)
External links
- Hatch, Alden and Foxhall Keene. Full Tilt. The Sporting Memoirs of Foxhall Keene. (1938) The Derrydale Press ISBN 1-199-23975-5
- Eclipse Press story of James and Foxhall Keene
- Foxhall Keene racing in his Mercedes (Vanderbilt Cup)
- DatabaseOlympics for Foxhall Keene
- Rockaway Hunting Club information on Foxhall Keene
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
| Warning | Local parameters are deprecated. |
- American racing drivers
- American equestrians
- American polo players
- American male golfers
- Polo players at the 1900 Summer Olympics
- Olympic polo players of the United States
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States
- International Polo Cup
- Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame inductees
- Golfers from California
- Racing drivers from California
- Sportspeople from San Francisco, California
- 1867 births
- 1941 deaths