Tam started a wonderful posting on memories of the early sixties. In the ensuing posts, mention was made of a horse possibly owned by Winston Churchill. It sent me straight to Google. After only a couple of minutes, I found that the former PM started his career as a racehorse owner at the stately age of 75, when he bought a horse called Colonist 11, which won thirteen races of his twenty four starts, with five places thrown for good measure. In all, he owned thirty six racehorses and a dozen brood mares. Can anyone else add to this history of the great man? It seems that he may have owned a horse that won races, called Vienna, but know nothing about it.
http://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/reference/frequently-asked-questions-faq/personal-life Brood Mares: Cedilla: bred 1951, sold 1962. Comma: by Chamoissaire out of Cedilla, 1958; sold 1962. Madonna: bred 1945. Moll Flanders: bought 1949. Pannikin II: bought 1948. Pink Lady Poetic: bought 1949. Salka: bred 1950. Sayala: bred 1951. Sister Sarah: died 1955. Turkish Blood: bred 1944, died 1961. The Veil: by Abernant out of Sister Sarah, 1953. Racehorses: Aberdilla: by Abernant out of Cedilla, 1961. Alba: by Abernant out of Salka, 1959; sold to stud in United States. Aura: by Aureole out of Cedilla, 1956; sold 1959. Collusion: by Colonist out of Moll Flanders, 1955; won 1956. Colonist II: by Rienzo out of Cybele, 1946; bought as three-year-old in France, 1949. Won 13 races, including Winston Churchill Stakes, Bentinck Stakes and Kensington Palace Stakes and £11,937 in prize money. Sold to stud 1951 for £7,350. Canyon Kid: bred 1948; won Speedy Stakes. Died 1950 or 1951. Dark Issue: trained in Ireland; won Irish 1000 Guineas 1955. First Light: bred 1953. Galaxy: by Galcador out of Salka, 1956; sold 1958. Gibraltar III: bred 1950; won twice 1952-53. Great Winter ( suspect this should be Red Winter): trained in Ireland. Halo: by Hyperion out of Madonna, 1956; won in 1959 and retired to stud at Newchapel as a brood mare. High Hat: by Hyperion, out of Madonna, 1957; won four races, including Aly Khan Gold Cup and Winston Churchill Stakes, 4th in Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Syndicated to stud in Ireland and sold to Japan 1971. Holiday Time: bred 1955; won three times as two-year-old. Honeycomb: by Honeyway out of Madonna, 1961. Kemal: by Never Say Die out of Turkish Blood, 1959; half brother to Vienna, won over hurdles and on the flat. Retired to stud in Denmark. Loving Cup: by Holywell out of Pannikin II, 1949; won in 1952 and retired to stud at Newchapel as brood mare. Lupina: by High Lupus out of Salka, 1961. The Minstrel: by Abernant out of The Veil, 1960. Non Stop: bred 1949; won twice 1952-53. Novitiate: by Fair Trial out of The Veil, 1959: won as 2-year-old. Pigeon Vole: by Fastnet out of Colombe Poignard~e, 1950; bought in France 1953, won Robert Wilmot Stakes, Windsor. Pinnacle: bred 1953; won 1955. Planter's Punch: by Colonist out of Loving Cup, 1955; sold 1958. Pol Roger: by Rienzo out of Coquetterie, 1949; won three times, 1952-53. Le Pretendant: by Ocean Swell out of Cybele, 1953; half brother to Colonist. Won Winston Churchill Stakes, ran in Washington International. Retired to stud in Pakistan. Prince Arthur: by King Legend out of Poetic, 1950; won three times 1952-54, including Winston Churchill Stakes. Punctuation: bred 1956. Release: by Court Martial out of Salka, 1957; won Ebbisham Stakes (£3,500) in 1960, second in Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, won twice 1961, retired as brood mare at Newchapel. Satrap Seraph: out of Sayala, 1957: won as 2-year-old and in Maypole Handicap following year. Retired as brood mare at New-chapel. Sunhat: by Honeyway out of Madonna, 1960. Sunstroke: by Hyperion out of Moll Flanders, 1955; won twice, sold to Spain for £2000, 1958. Tudor Monarch: out of Madonna by Abernant, 1955; won two races worth £3,082, including Stewards Cup at Goodwood. Sold to stud in Queensland, Australia, for £1,520 in 1959 (named best-looking stallion in the state, 1963-64). Vienna: by Aureole out of Turkish Blood, 1957; won twice 1960, three times, 1961; won Prix Ganay at Longchamps (£10,000). Retired to stud in Ireland. Welsh Abbot: out of Sister Sarah by Abernant, 1955; won twice, the Challenge Stakes and Portland Handicap, total of £6,882. Syndicated to stud in England for £20,000, 1959; successful sire of sprinters. Welsh Monk: by Abernant out of The Veil, 1958; won at Newmarket. Why Tell As you see he had a good bit of success, with ones he bred too.
