The great racehorse who provided many lessons for Christmas

Billy Christmas died on November 14, 2021, just shy of his 96th birthday. He was a trainer, owner and breeder in Maryland. His son Biff is a horseman as well. Biffs family name goes back to the 13th century. It was Noelle in France. They moved to England and changed their name to Christmas. The family's farm is Idle Miss Farm in Baltimore County. It's owned by Bif's grandfather Benjamin Franklin Christmas II. In the past, Buf has been called Christmas by some people. Now he's called Benjamin Christmas, which is not so popular.

Christmas is a family name. The first Christmas to settle in North America was Richard Dictoris Christmas. Thomas H Christmas was convicted of murder and hung in 1840. James Yancy Christmas married Rhoda Gaines Whitney in 1863. Myra Gaine Whitney was the engine driving the longest-running court case in U.S. jurisprudence. Louise White and Billy Christmas met on the racetrack and were married in 1953. They were together for 66 years.

Billy Christmas trained Terrible Tiger, a son of Amerigo out of a Your Host mare, who won 23 races in 72 starts. Christmas also trained Kathy Kusner in the 1971 Marlboro Nursery stakes. Julie Krone rode a number of Billy Christmas horses during the Mid-Atlantic part of her career. Gallorette was bred by Belair Stud, bought by William du Pont and trained by Preston Burch. She was sold for $250 to someone in New York for a pleasure and point-to-point mount.

Gallorette was a filly bred by Willian L. Brann. She was 7 when she was sold to Burch. Galloretter won the Acorn Stakes, the Pimlico Oaks, and the Delaware Oaks in 1945. Her career earnings of $445,535 made headlines. Citation arrived at the end of 1948 with nearly twice that amount. He was only 3. The prize money for fillies and mares was woefully tight compared to open company.

Gallorette was a great racehorse. She won the allowance race at Jamaica at age 3. Hoop Jr won Kentucky Derby 18 days later. Galloretter won Brooklyn Handicap in 1946. She also won Belmont Stakes winner Pavot in Empire City.

Gallorette won the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga in 1948. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962. Ed Christmas retired from the racing in the mid-1980s and went into a restaurant business. He has recently moved to Palm Desert, California. He was asked to work at a golf club a year ago. His father was an attorney. Galloretter won some races when she shouldn't have. Her trainer took a lot of lessons from him. Biff Christmas is now a director of food and beverage service at the PGA West resort complex. It was a satisfying second career, but nothing like the racetrack.