Myrobella

Last updated
Myrobella
Sire Tetratema
Grandsire The Tetrarch
DamDolabella
DamsireWhite Eagle
Sex Mare
Foaled1930
Country Ireland
Colour Grey
Breeder National Stud
Owner 5th Earl of Lonsdale
Trainer Fred Darling
Record13: 10–2–1
Major wins
National Breeders' Produce Stakes (1932)
Champagne Stakes (1932)
Boscawen Stakes (1932)
Prendergast Stakes (1932)
Fern Hill Stakes (1933)
July Cup (1933)
King George Stakes (1933)
Challenge Stakes (1933)
Awards
Top-rated British two-year-old (1932)

Myrobella (foaled 1930) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. Bred by the British National Stud she was the outstanding two-year-old of either sex in Britain in 1932 when she won five consecutive races. In the following year she failed to stay the distance in the 1000 Guineas but had considerable success when reverting to sprint distances, winning the July Cup, King George Stakes and Challenge Stakes. On her retirement from racing she became a successful and influential broodmare.

Thoroughbred Horse breed developed for racing

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are considered "hot-blooded" horses that are known for their agility, speed, and spirit.

July Cup

The July Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs, and it is scheduled to take place each year in July.

The King George Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 5 furlongs, and it is scheduled to take place each year in late July or early August.

Contents

Background

Myrobella was a powerfully-built grey mare bred by the Irish branch of the National Stud in Tully, County Kildare. [1] She inherited her grey colour from her sire Tetratema, the leading British two-year-old of 1919 who went on to win the 2000 Guineas and many important sprint races. As a stallion, Tetratema sired many good sprinters and milers including the unbeaten Tiffin and was the British champion sire in 1929. [2] Myrobella's dam, Dolabella, produced six other winners and was a daughter of the outstanding broodmare Gondolette, whose other descendants included Hyperion, Sickle, Sansovino, Entrepreneur, Might and Power and Sariska. [3]

County Kildare County in Leinster, Ireland

County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is located in the province of Leinster and is part of the Mid-East Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county which has a population of 222,504.

Tiffin (horse) Thoroughbred racehorse

Tiffin was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare, who was undefeated in a career of eight races. Tiffin won five races in 1928 including the National Breeders' Produce Stakes at Sandown Park and the Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket and was the highest-rated British two-year-old of either sex. Her three-year-old season was disrupted by illness and injury, but she won all three of her starts, proving herself the year's best sprinter with wins in the July Cup at Newmarket and the King George Stakes at Goodwood. At her peak she was regarded as one of the fastest racehorses in the world. At the end of her racing career she was retired to stud where she produced one foal before dying in 1931.

Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland

The title of champion, or leading, sire of racehorses in Great Britain and Ireland is awarded to the stallion whose offspring have won the most prize money in Britain and Ireland during the flat racing season. The current champion is Galileo, who achieved his ninth title in 2017, when his progeny won over £15 million in prize money.

The National Stud leased Myrobella to Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale for her racing career. She was sent into training with Fred Darling at his stables at Beckhampton in Wiltshire. [4]

Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale British nobleman and sportsman

Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale, was an English peer and sportsman.

Frederick Darling (1884–1953) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse trainer who trained a record-equalling seven English Derby winners.

Wiltshire County of England

Wiltshire is a county in South West England with an area of 3,485 km2. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. The county town was originally Wilton, after which the county is named, but Wiltshire Council is now based in the county town of Trowbridge.

Racing career

1932: two-year-old season

Myrobella began her racing career at Salisbury Racecourse in the spring of 1929, finishing second on her debut and then winning a maiden race. She won her next four races, competing against colts on each occasion. In July she contested the most valuable two-year-old race of the year, the £6953 National Breeders' Produce Stakes over five furlongs at Sandown Park Racecourse. Ridden by the champion jockey Gordon Richards, she displayed "wonderful speed" in the early stages and built an unassailable lead to win very easily: according to the Sporting Life, Richards only had to sit still and wait till the winning post was passed. [5] In September she moved up in distance for the Champagne Stakes over six furlongs at Doncaster. She started the 11/8 favourite and won by six lengths [6] from the colt Coroado. Myrobella ended her season at Newmarket Racecourse in autumn, winning the Boscawen Stakes and the Prendergast Stakes. In the latter event, run on 14 October Myrobella's victory led to a failure of the totaliser betting system: as almost all the tickets on the race had been bought for Myrobella, the Tote sustained a £232 loss on the race. [7]

Salisbury Racecourse horse racing venue in England

Salisbury Racecourse is a flat racecourse in the United Kingdom featuring thoroughbred horse racing, 3 miles (5 km) southwest of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. Fifteen race meetings a year are held there between early May and mid-October.

In horse racing a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won a race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the sex or age of the horse. Races may be handicaps, set weights, or weight for age. In many countries, maiden races are the lowest level of class and represent an entry point into a racing career. In countries such as the United States, maiden special weight races rank above claiming races, while maiden claiming races allow the horse to be claimed (bought) by another owner.

A colt is a male horse, usually below the age of four years.

