Pucker Up was born in 1953 and was the daughter of Olympia (sire) and Inquisitive (dam). She was Kentucky bred and foaled on the Rice’s Lexington-based farm which was the primary breeding venture for Dan and Ada Rice. The ½ mile training track in Wheaton served as the local training grounds from 1954-1955 for the promising filly.
Ada was placed with the creative responsibility of naming the thoroughbreds, usually deriving the names from the yearling’s pedigrees or habits. You guessed it, Pucker Up had a habit of puckering her upper lip. She was the first foal of her dam, Lou Lea, who did not race but was the daughter of champion Bull Lea. Her great grandmother, War Path, is a daughter of Man o’ War. Pucker Up’s sire Olympia was one of the first stallions to stand at Danada Farm. Dan Rice found that he could not beat Olympia on the racetracks, so he acquired the stallion for the breeding operation.
Every racing season, Arlington Park holds the running of the Grade III Pucker Up stakes in honor of the 1957 champion Mare. Pucker Up won top filly and mare honors in 1957 by winning 6 out of 13 starts, and finishing out of the money only once, early in the racing season. She proved her mettle in the 1957 Washington Park Handicap with a 3-length victory over the colts. The American Racing Manual wrote “Pucker Up is fast and tough. Those are her salient characteristics. No mare that was not reasonably sound for racing purposes could have shipped from coast to coast as she did, racing from January to October in fast company, frequently carrying riders weighing into the 120s.” Many tracks were prepared for speed resulting in hard and jarring surfaces, but Pucker Up preferred them firm to yielding. Her consistent performance over those surfaces proved she was a fundamentally sound racer. Pucker Up could set the pace. Pucker Up could stalk the leaders. It goes without saying she was a good doer. She never showed a display of nerves and galloped under seven different jockeys during the 1957 season. Pucker Up’s workouts were managed by Hall of Fame trainer James Conway, who also developed other high-class mares.
Early in September Pucker Up was scheduled to race at the south Chicago-based racetrack, Washington Park. The favorite for the Washington Park Handicap was Swoon’s Son, assigned a top weight of 130 pounds, followed by Fabius with 118 pounds. Pucker Up was assigned 111 lbs, as the only mare entered in the classic race typically run for 3 and 4-year-old colts. Pucker Up went to the lead with the prompting of jockey Bill Shoemaker and for a half mile Swoon’s son ran a length behind. Then Pucker Up began to increase her margin on the far turn and she went on to win over the colts by 3 lengths. She was the only mare in a field of nine, and she ran the mile in 1:34: ⅘ second, the best recorded time for the local season. Pucker Up was first or second in 10 of the 13 races that year and was named Best Handicap mare of 1957 by the Thoroughbred Racing Association for her efforts. It was a well-deserved title as in the Washington Park Handicap she beat the boys, including the outstanding Swoon’s Son.
