Two-year-old season Cleopatra broke her maiden race in her first outing. In her second race, she raced against males in the
Hopeful Stakes. In that race at
Saratoga Race Course, she placed second to
Man o' War in the six furlong sprint. Cleopatra's next start came in the prestigious
Champagne Stakes. She won the mile race on dirt going away over males, including the colt Upset.
Three-year-old season At age three, Cleopatra strung together six stakes wins and finished in the money in 13 of 15 starts. In April, she finished second in the
Ladies Handicap to inaugural
Pimlico Oaks winner
Milkmaid at
Aqueduct Racetrack. On the first Saturday of May, Cleopatra ran 15th as the only filly in the 1920
Kentucky Derby. In mid-May, trainer
William Karrick and owner
William R. Coe decided to wheel Cleopatra back 13 days after the Derby and run in the $6,000 the
Pimlico Oaks. In only the second running of that race, she was sent off as the morning line favorite and won the mile and a sixteenth race in 1:53.00 flat against a field of nine stakes-winning fillies, including runner-up Arethusa and Rubidium. While not a top level race, nonetheless Cleopatra's performance in winning the Sun Bonnet Handicap over older mares in June at
Belmont Park was described by the
Daily Racing Form as sensational. In July, Cleopatra won the
Coaching Club American Oaks, setting a new track record at
Belmont Park for the 11-furlong race in 2:18.80. Early in the Saratoga meet, she won the
Huron Handicap. In late August, she won the prestigious
Alabama Stakes at
Saratoga Race Course. In the late autumn, Cleopatra came back to win the
Latonia Championship Stakes (in what is now
Turfway Park), setting a new track record for the marathon 1 3/4 mile race in 2:56.80. It would turn out to be her last race and she was retired to stand for her owner as a
broodmare. Cleopatra's record in 1920 was 6-5-3 in 15 starts. That year, she accumulated the fourth highest annual earnings for a racehorse ever. She was retrospectively named
American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly for 1920 by
The Blood-Horse magazine. == References ==