Flying Fox (1896–1911) was a champion 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 Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

who won the 1899

English Triple Crown The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, often shortened to Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for Thoroughbreds, often restricted to three-year-olds. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplis ...

and was the

leading sire in France The list below shows the leading Thoroughbred sire of racehorses in France for each year since 1887. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the season. Due to the huge prize money of the Prix de l'Arc de Tri ...

three times.

Background

He was sired by Orme who in turn was sired by

Ormonde Ormonde is a surname occurring in Portugal (mainly Azores), Brazil, England, and United States. It may refer to: People * Ann Ormonde (born 1935), an Irish politician * James Ormond or Ormonde (c. 1418–1497), the illegitimate son of John Butl ...

, the 1886 Triple Crown winner. Their victories made owner

Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, (13 October 1825 – 22 December 1899), styled Viscount Belgrave between 1831 and 1845, Earl Grosvenor between 1845 and 1869, and known as The Marquess of Westminster between 1869 and 1874, was an ...

, the only person to own two English Triple Crown winners. His dam was the high-strung

mare 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 ...

, somewhat aptly named Vampire, by

Galopin Galopin (1872–1899) was a Great Britain, British Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse and Horse breeding#Terminology, sire. In a racing career which lasted from June 1874 until October 1875 he ran nine times and won eight races. He was one of ...

. Vampire also produced these horses from six matings with Orme: Flying Lemur (£1,325, a stud failure); Vamose (£5,604 and at stud in France with limited success) and Pipistrello (a non-winner and useless as a stallion), Wetaria, and Vane (produced the Royal Hunt Cup and Ebor Handicap winner, Weathervane). Flying Fox was intensely inbred (3m x 2f) to Galopin.Morris, Simon; ''Tesio Power 2000 - Stallions of the World'', Syntax Software

Racing career

Flying Fox was a very difficult colt to handle and only raced for two years. However, he met with enormous success under trainer John Porter, whom the

National Horseracing Museum Palace House is the home of the National Horse Racing Museum in the remaining part of Charles II's racing palace in Newmarket, Suffolk, England. It is home to the National Horse Racing Museum, the British Sporting Art Trust and Retraining of Rac ...

says was "undoubtedly the most successful trainer of the Victorian era." Flying Fox won three of his five starts at age two, and then at age three went undefeated while becoming only the 8th horse in history to win the Triple Crown. In his sixth and last race of his season and of his career, he won the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket.

Stud record

The Duke of Westminster died near the end of 1899 and the following year Flying Fox and many of the other horses in his stable were put up for auction. Purchased for a record 37,500 guineas by the prominent

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

sportsman

Edmond Blanc Edmond Blanc (22 February 1856 – 12 December 1920) was a horse breeder as well a French politician. He served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1893 to 1894, and from 1898 to 1902, representing Hautes-Pyrénées. He also served as ...

, he was brought to Blanc's

Haras de Jardy Haras de Jardy was a Thoroughbred horse breeding operation established in 1890 in Marnes-la-Coquette France by the statesman Edmond Blanc (1856-1920). The stud farm became home to many important stallions, including one of the leading sires in Fra ...

horse breeding Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in ...

operation at

Marnes-la-Coquette Marnes-la-Coquette () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. Located from the centre of Paris, the town is situated in the Hauts-de-Seine department on the departmental border with Yvelines between the Parc de Saint-Cloud and the ...

in what is today part of the western suburbs of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Standing at stud at Haras de Jardy, Flying Fox enjoyed considerable success and was the leading sire in France three times, with his progeny earning £203,400 in prize money. Among his first crop was the colt Ajax, an undefeated winner of the Prix du Jockey Club as well as 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 it ...

who himself became a leading sire. Ajax was the sire of

Teddy Teddy is an English language given name, usually a hypocorism of Edward or Theodore. It may refer to: People Nickname * Teddy Atlas (born 1956), boxing trainer and fight commentator * Teddy Bourne (born 1948), British Olympic epee fencer * Tedd ...

, who sired

Sir Gallahad III Sir Gallahad (1920–1949) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and an extremely important sire in the United States. Racing career Racing at age two in France for his British breeder/owner, Jefferson Davis Cohn, Sir Gallahad earned victory in ...

plus the mare

La Troienne La Troienne (1926–1954) was one of the most famous and influential Thoroughbred broodmares in twentieth century America. She produced 10 winners including two Hall of Fame inductees while at stud, while her daughters in turn produced many notab ...

who is widely regarded as one of the most influential broodmares in the history of modern Thoroughbred breeding. Flying Fox's other progeny included numerous top class winners including

Val d'Or Val-d'Or (, , ; "Golden Valley" or "Valley of Gold") is a city in Quebec, Canada with a population of 32,752 inhabitants according to the Canada 2021 Census. The city is located in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region near La Vérendrye Wildlife R ...

and Dagor. Descendants of Flying Fox include

Gallant Fox Gallant Fox (March 23, 1927 – November 13, 1954) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the second winner of the American Triple Crown. In a racing career which lasted from 1929 to 1930, Gallant Fox won 11 of his 17 races includ ...

and

Citation A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of ...

, the 1930 and 1948 United States Triple Crown Champions and U.S. Hall of Fame colt

Coaltown Coaltown (1945–1965) was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse of whom ''The New York Times'' said "was probably the most underrated Thoroughbred of the 20th Century." Coaltown was nicknamed "The Goose" by the stable empl ...

. Flying Fox died at Haras de Jardy on 21 March 1911 at the age of fifteen. His skeleton is at the horse museum at

Château de Saumur A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

with a memorial at Eaton Stud in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

Honours

In 1925 the

London & North Eastern Railway London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

(LNER) began a tradition of naming

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s after winning racehorses; LNER Class A1 locomotive no. 4475 (later no. 106, BR no. 60106) was named ''Flying Fox'' after this horse, and remained in service until December 1964. A was also named for the horse; HMS ''Flying Fox'' was launched in 1918 and served for only a few years before becoming a training ship alongside in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. When the

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

unit headquartered in her moved ashore, the new establishment was also named and remains active to this day.

Pedigree

''Note: b. =

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

, br. =

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

, ch. =

Chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

'' * Flying Fox was inbred 2x3 to

. This means that the stallion appears once in the second generation and once in the third generation of his pedigree.

References

External links

Thoroughbred Heritage: Flying Fox

Flying Fox at the National Horseracing Museum
{{St Leger Winners 1896 racehorse births 1911 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing winners Champion Thoroughbred Sires of France Thoroughbred family 7-d Epsom Derby winners 2000 Guineas winners St Leger winners