Equine Perfection
Feb 6, 2016 11:40:30 GMT -5
Post by Evelyn on Feb 6, 2016 11:40:30 GMT -5
Equine Perfection
By Jon White
Xpressbet
Very few racehorses are able to “win them all.” Not even Triple Crown winner American Pharoah was able to avoid being defeated. He lost twice in 11 lifetime starts.
American Pharoah finished fifth when unveiled at the 2014 Del Mar meet, then reeled off eight consecutive victories before finishing second to Keen Ice in the Grade I Travers Stakes at Saratoga last Aug. 29. After the Travers, American Pharoah concluded his racing career with a dominant six-length victory against older rivals in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
“Undefeated performers have an aura of romance and invincibility that appeals to turf goers,” the great Charles Hatton wrote in 1967 when discussing Ribot, who never lost in 16 career starts and twice won the prestigious Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
“They are not a large category,” Hatton continued with regard to undefeated racehorses. “Beginning always with the immortal Hungarian mare Kincsem, who won all 54 of her races, they include Eclipse, Herod, Flying Childers, Hickory Ox, Bay Middleton, Crucifix, The Tetrarch, El Rio Roy, Colin, Barcaldine, Tremont, Bahram, St. Simon, Ormande, Selinta, Nearco, Pharis, Ajax, Prestige and a few others. Excluded from the category are Man o’ War, Native Dancer, Isinglass and Galopin, brilliant animals who were beaten but once.
“It is in a sense amusing that the very winning Kincsem should have got into a rut and compiled the longest sequence of uninterrupted success, as she is of the alleged weaker sex. Actually, there were several mares who won more races, if occasionally beaten. The most successes attributed to a racemare is Catherina’s 79 victories from 176 races. She was a foal of 1830 and was 16 when she entered stud, then had her ninth foal age 27.”
The more that I have researched Kincsem, the more I am truly amazed with what she accomplished.
Kincsem began her racing career in Germany on June 26, 1876, with a 12-length triumph in Berlin. She won 10 races as a 2-year-old, 17 as a 3-year-old, 15 as a 4-year-old and 12 as a 5-year-old.
Born in Hungary in 1874, Kinscem (which means “My Treasure” in the Hungarian lanaguage) raced in eight different countries (Hungary, Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Romania). She won at distances ranging from a half-mile to 2 5/8 miles.
Probably Kinscem’s most significant victory came in the Goodwood Cup, her only start in England. She prevailed by three lengths to extend her winning streak to 37.
Kincsem died on her 13th birthday, March 17, 1887.
Multiple Eclipse Award-winning writer Mary Simon wrote the following about Kincsem in The Thoroughbred Times in 1996:
“If even a fraction of the tales told of Kincsem were true, this Hungarian-bred mare would have been a most unique individual. Allegedly the product of a breeding error (her dam was wooed by the wrong stallion), she was such a homely yearling that her breeder was stuck with her -- at which point some local gypsies stole the filly and danced wildly about her before she was recaptured. That part of the story may seem improbable, but it was too good to let go of, and has long since become part of the Kincsem legend.
“Other stories: The idiosyncratic mare had a passion for train travel, but refused to budge without her personal cat on her back. At post, she would graze on anything in sight, but at the barn she would eat only home-grown feed. After each race, she insisted that flowers be affixed to her bridle before she could be unsaddled. Kincsem was alternately termed ‘vain,’ ‘proud,’ ‘ladylike,’ and ‘kind-hearted’ by various biographers, one of whom told how she would strip off her blanket on cold nights to cover her stableboy as he slept at her feet.”
A number of prominent Thoroughbreds have been able to achieve perfection following Hatton’s death in 1975, such as Landaluce (foaled in 1980), Personal Ensign (1984), Lammtarra (1992), Candy Ride (1999), Vindication (2000), Peppers Pride (2003), Zarkava (2005), Black Caviar (2006) and Frankel (2008).
And, of course, Zenyatta, foaled in 2004, joined the likes of Man o’ War and Native Dancer on the list of “brilliant animals to have been beaten just once,” as Hatton put it. Zenyatta, who is a slam-dunk to be voted into the Hall of Fame this year, was 19-0 before she lost her final race in a photo finish by a head to Blame in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in 2010.
Below is a list that I have compiled of some of the best-known Thoroughbreds to have never been defeated:
54 for 54 Kincscem
25 for 25 Black Caviar
19 for 19 Peppers Pride
16 for 16 Ormonde
16 for 16 Ribot
15 for 15 Colin
14 for 14 Frankel
14 for 14 Nearco
13 for 13 Personal Ensign
12 for 12 Tremont
12 for 12 Asteroid
12 for 12 Barcaldine
12 for 12 Crucifix
9 for 9 St. Simon
8 for 8 Caracalla
8 for 8 Sweetbriar
7 for 7 Regulus
7 for 7 The Tetrarch
7 for 7 Zarkava
6 for 6 Candy Ride
6 for 6 Flying Childers
5 for 5 Bay Middleton
5 for 5 Landaluce
5 for 5 Norfolk
5 for 5 Teofilo
4 for 4 Golden Fleece
4 for 4 Lammtarra
4 for 4 Raise a Native
4 for 4 Vindication
3 for 3 Danzig
3 for 3 Pharis
By Jon White
Xpressbet
Very few racehorses are able to “win them all.” Not even Triple Crown winner American Pharoah was able to avoid being defeated. He lost twice in 11 lifetime starts.
