Fifinella (1913–1931) was a British

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

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 ...

. In a career that lasted from 1915 until 1917 she ran seven times and won four races. She was the highest-rated British two-year-old of either sex in 1915 and went on to greater success the following season. As a three-year-old in 1916 she won 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 gai ...

and Oaks both of which were run that year at Newmarket. She was the sixth and most recent filly to win the Derby.

Background

Fifinella a chestnut filly with a narrow white blaze and two white

socks A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. In the late ...

, was bred by her owner, the publisher

Edward Hulton Sir Edward George Stephen Hulton, 1st Baronet (3 March 1869 – 23 May 1925) was a British newspaper proprietor and thoroughbred racehorse owner. In 1921, he was awarded a baronetcy, of Downside in the parish of Leatherhead in Surrey, for p ...

. She was sired by

Polymelus Polymelus (1902–1924) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who was the leading sire of racehorses in Great Britain and Ireland for five years (1914, 1915, 1916, 1920, 1921). Among his most famous descendants are Secretariat and Northern Dance ...

out of the mare, Silver Fowl. Polymelus was a highly successful racehorse who won the

Champion Stakes The Champion Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlong ...

and the

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

in 1906 before going on to be a five time Champion Sire and, through his son

Phalaris Phalaris ( el, Φάλαρις) was the tyrant of Akragas (now Agrigento) in Sicily, from approximately 570 to 554 BC. History Phalaris was renowned for his excessive cruelty. Among his alleged atrocities is cannibalism: he was said to have e ...

, the male-line ancestor of most modern thoroughbreds. Silver Fowl was a highly successful broodmare who produced ten other winners including Silver Tag (Cambridgeshire), Silvern (

Coronation Cup The Coronation Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards (2, ...

) and Tai-Yang (

Jockey Club Stakes The Jockey Club Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs (2,414 metres) on t ...

). Fifinella was sent into training 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 ...

, with

Richard C. Dawson Richard Cecil "Dick" Dawson (1865 – 1955) was an Irish-born owner and trainer of racehorses. From his home and racing stable in Cloghran, Dawson went to Lambourn, England in 1897 and set up shop at Whatcombe Stables in Berkshire near Wa ...

who at that time was Hulton's private trainer. Or so the "official" story has stated for over fifty years. The truth is slightly different. Hulton had several trainers over the years but they were always public. After the retirement of Richard Wootton he kept some horses with Wootton's sons but the bulk went to Dawson at Whatcombe. At the end of the 1916 season Hulton and Dawson parted company and Fifinella and the rest of the Hulton string left Whatcombe and went briefly to Billy Walters at Newmarket. Walters tried without much success to bring Fifinella to the racecourse throughout 1917 though she managed to run third to

in a little plate at Newmarket on 14 September. For what it's worth Dawson himself was briefly based at Newmarket in 1918 but this was long after Fifinella's time. She was not an easy or pleasant filly to train, being described by Dawson as "catty and peevish".

1915: two-year-old season

As a two-year-old Fifinella, ridden by

Steve Donoghue Steve Donoghue (8 November 188423 March 1945) was a leading England, English flat-race jockey in the 1910s and 1920s. He was British flat racing Champion Jockey, Champion Jockey 10 times between 1914 and 1923 and was one of the most celebrated ...

, won two of her three races, all of which were run at Newmarket. She began her career with an easy win in the Fulbourne Stakes (beating the King's colt Marconi). In the Bibury Club Stakes she was beaten a head by Telephone Girl, to whom she was conceding ten pounds. As Telephone Girl had given weight and a beating to the leading colt Argos, Fifinella's form looked very strong. On her final start of the year she won 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 ...

by eight lengths. In the Free Handicap, a ranking of the best British two-year-olds, Fifinella was rated the best juvenile of 1915.

1916: three-year-old season

As a three-year-old, Fifinella was ridden by

Joe Childs Joseph Childs (1884–1958) was a French-born, British-based flat racing jockey. He won fifteen British Classics in a 35-year career, the last ten years of which were spent as jockey to King George V. He was known for riding a slow, waiting ra ...

