NUTWOOD

NUTWOOD. A 1,150-pound Kentucky trotting stallion owned by Henry L. STOUT and the source of the name of NUTWOOD PARK. In 1884 hoping to increase interest in horse racing in Dubuque, Stout purchased a 500-acre farm at the present corner of Asbury and Carter add converted it into a trotting and breeding stable. He sent his son, Frank, to Kentucky to buy a well-known horse for their stable. The son returned home with Nutwood, an unknown sixteen-year-old stallion who had been retired from racing for six years. Dubuque racing enthusiasts were sure Stout had been taken advantage of when they found the purchase price for the horse had been $22,000.

By the time of his death in December 1896, Nutwood had earned $650,000 for the Stouts. Brood mares were brought by their owners from across the United States with hope that a colt of the quality of Nutwood would be conceived. As many as sixty-five mares were annually bred for as much as one thousand dollars each. The beautiful horse was the sire of 120 record-setting trotters and 25 pacers. Nutwood was credited with more standards and 2:20 performers in both the first and second generation than any other horse his age.

Nutwood's body was buried on the HIGHLAND STOCK FARM. It is thought the burial site lies in the wooden section near the intersection of Asbury and Carter. On the day of the burial, John Steiner, the sheriff, is said to have leaped into the grave and pulled hair from the mane and tail of the horse. This hair was then given to a prisoner who braided the strands into a two-foot long watch chain of quarter-inch ringlets. The ten thousand dollars Frank Stout left in his will for a monument over Nutwood's grave was never used for that purpose.

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Source:

Len Kruse, "Dubuque Once Famous for Horse Racing," Julien's Journal May 1985