American Pharoah finished fifth when unveiled at the 2014 Del Mar meet, then reeled off eight consecutive victories before finishing second to Keen Ice in the Grade I Travers Stakes at Saratoga last Aug. 29. After the Travers, American Pharoah concluded his racing career with a dominant six-length victory against older rivals in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
“Undefeated performers have an aura of romance and invincibility that appeals to turf goers,” the great Charles Hatton wrote in 1967 when discussing Ribot, who never lost in 16 career starts and twice won the prestigious Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
“They are not a large category,” Hatton continued with regard to undefeated racehorses. “Beginning always with the immortal Hungarian mare Kincsem, who won all 54 of her races, they include Eclipse, Herod, Flying Childers, Hickory Ox, Bay Middleton, Crucifix, The Tetrarch, El Rio Roy, Colin, Barcaldine, Tremont, Bahram, St. Simon, Ormande, Selinta, Nearco, Pharis, Ajax, Prestige and a few others. Excluded from the category are Man o’ War, Native Dancer, Isinglass and Galopin, brilliant animals who were beaten but once.
“It is in a sense amusing that the very winning Kincsem should have got into a rut and compiled the longest sequence of uninterrupted success, as she is of the alleged weaker sex. Actually, there were several mares who won more races, if occasionally beaten. The most successes attributed to a racemare is Catherina’s 79 victories from 176 races. She was a foal of 1830 and was 16 when she entered stud, then had her ninth foal age 27.”
The more that I have researched Kincsem, the more I am truly amazed with what she accomplished.
Kincsem began her racing career in Germany on June 26, 1876, with a 12-length triumph in Berlin. She won 10 races as a 2-year-old, 17 as a 3-year-old, 15 as a 4-year-old and 12 as a 5-year-old.
Born in Hungary in 1874, Kinscem (which means “My Treasure” in the Hungarian lanaguage) raced in eight different countries (Hungary, Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Romania). She won at distances ranging from a half-mile to 2 5/8 miles.
Probably Kinscem’s most significant victory came in the Goodwood Cup, her only start in England. She prevailed by three lengths to extend her winning streak to 37.
Kincsem died on her 13th birthday, March 17, 1887.
Multiple Eclipse Award-winning writer Mary Simon wrote the following about Kincsem in The Thoroughbred Times in 1996:
“If even a fraction of the tales told of Kincsem were true, this Hungarian-bred mare would have been a most unique individual. Allegedly the product of a breeding error (her dam was wooed by the wrong stallion), she was such a homely yearling that her breeder was stuck with her -- at which point some local gypsies stole the filly and danced wildly about her before she was recaptured. That part of the story may seem improbable, but it was too good to let go of, and has long since become part of the Kincsem legend.
“Other stories: The idiosyncratic mare had a passion for train travel, but refused to budge without her personal cat on her back. At post, she would graze on anything in sight, but at the barn she would eat only home-grown feed. After each race, she insisted that flowers be affixed to her bridle before she could be unsaddled. Kincsem was alternately termed ‘vain,’ ‘proud,’ ‘ladylike,’ and ‘kind-hearted’ by various biographers, one of whom told how she would strip off her blanket on cold nights to cover her stableboy as he slept at her feet.”
A number of prominent Thoroughbreds have been able to achieve perfection following Hatton’s death in 1975, such as Landaluce (foaled in 1980), Personal Ensign (1984), Lammtarra (1992), Candy Ride (1999), Vindication (2000), Peppers Pride (2003), Zarkava (2005), Black Caviar (2006) and Frankel (2008).
And, of course, Zenyatta, foaled in 2004, joined the likes of Man o’ War and Native Dancer on the list of “brilliant animals to have been beaten just once,” as Hatton put it. Zenyatta, who is a slam-dunk to be voted into the Hall of Fame this year, was 19-0 before she lost her final race in a photo finish by a head to Blame in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in 2010.
Below is a list that I have compiled of some of the best-known Thoroughbreds to have never been defeated:
54 for 54 Kincscem
25 for 25 Black Caviar
19 for 19 Peppers Pride
16 for 16 Ormonde
16 for 16 Ribot
15 for 15 Colin
14 for 14 Frankel
14 for 14 Nearco
13 for 13 Personal Ensign
12 for 12 Tremont
12 for 12 Asteroid
12 for 12 Barcaldine
12 for 12 Crucifix
9 for 9 St. Simon
8 for 8 Caracalla
8 for 8 Sweetbriar
7 for 7 Regulus
7 for 7 The Tetrarch
7 for 7 Zarkava
6 for 6 Candy Ride
6 for 6 Flying Childers
5 for 5 Bay Middleton
5 for 5 Landaluce
5 for 5 Norfolk
5 for 5 Teofilo
4 for 4 Golden Fleece
4 for 4 Lammtarra
4 for 4 Raise a Native
4 for 4 Vindication
3 for 3 Danzig
3 for 3 Pharis