In the Free Handicap, a rating of the best two-year-olds to race in Britain, Myrobella was given top weight of 133 pounds. In a year dominated by fillies, she was followed in the rankings by the Molecomb Stakes winner Betty (130) and the Cheveley Park Stakes winner Brown Betty (127). The leading colt was Manitoba on 126, a pound ahead of Hyperion. [8] Contemporary commentators rated Myrobella the equal of the "flying filly" Mumtaz Mahal and superior to the undefeated Tiffin. [9] She was described in the Sporting Life as "a streak of lightning that has paralysed all her opponents". [10] Her earnings for the season on £11,525 placed her fourth on the list of the most financially successful horses behind Firdaussi, Udaipur and Miracle. [11]

Pound (mass) unit of mass in imperial, US customary, and avoirdupois systems of units

The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement. Various definitions have been used; the most common today is the international avoirdupois pound, which is legally defined as exactly 0.45359237 kilograms, and which is divided into 16 avoirdupois ounces. The international standard symbol for the avoirdupois pound is lb; an alternative symbol is lbm, #, and ℔ or ″̶.

The Molecomb Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 5 furlongs, and it is scheduled to take place each year in late July or early August.

The Cheveley Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs, and it is scheduled to take place each year in late September.

1930: three-year-old season

On her three-year-old debut in April, Myrobella reverted to the minimum distance of five furlongs and won the Severeals Stakes at Newmarket in April. [12] She was then moved up in distance to contest the 117th running of the 1000 Guineas over Newmarket's Rowley Mile course on 29 April. She failed to stay the distance and finished third of the twenty-two runners, beaten half a length and three quarters of a length by Brown Betty and Fur Tor. [13]

Myrobella then reverted to sprinting, and won the Fern Hill Stakes over five furlongs at Royal Ascot in June. She then won the July Cup at Newmarket and the King George Stakes at Goodwood Racecourse, beating the five-year-old Concerto on both occasions. At York Racecourse in August, she was beaten a short head by Concerto in the Nunthorpe Stakes, with Gold Bridge a neck away in third place. Myrobella ended her racing career in October, when she won the Challenge Stakes over six furlongs at Newmarket. [4]

Assessment

As noted above, Myrobella was rated the best two-year-old of either sex to race in Britain in 1932. In their book A Century of Champions, based on a modified version of the Timeform system John Randall and Tony Morris rated Myrobella the fifth best two-year-old filly of the 20th century trained in Britain or Ireland, behind Pretty Polly, Mumtaz Mahal, Sun Chariot and Cawston's Pride. [14]

Stud record

Myrobella was retired from racing to become a broodmare and had considerable success. In 1936, she produced a grey filly sired by Cameronian named Belle of Ascot, whose descendants included Linamix, a colt who won the Poule d'Essai des Poulains and sired the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sagamix. Myrobella's next foal was Snowberry (also by Cameronian), who won the Queen Mary Stakes [15] and produced the St Leger winner Chamossaire as well as Ariana, the grand-dam of the Derby winner Snow Knight. Myrobella's best offspring was Big Game a colt sired by Bahram. Foaled in 1939, Big Game was the best British colt of his generation, winning the 2000 Guineas and the Champion Stakes before becoming a successful breeding stallion.

Pedigree

Pedigree of Myrobella (GB), grey mare, 1930 [16]
Sire
Tetratema (GB)
1917		 The Tetrarch (IRE)
1911		Roi HerodeLe Samaritain
Roxelane
Vahren Bona Vista
Castania
Scotch Gift (GB)
1907		Symington Ayrshire
Tarporley
MaundIanthe
Sandal
Dam
Dolabella (IRE)
1911		White Eagle (GB)
1905		Gallinule Isonomy
Moorhen
Merry Gal Galopin
Mary Seaton
Gondolette (GB)
1902		Loved OneSee Saw
Pilgrimage
Dongola Doncaster
Douranee (Family: 6-e) [3]

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References

  1. ↑ "THE NATIONAL STUD". Evening Post. 3 November 1932. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  2. ↑ "Leading Sires of Great Britain and Ireland". Tbheritage.com. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  3. 1 2 "Thoroughbred Bloodlines - Fenella - Family 6-e". Bloodlines.net. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  4. 1 2 Mortimer, Roger; Onslow, Richard; Willett, Peter (1978). Biographical Encyclopedia of British Flat Racing. Macdonald and Jane’s. ISBN   0-354-08536-0.
  5. ↑ "AS GOOD AS TIFFIN?". Evening Post. 27 August 1932. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  6. ↑ "STABLE AND TRACK NOTES". Auckland Star. 28 October 1932. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  7. ↑ "WHEN THE "TOTE" LOST". Evening Post. 8 December 1932. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  8. ↑ "ENGLISH YOUNGSTERS". Evening Post. 28 January 1933. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  9. ↑ "FROM AN OLD MARE". Evening Post. 19 December 1932. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  10. ↑ "FASTEST IN WORLD". Evening Post. 21 January 1933. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  11. ↑ "PENGLAND'S LEADING SIRES". Auckland Star. 13 January 1933. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  12. ↑ "TURF NEWS IN BRIEF". Evening Post. 24 May 1933. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  13. ↑ "RACING IN ENGLAND". Evening Post. 29 April 1933. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  14. ↑ Morris, Tony; Randall, John (1999). A Century of Champions. Portway Press. ISBN   978-1-901570-15-1.
  15. ↑ "ROYAL FILLY DEFEATED". Evening Post. 6 July 1939. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  16. ↑ "Myrobella pedigree". equineline.com. 2012-05-08. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
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