 Owned and bred by Daniel R. Harness of Chillicothe, Ohio, and trained by both Charles E. Brossman and Peter Wimmer (when she was seven), Imp's male line of descent was the great Eclipse.Imp, nicknamed "My Coal Black Lady" after a popular song of the day, was a bit of a homely-looking thing, the daughter of parents who each raced only once.Her sire won the Wilton Park Stakes in England but her dam was injured in her only start.