After starting slowly, he settled the race in the straight with what the New York Times described as "a brilliant burst of speed"[8] to reverse two earlier defeats by Twenty Grand.
At the same track on April 26, he finished last of the six runners in the Chesapeake Stakes, after which he was reported to be suffering from a kidney ailment described as "azoturia" or "blackwater".
Equipoise, who started 3/5 favorite, won by two and a half lengths despite being eased down by Workman near the finish and was received with "thunderous applause".
[20] In August, he faced the highly regarded Gallant Sir in the Hawthorne Gold Cup and won a "thrilling" race by two lengths to record his sixth successive win.
On November 6, he overcame a wet and muddy Belmont track (described as a "sea of slop"[23]) to beat Faireno in the Whitney Gold Trophy.
He showed some promise in defeat in two prep races and started favorite despite top weight of 130 pounds against what was described as "the greatest field of horses ever assembled".
[2] Equipoise's challenge ended in disappointment: according to Sonny Workman, he "simply wouldn't run" as he finished seventh to the Irish-bred Steeplechase specialist Azucar.
[6] His career was greatly restricted by hoof problems, but he was still regarded by contemporary observers as the outstanding American horse of his era.
[6] Four years later, the success of his progeny, notably the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Shut Out, saw him become America's Champion sire.
[27] In "Fugue for Tinhorns," the opening number of the musical Guys and Dolls, Equipoise is referred to as the great-grandfather of one of the song's fictional racehorses.
The Masterful Mind of Mortimer Meek, Fantastic Adventures, May 1941; reprinted in The First William P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK, Wildside Press.