Background
Roman Brother was a bay gelding bred by the Ocala Stud Farm in Marion County Florida. He was sired by Third Brother, who won the Long Island Handicap for his owner-breeder Christopher Chenery in 1956. Third Brother showed some promise as a stallion before his death in 1963: in addition to Roman Brother he sired Exceedingly, who defeated Damascus in the William Dupont Jr. Handicap. Roman Brother's dam, Roman Zephyr won four races and was a descendant of the influential broodmare Plucky Liege. In January 1963 Roman Brother was sent to the Florida Breeders' sale where he was bought for $23,500 (the second highest price at the sale) by Farnsworth Farm.
He entered into the ownership of Louis Wolfson's Harbor View Farm and was trained by future National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame inductee Burley Parke. Roman Brother was an unusually small Thoroughbred, standing 15.1 hands high and weighing in at 889 pounds just before the Belmont Stakes. Contemporary newspapers nicknamed him the "Mighty Mite". Roman Brother was described by one of his handlers as "all heart" but also "a mean little devil".
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