High Top

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For other uses, see High-top (disambiguation).

High Top
Sire
2000 Guineas (1972)
Awards
Timeform rating: 131
Honours
Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain and Ireland

High Top (1969–1988) was a British

Observer Gold Cup. After winning a trial race on his first appearance of 1972, he led from the start to beat the future Epsom Derby winner Roberto in the 2000 Guineas. His classic win was the first of seventeen British classic winners ridden by Willie Carson.[1] High Top never won again but finished a close second in both the Sussex Stakes and the Prix Jacques Le Marois
. At the end of the year he was retired to stud and became an extremely successful breeding stallion.

Background

High Top, described as "a most commanding individual",

socks[3] bred by Bob McCreery at the Moreton Paddox Stud in Warwickshire, England.[4] He was from the third crop of foals sired by Derring-Do, a horse whose wins included the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in 1965 and whose other offspring included the St Leger winner Peleid and the 2000 Guineas winner Roland Gardens.[5] High Top's dam Camenae, won one minor race, but was a successful broodmare, producing several other winners including the Jersey Stakes winner Camden Town. As a descendant of the broodmare Gentlemen's Relish, Camenae came from the same branch of Thoroughbred family 11-a which also produced the German champion Acatenango and the Prix du Jockey Club and Irish Derby winner Old Vic.[6]

As a

Washington, D.C. International Stakes).[4]

Racing career

1971:two-year-old season

Racing as a two-year-old in 1972, High Top won three times from four races. After winning his debut, High Top ran in the

11/2. Ridden by the Scottish jockey Willie Carson he won by three quarters of a length from Steel Pulse, a colt which went on to win the following year's Irish Derby. The unplaced horses included Boucher and Rheingold
.

High Top's win at Doncaster was the culmination of an outstanding season for Van Cutsem's two-year-old colts: he had won the Dewhurst Stakes with Crowned Prince and the Middle Park Stakes with Sharpen Up. In the Free Handicap, a rating of the year's best British two-year-olds, Crowned Prince was given top weight of 133 pounds, with High Top level with Yaroslav in second place with 131.

1972:three-year-old season

On his three-year-old debut, High Top was sent to Yorkshire to contest the Classic Trial at

1000 Guineas two days earlier.[7] High Top led from the start and went well clear approaching the final furlong. In the closing stages the Irish-trained colt Roberto emerged as a challenger, but the favourite was driven out by Carson to win by half a length, with a gap of six lengths back to Sun Prince in third.[8] The colt's success was a first classic win for both Carson and Van Cutsem.[9] High Top was strongly fancied to follow up in the Irish 2,000 Guineas but finished unplaced behind Ballymore and returned to Newmarket a sick horse. It was more than two months before he ran again.[4]

When High Top returned in the summer he showed good form without winning. At

Prix du Moulin at Longchamp.[4]

Assessment

The independent Timeform awarded High Top a peak rating of 131 in 1971. In their book A Century of Champions, based on a modified version of the Timeform system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated High Top an "average" winner of the 2000 Guineas.[11]

Stud record

High Top was retired to stud where he proved to be a highly successful sire of winners. Despite the fact that High Top never raced beyond a mile, many of his best offspring excelled over long distances: they included the British Classic winners Cut Above and Circus Plume as well as the Irish Oaks winner Colorspin, the Derby Italiano winner My Top and the Prix du Jockey Club winner Top Ville. He was also the damsire of Opera House, Kayf Tara, Roseate Tern, In the Groove and Classic Cliche.[5] In 1993, largely thanks to the successes of Opera House, High Top was the Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain and Ireland.[12]

In early 1988 High Top was standing at the Woodland Stud at Newmarket when he began to suffer from thrombosis in his hind legs. After showing signs of recovery he had a relapse and was euthanized on veterinary advice on 9 March.[13]

Pedigree

Pedigree of High Top (GB), brown stallion, 1969[14]
Sire
Derring-Do (GB)
1961 		Darius (GB)
1951 		Dante Nearco
Rosy Legend
Yasna Dastur
Ariadne
Sipsey Bridge (GB)
1954 		Abernant Owen Tudor
Rustom Mahal
Claudette Chanteur
Nearly
Dam
Camanae (GB)
1961 		Vimy (FR)
1952 		Wild Risk Rialto
Wild Violet
Mimi Black Devil
Mignon
Madrilene (GB)
1951 		Court Martial Fair Trial
Instantaneous
Marmite Mr Jinks
Gentlemen's Relish (Family 11-a)[6]

References

  1. ^ Harvey, Bill (November 2005). "A Sporting Nation – Willie Carson: King of the Derby". BBC. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  2. ^
    Glasgow Herald
    . 29 April 1972. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  3. ^ "High Top image". Sporthorse-data. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  4. ^
    ISBN 0-354-08536-0
    .
  5. ^ a b "Top Ville: A top broodmare sire – just like his father". Thoroughbred Internet. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Scratch – Family 11-a". Thoroughbred Bloodlines. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  7. ^ "Waterloo battles home for victory". Glasgow Herald. 28 April 1972. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  8. New York Times
    . 10 June 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  9. ^ "All-way win". The Age. 1 May 1972. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  10. Evening Times
    . 25 August 1972. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  11. ISBN 1-901570-15-0. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help
    )
  12. ^ "Leading Broodmare Sires of Great Britain and Ireland". TB Heritage. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  13. ^ "Stallion High Top put down". Glasgow Herald. 10 March 1988. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  14. ^ "High Top pedigree". Equineline. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
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