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Needles
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Sire:	Ponder
Grandsire:	Pensive
Dam:	Noodle Soup
Damsire:	Jack High
Sex:	Stallion
Foaled:	1953
Country:	United States
Colour:	Bay
Breeder:	W. E. Leach
Owner:	D & H Stable
Trainer:	Hugh L. Fontaine
Record:	21: 11-3-3
Earnings:	$600,355
Major Racing Wins & Honours & Awards
Major Racing Wins
Hopeful Stakes (1955) Sapling Stakes (1955) Flamingo Stakes (1956) Florida Derby (1956) Fort Lauderdale Handicap (1957) American Classic Race wins: Kentucky Derby (1956) Belmont Stakes (1956)
Racing Awards
U.S. Champion 2-Yr-Old Colt (1955) U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1956)
Honours
United States Racing Hall of Fame (2000) Needles Stakes at Calder Race Course
Infobox last updated on: October 28, 2006.

Needles (1953-1984) was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred and raced in Florida, the descendant of Blenheim II and a son and grandson of Kentucky Derby winners, Needles was a sickly foal who was given the name because of the numerous veterinary injections he had to be given to overcome broken ribs and pneumonia.

Fully recovered, Needles had an impressive racing season at age two, winning six of ten starts including the prestigious Hopeful Stakes. His performances that year earned him the 1955 Eclipse Award for Outstanding 2-Year-Old Male Horse.

Ridden by David Erb, Needles was a crowd favorite for his thundering come-from-behind style, typically overcoming a 15 length deficit. The betting favorite, Needles impressively won the 1956 Kentucky Derby by coming from 16th place in a field of 17 to make up 24 lengths and winning going away with a powerful stretch drive. His victory marked the first time a Florida-bred horse won America's most prestigious horse race. In the next leg of the U.S. Triple Crown races at Pimlico Race Course, Needles finished 2nd to the Calumet Farm colt Fabius whom he had easily beaten in the Derby. Needles then came back in New York to win the gruelling 1½ mile long Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown races. Rival Fabius finished third. Needles 1956 performances earned him another Eclipse Award as Three Year Old U.S. Champion.

At age four, Needles started three times finishing 1, 2, and 3. His 1957 racing season ended early following an injury and he was sent to stand at stud at owner Bonnie Heath's breeding farm in Marion County, Florida. Needles' success in racing sparked a boom in Florida horse breeding which, amongst others, produced notable runners such as Carry Back and Affirmed.

Needles died in 1984 at the age of 31. His heart and hooves are buried in the Garden of Champions at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company Pavilion. In 2000, he was inducted into the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

• Needles' pedigree and racing stats
• Needles' at the United States National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
• Needles' 1956 Kentucky Derby