Bint Allayl (19 January 1996 – 22 February 1999) was a British champion

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. She was rated the best two-year-old filly of 1998 by both the International Classification and the

Cartier Racing Awards The Cartier Racing Awards are awards in European horse racing, founded in 1991, and sponsored by Cartier. The award winners are decided by points earned in group races (40%) plus the votes cast by British racing journalists (30%) and readers of the ...

. She won three of her four races including the

Queen Mary Stakes The Queen Mary Stakes is a Group races, Group 2 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old Filly, fillies. It is run at Ascot Racecourse, Ascot over a distance o ...

and the

Lowther Stakes The Lowther Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old fillies. It is run at York over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each ...

and was made favourite for the 1999

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 ...

. She was put down after suffering an injury in training in February 1999.

Background

Bint Allayl, a powerfully built ("barrel-chested") bay filly, was bred by her owner Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum. She was sired by

Green Desert ''Green Desert'' is the twenty-seventh major release and the fifteenth studio album by Electronic music, electronic artists Tangerine Dream. The music was recorded in Berlin in 1973, during a period when Peter Baumann had temporarily left Germany ...

out of the Mr. Prospector mare Society Lady. Green Desert finished second to

Dancing Brave Dancing Brave (11 May 1983 – 2 August 1999) was an American-bred, British-trained thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career which lasted from the autumn of 1985 until October 1986, he ran ten times and won eight races. Dancing Brave was the ou ...

in the

2000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year at ...

and became a leading sprinter, winning the

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 (1,207 metres ...

. Apart from Bint Allayl, he sired the winners of over 1,000 races, including

Oasis Dream Oasis Dream (foaled 30 March 2000) is retired thoroughbred racehorse and active sire who was bred and trained in the United Kingdom. He was the highest-rated two-year-old in the 2002 European flat racing season and won the Cartier Racing Award f ...

Sheikh Albadou Sheikh Albadou (15 April 1988 – 1999), was a Thoroughbred racehorse and sire who was bred and trained in the United Kingdom. In a racing career which lasted from October 1990 until October 1992 he ran fifteen times and won six races. Shei ...

and

Cape Cross Cape Cross (Afrikaans: ''Kaap Kruis''; German: ''Kreuzkap''; Portuguese: ''Cabo da Cruz'') is a headland in the South Atlantic in Skeleton Coast, western Namibia. History In 1484, Portuguese navigator and explorer Diogo Cão was ordered by K ...

, the sire of

Sea the Stars Sea The Stars (foaled 6 April 2006) is a retired champion Irish Thoroughbred racehorse regarded as one of the greatest racehorses of all time. He won the 2000 Guineas, the Derby, the Eclipse Stakes – the first colt to accomplish this treble ...

. Society Lady, a daughter of the Canadian champion

La Voyageuse La Voyageuse (foaled 1975 in Ontario) is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse who was a three-time Sovereign Award winner. She was bred and raced by prominent Quebec businessman and major racing stable owner Jean-Louis Levesque. Retired to broo ...

, failed to win a race but produced the

Jersey Stakes The Jersey Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old horses. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each ...

winner Kheleyf. Bint Allayl was

inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...

3x4 to Northern Dancer (see

below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor *Bottom (disambiguation) Bottom may refer to: Anatomy and sex * Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or ...

) Bint Allayl was sent into training with

Mick Channon Michael Roger Channon (born 28 November 1948) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward, most notably for Southampton, and went on to represent the England national team in the 1970s. Scoring over 250 goals in his c ...

West Ilsley West Ilsley is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. The population of the village at the 2011 Census was 332. Location and amenities It is situated in West Berkshire, north of Newbury on the Berkshire Downs. The companion village ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

Racing career

1996: two-year-old season

Bint Allayl made her debut in a five-

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hors ...

maiden race 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 se ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

in May. Ridden by

Frankie Dettori Lanfranco Dettori (; born 15 December 1970), better known as Frankie Dettori, is an Italian horse racing jockey based in the United Kingdom. Dettori has been British flat racing Champion Jockey three times and has ...

, she reportedly had "every chance" but was beaten a neck by

Pipalong Pipalong (foaled 26 January 1996) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She was sold cheaply as a yearling but developed into a top-class specialist sprinter who excelled on soft ground. Trained in Yorkshire ...

, a filly who went on to be a

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

winning sprinter. It was to be her only defeat. Two weeks later, she reappeared in the

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National Stakes at

Sandown Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom with the resort of Shanklin to the south and the settlement of Lake, Isle of Wight, Lake in between. Together ...

. She was held up by Dettori before being sent past the odds-on favourite, Speedy James, a

from the finish. She immediately went clear and scored a three and a half length victory. She was then moved up to

Group Three AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette tel ...

class for the

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...

where she was again matched against Pipalong. She had already been described in the press as "arguably the season's fastest two-year-old", while Channon was reported to believe that she was the best juvenile he had trained. Dettori settled her just behind the leaders, then moved her into the lead a furlong out. She once again went quickly clear of her opponents and won by two lengths from Pipalong, who ran on from well off the pace. It was more than two months before Bint Allayl appeared for her final start, the

at York, although she was reported to be working impressively at home. In the York race, she ran over six furlongs for the first time and the field was considered a strong one, with her opponents including the

Princess Margaret Stakes The Princess Margaret Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old fillies. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to take ...

winner Mythical Girl and Wannabe Grand, who had won the

Cherry Hinton Stakes The Duchess of Cambridge Stakes is a Group races, Group 2 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old Filly, fillies. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket Ra ...

. Ridden by

Mick Kinane Michael J. Kinane (born 22 June 1959, Killenaule, County Tipperary) is an Irish former flat racing jockey. He had a 34-year career, retiring on 8 December 2009. A prolific winner of the Irish, English and French Classic race ...

Bint Allayl was held up in the early stages before moving easily up to take the lead a furlong out and win by a length and three-quarters from Wannabe Grand. After the race, she was made favourite for the 1,000 Guineas, a position she still held at the time of her death. Plans to run Bint Allayl in the

Moyglare Stud Stakes The Moyglare Stud Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to two-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), and it is scheduled ...

and the

Cheveley Park Stakes 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 (1,207 metres), and it i ...

did not materialise after she suffered a setback in training. Although Bint Allayl did not race again, the form of the Lowther Stakes was boosted when Wannabe Grand won the Group One Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket in September.

Death

Despite a strong belief in the press that Bint Allayl would join the

Godolphin Racing Godolphin (Arabic: جودلفين) is the Maktoum family's private Thoroughbred horseracing stable and was named in honour of the Godolphin Arabian, who came from the desert to become one of the three founding stallions of the modern Thoroug ...

team, her owner decided to keep the filly in England with Mick Channon. During the winter, she required surgery on an injured

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but appeared to have fully recovered. On 24 February 1999, Bint Allayl was injured when cantering during light exercise at West Ilsley. She received emergency

veterinary Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

treatment, but examinations revealed that she had suffered an untreatable "spiral fracture of her left-fore humerus". She was euthanized that evening.

Race record

Assessment

In the 1998 International Classification, Bint Allayl was assessed at 116, making her the highest rated two-year-old filly in Europe. She was named European Champion Two-year-old Filly at the

Pedigree

*Bint Allayl was

3 × 4 to Northern Dancer. This means that the stallion appears in both the third and fourth generations of her pedigree.

References

{{reflist 1996 racehorse births 1999 racehorse deaths Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Cartier Award winners Thoroughbred family 4-g