Hello everyone! Here is a story of one of the most influential stallions of all time. The great stallion’s eyes stare back at the Jockey Club visitor with the brilliance of a champion just retired. It appears he could have raced only yesterday, though about him in every racing museum on the planet hang literally hundreds of oil paintings of his descendents. Can a world without Hyperion, *Nasrullah or Northern Dancer be imagined? Could Tesio have bred a *Ribot without him? What a boring year 1957 might have been without Round Table, Gallant Man and Bold Ruler. And how bleak the 1970’s would have been without the last three Triple Crown winners; Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed. Who is this majestic creature? A Triple Crown winner of old? Hardly. Indeed the death of an owner precluded his even contesting a classic. Still he remains alive in the veins of classic winners from Pimlico to Newmarket and from Longchamps to Woodbine. He is St. Simon. Standing 16.1 hands, many considered St Simon to have flawless conformation, however, he was noted for his highly strung temperament. Defining immortality in the Thoroughbred is a controversial issue with no definitive answer. Racing is a sport of opinion. Yet we offer for consideration an undefeated racehorse who subsequently lead the sire list nine times. A horse whose son, Rabelais, is responsible in direct male descent for another undefeated champion, *Ribot, once called “the greatest classic influence in the history of the sport.” “So long as I live, I will never again touch that animal with a spur; he’s not a horse, he’s a bloomin’ steam engine.....” St. Simon’s jockey, Fred Archer. One of the most influential stallions of all time, St Simon was bred in England by Prince Batthyany of Hungary. The Prince owned both Galopin and St Angela, his sire and dam. Upon the death of the Prince, his horses were sold. Galopin went to Mr Henry Chaplin for 8000 guineas, and St Angela, in foal to Galopin, went to Leopold de Rothschild for 320 guineas and was sent to France. Trainer Mathew Dawson purchased St Simon for the Duke of Portland for 1600 guineas. He was unbeaten as a racehorse, his ten victories spanning five furlongs to two miles and five furlongs, with none causing him to really extend himself. He won the Ascot Gold Cup (2 1-2 miles) by twenty lengths, with so much left he went another mile before he would consent to being pulled up. He retired to stud at four years of age, completely sound, first at Mathew Dawsons Heath Farm, and later at the Dukes Welbeck Stud. He died when he was 27 years old and his skeleton belongs to the British Museum of Natural History. Here is an interesting story about his jockey, Fred Archer, one of the greatest and most tragic jockeys of all time: nhrm.co.uk/Default.aspx?page=272 The last photo is from 1953: Skeleton horses get a dusting down and a plastic wrapping in the Natural History Museum in London. The one under the plastic covers is that of St Simon.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 15:37:57 +0000
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