. On her debut she was made odds-on favourite for 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 ...

over one mile at Newmarket on 5 May. She was unco-operative before the race and Childs struck her hard with his whip. The filly responded badly and did not show her best form in the race, being beaten three quarters of a length by Canyon. When the original entries for the 1916 Derby were made, Fifinella had not been entered. The outbreak of

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 ...

in 1914 however, led to the race, and all the entries, being cancelled and then re-opened when it was agreed to run a substitute race at Newmarket. Fifinella was therefore eligible for the race which was run on 29 May. Fifinella started at odds of 11/2 against nine colts in front of a smaller crowd than usual. She produced a strong late run along the rails to win by a neck from Kwang-Su, with Nassovian a head further back in third. The Derby win by the "flying filly" was the third in eight years by a female, following

Signorinetta Signorinetta (1905–1928) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and Horse breeding#Terminology, broodmare. In a racing career which lasted from 1907 to 1908 she ran thirteen times and won three races. Although most of her career was undistin ...

(1908) and

Tagalie Tagalie (1909–1920) was British Thoroughbred racehorse. She was one of only six fillies to win The Derby, and was also the second of only four greys to have won the race. She achieved this feat as a three-year-old in 1912, a year in whic ...

(1912). Two days later, over the same course and distance, Fifinella started 8/13 favourite in a field of seven for the "New Oaks". She won "in a canter" by five lengths from Salamandra, with Market Girl third. The impressive winning time of 2:35.0 was 1.6 faster than that she had recorded when winning the Derby. Hopes for a September meeting between Fifinella and the year's best colt

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 On ...

in a Newmarket substitute "St Leger" were not fulfilled as the filly went "amiss" and was unable to run. As a four-year-old in the Autumn of the following year, with Vic Smyth up, she finished third of three runners behind

in the Bury St Edmunds Plate at Newmarket beaten by six and three-quarter lengths.

Breeding record

Fifinella was retired to her owners stud, where she remained until 1928 when she was sold for 12,000

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...

Lord Woolavington James Buchanan, 1st Baron Woolavington, (16 August 1849 – 9 August 1935), known as Sir James Buchanan, Bt, from 1920 to 1922, was a British businessman, philanthropist, and racehorse owner and breeder. Early life Buchanan was born in Brockv ...

. She was a successful broodmare, despite her tendency to pass on her difficult temperament, producing six winners. The best of her offspring was the colt

Press Gang ''Press Gang'' is a British children's television comedy drama consisting of 43 episodes across five series that were broadcast from 1989 to 1993. It was produced by Richmond Film & Television for Central, and screened on the ITV network in it ...

who won the Middle Park and 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 ...

. Fifinella died in late April 1931 after giving birth to a filly by Hurry On. One of her modern direct descendants was the multiple Grade I

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

winner Oscar Whisky.

Assessment

In their book ''A Century of Champions'', John Randall and Tony Morris rated Fifinella the eighth best British-trained filly of the 20th Century.

Popular culture

Author

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

, born the year of Fifinella's great racing successes, used her name for his female characters in his 1943 book, ''

The Gremlins ''The Gremlins'' is a children's book written by British author Roald Dahl and published in 1943. In writing the book, Dahl draws on his own experience as a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot during the Second World War. The story's principal charac ...

''. The character's image, designed by

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

, became the mascot of the

Women Airforce Service Pilots The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (also Women's Army Service Pilots or Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became t ...

, who called themselves the "Order of Fifinella".

Pedigree

*Fifinella 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 ...

4x4 to Isonomy. This means that the stallion appears twice in the fourth generation of her pedigree.

References

Fifinella's pedigree and partial racing stats
{{Epsom Oaks Winners 1913 racehorse births 1931 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Epsom Derby winners Thoroughbred family 3-i Epsom Oaks winners