Aida (1898 – 1915) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and

broodmare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

. As a juvenile she finished second on her debut and then defeated the future

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...

winner

Volodyovski Volodyovski (1898–1917) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career which lasted from 1900 to 1902, he ran twenty-six times and won seven races. After being one of the leading two-year-olds of 1900, he went on to win The Derby i ...

in the Imperial Produce Stakes. She won the

1000 Guineas The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 ...

on her first appearance of 1901 and then finished a close third in a very strong edition of the Newmarket Stakes. She finished unplaced in the

Eclipse Stakes The Eclipse Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown P ...

and the St Leger and was retired from racing at the end of the year. As a broodmare she had an enduring influence on the breed through her daughter Herself.

Background

Aida was a bay mare bred by

Henry Chaplin Henry Chaplin, 1st Viscount Chaplin (22 December 1840 – 29 May 1923) was a British landowner, racehorse owner and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 until 1916 when he was raised to the peerage. Backgrou ...

's Blankney Stud. During her racing career she was owned by Sir James Miller and trained by George Blackwell at

Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Located (14 miles) west of Bury St Edmunds and (14 miles) northeast of Cambridge. It is considered the birthplace and global centre of thoroughbred hor ...

. Aida’s sire Galopin was an outstanding racehorse who won the Derby in 1872 and went on to be a successful and influential stallion, siring St Simon and

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

and being Champion sire on three occasions. Her dam, Queen Adelaide, was an outstanding racemare who won the July Stakes and Dewhurst Stakes and was placed in the

, Epsom Oaks,

1000 Guineas The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 ...

and Middle Park Stakes. She was a daughter of Adelaide, the foundation mare of Thoroughbred family 9-h.

Racing career

1900: two-year-old season

Until 1913, there was no requirement for British racehorses to have official names and two-year-olds were allowed to run without names until 1946. The filly who became Aida began her racing career unnamed and was generally referred to as ''the Queen Adelaide filly''. The Queen Adelaide filly made her racecourse debut in the Champion Breeders' Biennial Foal Stakes at

Derby Racecourse Derby Racecourse is a former horse racing venue in Derby, England, from 1848 to 1939. It was preceded by two earlier courses, at different locations. Earlier courses It is unknown exactly when horse racing first started in Derby, although a ...

in which she finished second to Sagitta. On 7 October the still unnamed filly contested the £3,000 Imperial Produce Stakes over six furlongs at Kempton Park Racecourse and won from the colt

1901: three-year-old season

On 4 May Aida was one of fifteen fillies to contest the 88th running of the 1000 Guineas and started the 13/8 favourite ahead of Princess Melton and St Aldegonde. Ridden by the American jockey Danny Maher she took the lead soon after the start and made most of the running, setting a pace which had most of the others struggling entering the last quarter mile. After fighting off a challenge from Santa Brigida, Aida was overtaken by Fleur d'Eté but rallied to wear down her rival in the final strides. She won by a neck from Fleur d'Eté with two

lengths Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the In ...

back to Santa Brigida in third. The fact that she was running for the first time as a named horse led to some confusion in telegraph reports of the race with "Aida" being assumed to be a misreading for "Art" or "Arta". On her next appearance twelve days later the filly was moved up in distance and matched against male opposition in the Newmarket Stakes over ten furlongs. She produced arguably her best performance as he finished a very close third behind William the Third and Doricles in what was described as "one of the finest struggles ever seen". Aida bypassed the Epsom Oaks and reappeared in the

Eclipse Stakes The Eclipse Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown P ...

over ten furlongs at Sandown Park on 19 July. She started a 20/1 outsider and finished unplaced behind

Epsom Lad Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

. In September Aida contested the St Leger over furlongs at

Doncaster Racecourse Doncaster Racecourse (also known as the Town Moor course) is a racecourse in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It hosts two of Great Britain's 36 annual Group 1 flat races, the St Leger Stakes and the Racing Post Trophy. History Doncas ...

and came home tenth of the thirteen runners in a race won by Doricles.

Assessment and honours

In their book, ''A Century of Champions'', based on the Timeform rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Aida an "inferior" winner of the 1000 Guineas.

Breeding record

Aida was retired from racing to become a broodmare. She produced at least five foals between 1903 and 1915: *Alcanzor, a chestnut colt, foaled in 1903, sired by Sainfoin. Winner over hurdles. *Zaida, chestnut filly, 1905, by Sainfoin *Rokeby, bay colt, 1907, by Rock Sand *Winstanley, bay colt, 1909, by Gallinule. Won Great Yorkshire Stakes. *Herself, bay filly, 1915, by

Neil Gow Neil Gow (1907–1919) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and Horse breeding#Terminology, sire who won the British Classic Races, classic 2000 Guineas in 1910. In a racing career that lasted from spring 1909 until July 1910 the colt (horse ...

. Dam of

Chatelaine Chatelaine may refer to: * Chatelaine (chain), a set of short chains on a belt worn by women and men for carrying keys, thimble and/or sewing kit, etc. *Chatelaine (horse), a racehorse * ''Chatelaine'' (magazine), an English-language Canadian wom ...

and female-line ancestor of Tom Rolfe, Bee Bee Bee,

Ack Ack Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

and Sham. Aida died in October 1915 at the Sledmere Stud.

Pedigree

*Aida was inbred 4 × 4 to Voltaire, meaning that this stallion appears twice in the fourth generations of her pedigree.

References

{{1000 Guineas Winners 1898 racehorse births 1915 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 9-h 1000 Guineas winners