Fuss Budget

A Kentucky-bred thoroughbred mare foaled in 1928, Fuss Budget won 12 races before starting her polo career. A half-sister to racing legend Twenty Grand, she had great speed. Trained for polo by Terence Preece, Fuss Budget played with distinction in the most hotly contested matches of the era, most notably the U.S. Open Championship in 1937 and 1938, two chukkers in the final of the U.S. Open in 1939, ridden by Bob Skene, and three periods for Michael Phipps in 1940.

Considered by owner C.V. Whitney as one of his greatest mounts, the speedy Fuss Budget earned many accolades, including the National Polo Pony Society’s Prince Friarstown Challenge Cup for best playing mare in 1937 and 1938. In 1939, Esquire magazine described her as “a devilishly clever bay horse,” and during her era, she was clearly “the First Lady of the Polo Realm.”

Watercolor portrait of Fuss Budget (Top Photo) by artist, Melinda Brewer; www.poloart.ca