Flora Temple

Color print of a trotting horse (Flora Temple) standing in a pasture.

A color print of a liver bay horse standing in a pasture. A barn and/or stable is in the background.

Flora Temple was foaled in 1845 it Utica, New York from the sire Loomis Bogus and a dam named Madame Temple. By 1861 she had become a racing icon, the “Queen of the Turf” and was the second mare, after Lady Suffolk, to trot the mile in under 2:30. Flora equaled or lowered the record six times, continually beating her own best times. Flora Temple is the “Bob Tail Nag” referred to in the famous song “Camptown Races” by Stephen Foster, so popular that ships were named after her. After her death in 1877, she was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1955 as an “Immortal” because she won 92 races in her career. This image depicts Flora Temple at her last home, Erdenheim Stud Farm, owned by Aristides and Geroge Welch. She produced no offspring until 1869 when, at age 24, she was bred to the imported thoroughbred Leamington. Their foal, Prince Imperial was bred for speed, and while he trained, he never raced. He was sold to Robert Bonner, who used him as a road horse.

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