December 2

John Breckinridge was born on the 2nd in 1760 in Staunton, Virginia. At the time, Staunton was considered a frontier town, which could have held him apart from great opportunities. He was however a bit of a whiz kid and managed to attend the prestigious William and Mary College. Further evidence of Breckenridge’s remarkable capabilities may be found in his election to the Virginia legislature when he was only 19 years old. One explanation might be that he got a bunch of very good genes from his parents. In his later years, he would serve in the United States Senate, develop a prosperous law practice, and found Castleton Farm, one of the more notable farms in American thoroughbred racing history. His remarkable talents would follow down in his family line. Breckenridge’s great-great-grandson, Bunny Breckinridge (pictured) would achieve a similar level of success when, in 1958, he appeared as ‘The Ruler’ in Ed Wood’s masterpiece Plan 9 From Outer Space, arguably the worst movie ever made.