Flamingo (horse)
Flamingo | |
---|---|
Sire | 2000 Guineas (1928)Great Yorkshire Stakes (1928) |
Flamingo (1925 – 7 November 1947) was a British
Background
Flamingo was a small but "beautifully made" bay horse bred in England by
Flamingo was sired by Flamboyant, a top-class stayer who won the Doncaster Cup in 1921 and the Goodwood Cup in 1922. Flamingo's dam Lady Peregrine has a half-sister to Omar Khayyam and became a very influential broodmare whose other descendants have included Aloma's Ruler, Septimus and Cirrus des Aigles.[4]
Racing career
1927: two-year-old season
In the spring of 1927 Flamingo won the appropriately named Spring Stakes He finished second on his other start that year.
Flamingo ended the season with earnings of £7328, making him the most financially successful juvenile in England,[8] and was regarded with Fairway as one of the two leading contenders for the following year's Epsom Derby.[9] He was described as a "dour fighter", but lacking in scope and room for improvement.[10] In the Free Handicap, an assessment of the best two-year-olds to race in Britain he was assigned a weight of 122 pounds, making him the fourth-best horse of his generation behind Fairway, The Hermit II and Buland.[11]
1928: three-year-old season
During the winter of 1927/8 Jack Jarvis was reported to be "intensely pleased" with the colt's progress.
In the Epsom Derby over 1+1⁄2 miles on 6 June Flamingo was strongly fancied although Fairway started favourite.[16] In the immediate build-up to the race the colt had been afforded police protection to prevent his being targeted by "dopers and other evilly-disposed individuals".[17] Flamingo broke well and disputed the lead with Sunny Trace with the pair going "hell for leather"[18] and setting an extremely strong pace before the latter gave way, allowing Flamingo open up a clear advantage in the straight. He looked exhausted however in the last quarter mile and was overtaken by the 33/1 outsider Felstead who won by 1+1⁄2 lengths.[18] Later that month the colt was beaten when sent to France for the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp Racecourse.[19] According to press reports he started favourite but became agitated and upset owing to his unfamiliarity with the French starting procedures and finished unplaced behind Cri de Guerre.[20]
Flamingo returned to the track in late August and won the Great Yorkshire Stakes over fourteen furlongs at York Racecourse carrying a weight of 135 pounds.[21] On 10 September Flamingo contested the St Leger Stakes over 14+1⁄2 furlongs at Doncaster Racecourse. Racing on unusually firm ground he came home fourth of the thirteen runners behind Fairway, Palais Royal and Cyclonic.[22]
1929: four-year-old season
Flamingo remained in training as a four-year-old in 1929 with the Ascot Gold Cup as his objective but did not stand up to training and was retired from racing at the end of the year.
Assessment and honours
In their book, A Century of Champions, based on the Timeform rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Flamingo an "inferior" winner of the 2000 Guineas.[23]
Stud record
After his retirement from racing Flamingo became a breeding stallion in England. The best of his offspring included Flyon (Ascot Gold Cup) and Flamenco (St James's Palace Stakes), Bao Dai (Prix du Petit Couvert, Prix La Haye Jousselin). Flamingo died on 7 November 1947.[24]
Pedigree
Sire Flamboyant (GB) 1918 |
Tracery (USA) 1909 |
Rock Sand (GB | Sainfoin |
---|---|---|---|
Roquebrune | |||
Topiary (GB) | Orme | ||
Plaisanterie | |||
Simonath (GB) 1905 |
St Simon
|
Galopin | |
St Angela | |||
Philomath (IRE) | Philammon | ||
Chrysalis | |||
Dam Lady Peregrine (GB) 1916 |
White Eagle (GB) 1905 |
Gallinule | Isonomy |
Moorhen | |||
Merry Gal | Galopin | ||
Mary Seaton | |||
Lisma (GB) 1907 |
Persimmon | St Simon | |
Perdita | |||
Luscious | Royal Hampton | ||
Alveole (Family 9-h)[4] |
- Flamingo was inbred 3 × 4 to St Simon, meaning that this stallion appears in both the third and fourth generations of his pedigree.
References
- ^ a b "Flamingo pedigree". Equineline.
- ISBN 0-354-08536-0.
- ^ a b "Racing". The New Zealand Herald. 8 September 1927. p. 16 – via Papers Past.
- ^ a b "Adelaide - Family 9-h". Bloodlines.net. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
- ^ "Racing". The New Zealand Herald. 8 May 1928. p. 14 – via Papers Past.
- The Australasian. 31 August 1928. p. 32 – via trove.nla.gov.au.
- ^ "Sporting Notes from Home". The Australasian. 27 August 1928. p. 32 – via trove.nla.gov.au.
- ^ "Sporting". The Press. 10 November 1927. p. 18 – via Papers Past.
- ^ "Sporting". Otago Daily Times. 4 March 2018. p. 11 – via Papers Past.
- ^ "Trotting Fixtures". The Evening Post. 5 May 1928. p. 23 – via Papers Past.
- ^ "The World of Sport". The Advertiser (Adelaide). 7 December 1928. p. 15 – via trove.nla.gov.au.
- ^ "The World of Sport". The Northern Miner. 25 February 1928. p. 3 – via trove.nla.gov.au.
- ^ "The World of Sport". The Advertiser (Adelaide). 31 May 1928. p. 21 – via trove.nla.gov.au.
- ^ "The Two Thousand". The Evening Post (New Zealand). 3 May 1928. p. 13 – via Papers Past.
- ^ "Won by Rank Outsider". The Evening Post (New Zealand). 7 June 1928. p. 13 – via Papers Past.
- ^ "Result of the Derby". The New Zealand Herald. 7 June 1928. p. 9 – via Papers Past.
- ^ "Sporting". The Press. 26 June 1928. p. 12 – via Papers Past.
- ^ a b "The Derby". The Press. 21 July 1928. p. 16 – via Papers Past.
- ^ "Sporting". Otago Daily Times. 18 August 1928. p. 7 – via Papers Past.
- ^ "Flamingo Fails in France". The Referee. 1 August 1928. p. 3 – via trove.nla.gov.au.
- ^ "Sporting Notes from Home". The Australasian. 13 October 1928. p. 31 – via trove.nla.gov.au.
- ^ "Doncaster St. Leger". The New Zealand Herald. 24 October 1928. p. 18 – via Papers Past.
- ISBN 1-901570-15-0.
- ^ Wetherby (1949). "Obituary of Stallions". The General Stud Book. 31: 1170.