Sweet Jesus Nass, that's an amazing effort. Well done mate. Do you know if any of these raced at Group or Grade level?
Dark Issue: trained in Ireland; won Irish 1000 Guineas 1955. http://www.pedigreequery.com/dark issue Release: by Court Martial out of Salka, 1957; won Ebbisham Stakes (£3,500) in 1960, second in Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, won twice 1961, retired as brood mare at Newchapel. Vienna: by Aureole out of Turkish Blood, 1957; won twice 1960, three times, 1961; won Prix Ganay at Longchamps (£10,000). Retired to stud in Ireland. http://www.pedigreequery.com/vienna Vienna was the sire of Vaguely Noble winner of the Arc.
Vienna might have won the Prix Ganay with a healthy 10,000 pounds on offer. But I was amazed to see that he was the Sire of Vaguely Noble. That's huge.
What a great post! I can vaguely remember High Hat being mentioned in the racing results but I remember him better as the sire of High Line, who was probably a better horse than his sire. Hadn't realised Churchill had bred High Hat, or that he bred Vienna. We pontificate on here about horses being 10f or 12f or dare we mention it St Leger types and then you read Vienna's race record:- 1st in the Blur Riband Stakes (why has that race gone?) as 3yo 1st in the Prix Harcourt as a 5yo (I don't reckon he won the Ganay) 2nd in City and Suburban Handicap as a 4yo (you wouldn't see that today) 2nd in the Ganay, Coronation Cup, Hardwicke Stakes, and 3rd in the St leger and Champion Stakes He didn't breed a stack of winners either so Vaguely Noble was a bit of a fluke maybe but he was bred well enough.
I was reading that Vaguely Noble was concidered one of the three best horses ever bred, that's a huge wrap. He must have been quite a horse seeing that he fetched a world record price twice, when sold.
Even though Vaguely Noble was bred by one of the greatest owner/breeders of his time I'd love to know who considered him one of the three best bred horses ever. Who are the other two? Having said that Lionel B Holliday was a master at sending his mares to slightly quirky sires and getting results. His best horse before Vaguely Noble was probably Hethersett and he was by Hugh lupus, who wasn't everybody's idea of a top sire. Vaguely Noble fetched his record as a 2yo at that year's December Sales. His vendor Brook Holliday (son) must have decided he had better horses when he entered him for the sales, but after that entry he won the Timeform Gold Cup (now the Racing Post Trophy) for trainer Walter Wharton in the mud at Doncaster. If I remember he made 128,000guineas at the sale and it was considered a fortune. If Holliday hadn't sold Vaguely Noble he'd have been transferred to Dick Hern and we would never have known if he was any good because Hern spent 1968 and 1969 nursing a load of sick horses. Those years probably put paid to the Holliday racing empire as well.
Bustino, talking about breeding- and I know very little- which would be considered the best sire of all time? I suppose you need to qualify the answer ie. based on no. of winners, prize money, longevity, or whatever else. I know my father used to go on about St Simon and Hyperion- and he considered the latter the best. Latterday I suppose Sadlers Wells haseen phenomenal, but I'd be interested in any comments and opinion from you.
Northern Dancer has to be the best sire of the 20th Century, I base this on how much influence he still has in the bloodlines of around 90% of racehorses running in the UK now.
Nass, yes, it's pretty obvious- I must have a hole in my head this morning. I just picked three names out of my head without thinking!
How about this for a list of Northern Dancer sires. Be My Guest. Danzig. El Gran Senor. Fairy King. Lyphard. Nijinsky. Northern Taste. Nureyev. Sadler's Wells. Storm Bird. Vice Regen.
While researching my granddad's riding career (he was a journeyman flat jockey between the wars) I came across an interesting episode in 1926. Churchill was Chancellor of the Exchequor at the time and sought to introduce a new betting tax. Of course this was the year of the General Strike and the incensed on-course bookies followed the example of the strikers and staged their own strike over two days at Windsor. The Government were made to think again and eventually reversed the tax but Churchill was very unpopular in racing circles for some years after that.
