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Only Texan to Ever Win Derby CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 5. — Assault is the only winner that was foaled in the biggest state of the union. He came from the largest ranch in that state, the 970,300-acre King Ranch at Kingsville, Texas. In 1939, Robert J. Kleberg had purchased the 1936 Derby winner, Bold Venture, from Morton L. Schwartz for 0,000 and moved him to King Ranch. The sire made his first season at the Texas ranch in 1940. Among broodmares bred to him in 1942 was Iqual, a daughter of Equipoise. Iqual had never been off the King ranch. She was a sickly foal and for a while her owners considered destroying her. However, the ranch veterinarian brought her around, but she was not trained for racing. Instead, she was bred as a two-year-old. Assault was her third foal.
