Airborne (1943 – 11 September 1962) was an Irish-bred British-trained
Thoroughbred
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 c ...
racehorse and
sire
Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French.
The words "sire" a ...
. After showing little worthwhile form as a two-year-old, Airborne improved to become one of the leading three-year-olds in Britain in 1946. He won five successive races including two
Classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
: the
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
at
Epsom
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 Saxon landowner. The ...
and the
St Leger
The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a ...
at
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
. He was the most recent of four greys to have won the Epsom Classic. Airborne went on to have a stud career of limited success.
Background
Airborne was a tall, rangy grey horse bred at
Castletown Geoghegan
Castletown Geoghegan () is a village in County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and lies south west of Lough Ennell near the county town of Mullingar. Castletown was the seat of the Geoghegan family of the medieval Barony of Moycashel in ...
,
County Westmeath, in Ireland by Harold Boyd-Rochfort, the brother of the successful trainer
Cecil Boyd-Rochfort
Sir Cecil Charles Boyd-Rochfort KCVO (188718 March 1983) was an Irish thoroughbred racehorse trainer who was British flat racing Champion Trainer five times.
Background
Cecil was the son of Rochfort Hamilton Boyd-Rochfort and the grandson of ...
. As a yearling he was sent to the sales where he was bought for 3,900
guineas
The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...
by the British plastics manufacturer and racehorse-breeder John Ferguson. Ferguson sent the colt to be trained by the former jockey Richard “Dick” Perryman at his Beaufort House stables at
Newmarket, Suffolk.
Airborne’s sire
Precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
was a top-class racehorse, best known for winning the
Ascot Gold Cup in 1937. He went on to become a successful stallion, siring three other Classic winners in Why Hurry (
Epsom Oaks
The Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards ...
),
Premonition
A premonition is a feeling that some event will happen, typically a forewarning of something unwelcome.
Premonition(s) or The Premonition may also refer to:
Film and television
* "Premonition" (''Alfred Hitchcock Presents''), an episode of ' ...
(St Leger) and
Chamossaire (St Leger). Precipitation himself was sired by the unbeaten champion,
Hurry On
Hurry On (7 May 1913 – 1936) was an undefeated British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire that revived the Matchem sire line.Leicester, Sir Charles, "Bloodstock Breeding", J.A. Allen & Co, London, 1969 English trainer Fred Darling called Hurry ...
, making him a representative of the
Godolphin Arabian sire line. Airborne’s dam, Bouquet, from whom he inherited his grey colour, never ran in a race, but produced nine winners, the best of them, apart from Airborne, being a sprinter named Fragrant View.
Racing career
1945: two-year-old season
As a two-year-old, Airborne was extremely immature and failed to win in four starts, giving little indication of Classic potential,
although he did finish fourth to the future
1000 Guineas winner
Hypericum
''Hypericum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Hypericaceae (formerly considered a subfamily of Clusiaceae). The genus has a nearly worldwide distribution, missing only from tropical lowlands, deserts and polar regions. Many ''Hy ...
in the
Dewhurst Stakes
The Dewhurst Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres ...
.
1946: three-year-old season
In Airborne’s three-year-old debut, he finished third in a moderate race at
Newmarket in April. Two weeks later, he returned to Newmarket and won a
maiden race over one and a half miles.
The Derby of 1946 was the first to be run at Epsom since 1939, the course having been used as an
anti-aircraft battery
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 ...
position during the
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
, and the race attracted a huge crowd, estimated at up to 500,000, including the
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
and
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
. Airborne, ridden by Tommy Lowrey, was an unconsidered outsider, starting at odds of
50/1 in a field of seventeen in a race run on soft ground. In the early stages, Airborne was held up and was still well back turning into the straight. Gulf Stream took the lead in the last quarter mile as Lowrey pulled Airborne wide to produce a sustained run down the centre of the course. He caught Gulf Stream inside the final furlong and won by a length.
Airborne reappeared in the
Princess of Wales's Stakes
The Princess of Wales's Stakes is a Group 2 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 1 mile and 4 furlo ...
at Newmarket in July where he took on older horses. He won his third successive race by beating the five-year-old
Hardwicke Stakes
The Hardwicke Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 211 yards (2,406 metres), and ...
winner
Priam II. The following month, he ran at Newmarket for the fourth time that season and dead-heated with Fast and Fair in the Stuntney Stakes. At Doncaster in September, he started 3/1 favourite for the St Leger, which was run before another huge crowd. He tracked the leaders before being sent to the front in the straight and winning "in magnificent style" by one and a half lengths from Murren, with Fast and Fair third. It was a second win in the race for Perryman and Lowrey, who had been successful with Chamoissaire the previous year. On his final start of the season, Airborne was matched against the
Grand Prix de Paris
The Grand Prix de Paris is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and i ...
winner
Souverain in the King George VI Stakes over two miles at Newmarket in October. Airborne started 4/5 favourite for a race which was publicised as an "international championship" for three-year-olds but finished third to the French colt, with the
Irish Derby
The Irish Derby ( Irish: Dearbaí na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance ...
winner Bright News taking second.
Attempts to train Airborne as a four-year-old, with the
Ascot Gold Cup as his target, ended in failure, and he was retired to stud without racing again.
Assessment
In their book ''A Century of Champions'', John Randall and Tony Morris rated Airborne an “inferior” Derby winner.
Stud career
Airborne was not a success as a stallion. The best of his runners on the flat was the filly
Silken Glider, who finished second in the
Oaks and won the
Irish Oaks
The Irish Oaks is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs (2,414 metres), and it i ...
in 1957. The best horse he sired was the Irish-trained
jumper
Jumper or Jumpers may refer to:
Clothing
*Jumper (sweater), a long-sleeve article of clothing; also called a top, pullover, or sweater
**A waist-length top garment of dense wool, part of the Royal Navy uniform and the uniform of the United State ...
Flyingbolt
Flyingbolt (1959 - 1983) was a famous racehorse. Officially he is the second best steeplechaser of all time, after Arkle. A comparison of their merits is probably best illustrated by the Official Handicapper, who at the end of the 1965-1966 ...
. Airborne's progeny had won approximately £25,000 in stakes up until the end of 1955.
His last recorded foals were conceived in 1961. He died on 11 September 1962 of heart failure.
Pedigree
References
External links
British Pathe Review of 1946. Clip of Derby at 3:00Picture of Airborne being led in after the Derby
{{St Leger Winners
1943 racehorse births
1962 racehorse deaths
Racehorses bred in Ireland
Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom
Epsom Derby winners
Thoroughbred family 10-c
Godolphin Arabian sire line
St Leger winners