Domino (1891–1897) was a 19th-century American thoroughbred race horse. Background A dark brown, almost black, colt, Domino was sired by Himyar out of the mare Mannie Gray. Sam Hildreth writes in his book The Spell of the Turf that the colt looked black but was actually a deep chestnut. Himyar was out of speed horse Alarm who'd inherited this speed from the great Eclipse. Domino, who also inherited that speed, was foaled at Major Barak Thomas's Dixiana Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. What he did not have was stamina. Owned by James R. Keene, he was purchased as a yearling for $3,000 by his son, Foxhall Keene. Domino was trained by William Lakeland and ridden by jockey Fred Taral, whom Domino hated for his rough style and copious use of whip and spur. Racing career 1893: two-year-old season At the age of two, he won the Great Eclipse Stakes, the Great American Stakes, the Great Trial Stakes, the Hyde Park Stakes, the Matron Stakes, the Monmouth Park Produce Stakes, and the prestigious Futurity Stakes. The Futurity Stakes marked the beginning of Domino's hatred for Taral. During the running, Domino's stablemate fell, and Domino, trying to avoid him, nearly went down as well. Taral whipped Domino mercilessly as a result, and then, when a colt named Dobbins challenged him, Taral went for the whip again. A newspaper article, while dramatic, described the race as follows:"Once, twice, thrice, the lash descended on Domino's quivering flanks, but still Dobbins crept nearer and nearer...A furlong from home Dobbins' muzzle showed ahead. Taral shifted his whip from his right to his left hand and played a tattoo on Domino's ribs that could be heard half a mile away. His heels were busy, and Domino's sides ran blood...The game colt that had never known defeat, struggled on, and 100 yards from the finish there was not a man alive capable of predicting the winner."By now, people called him "The Black Whirlwind". About this time heats no longer dominated horse races in America (they'd fallen out of favor in England decades earlier), and speed was becoming a premium. Domino was considered the fastest sprinter of his time. 1894: three-year-old season In his first start at age three in the Withers Stakes, Domino defeated the Belmont Stakes champion Henry of Navarre, and went on to win five of the next seven races he entered including a dead heat with