Flair (horse)
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Flair (1903 – 1923) 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 ...
racehorse and broodmare. After finishing fourth on her debut in July 1905 she was undefeated in her four subsequent races. She was the dominant two-year-old of either sex in England in the autumn of 1905, beating male opposition to take the Imperial Produce Stakes, Middle Park Plate and Free Handicap. In the following spring, she was a very easy winner of 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 (1,60 ...
and was strongly fancied for the Epsom Derby before her racing career was ended by injury. Her record as a broodmare was disappointing.


Background

Flair was a bay or brown mare bred and owned by the Australian Sir Daniel Cooper. Throughout her racing career she was trained by
Peter Gilpin Peter Valentine Purcell Gilpin (1858 - 1928) was a British racehorse trainer. He was Champion Trainer in 1904 and his most notable winner was the filly Pretty Polly who won the Fillies Triple Crown in 1904. He also trained Comrade, the winner ...
at his Clarehaven Stable in Newmarket, Suffolk. She was sired by St. Frusquin who won the Middle Park Plate,
Dewhurst Plate Dewhurst can refer to: People * Christopher John ("Jack") Dewhurst (1920–2006), British gynecologist * Colleen Dewhurst (1924–1991), Canadian-born actress * David Dewhurst (born 1945), American politician * Dorothy Dewhurst (1886–1959), Eng ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
and Eclipse Stakes and was described as one of the best horses of the 19th century. His other progeny included St. Amant,
Rosedrop Rosedrop (1907–1930) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She won one minor race as a two-year-old in 1909 before emerging as a top-class performer in the following year. She won the Epsom Oaks, Atalanta Stakes and Great Yorksh ...
, Quintessence, and Mirska. Flair's dam Glare won the Brocklesby Stakes as a two-year-old and went on to produce the
Middle Park Stakes The Middle Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is ...
winner Lesbia and the influential broodmare Lady Lightfoot.


Racing career


1905: two-year-old season

Flair sustained her only defeat as a two-year-old in July when she finished fourth to Sarcelle in the
National Breeders' Produce Stakes The National Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged two years old. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of 5 furlongs and 10 yards (), and it is scheduled to t ...
at
Sandown Park Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt races and one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse rac ...
on her racecourse debut. In the £3,000 Imperial Produce Stakes over six furlongs at
Kempton Park Racecourse Kempton Park Racecourse is a horse racing track together with a licensed entertainment and conference venue in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, 16 miles south-west of Charing Cross, London and on a border of Greater London. The site has ...
on 13 October she won from the favourite Sarcelle after leading from the start. A week later at Newmarket Racecourse started at odds of 11/4 for the prestigious Middle Park Stakes. Ridden by William Higgs she won from the colts Admirable Crichton and Gingal. The filly ended her season by winning the Free Handicap under top weight of 126 pounds at Newmarket in early November. Flair's earnings for 1905 totaled £5,384.


1906: three-year-old season

On 4 May Flair faced eleven opponents in the 93rd running of the 1000 Guineas over the Rowley Mile and started the 11/10 favourite ahead of Victorious, Ulalume and Snow Glory. Ridden by
Bernard Dillon Bernard Dillon (1888–1941) was an Irish jockey. Born at Caherina in Tralee, he joined his older brother Joe in 1901, both of them being apprentice jockeys at the famous Druids Lodge training establishment in Wiltshire England. Victory on ...
she drew right away from the fields in the closing stages won in a "hack canter" by three
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 Intern ...
and three quarters of a length from Lischana and Paid Up. Her winning time of 1:40.6 was more than three seconds faster than the one recorded by Gorgos 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 ...
over the same course two days earlier. Immediately after her success in the Newmarket
classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...
Flair was regarded as a serious contender for the Epsom Derby, with
bookmakers A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookma ...
making her the second choice in the ante-post betting. When asked if he thought that the filly would contest the Derby the famous racehorse owner
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 ...
replied "of course she will, and I should think she'll win it". A few days later, however, it was announced that Flair had been withdrawn from the race having begun to show signs of lameness a week after the Guineas. The cause was variously described as a "cracked heel" sustained when she struck into herself in a training gallop, or as "an injury to one of her hindjoints". An unintended consequence of her absence was that her stablemate
Spearmint Spearmint, also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, is a species of mint, ''Mentha spicata'' (, native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. It is nat ...
who was being prepared for 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 ...
was re-routed to Epsom and won the Derby. Flair did not race again and was retired at the end of the year.


Assessment and honours

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


Breeding record

As a broodmare, Flair produced several minor winners, but no top-class performers. Her foals included: *Gallon, a chestnut colt, foaled in 1909, sired by
Gallinule Moorhens—sometimes called marsh hens—are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family (Rallidae). Most species are placed in the genus ''Gallinula'', Latin for "little hen". They are close relatives of coots. They are of ...
*Sentiment, bay filly, 1912, by
Spearmint Spearmint, also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, is a species of mint, ''Mentha spicata'' (, native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. It is nat ...
*Foxcat, brown filly, 1914, by Llangwm *Colt by Lemberg, 1915, (died young) Flair did not produce any live offspring after 1914 and died in 1923.


Pedigree

*Flair 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 ...
3 × 4 to Galopin, meaning that this stallion appears in both the third and fourth generations of her pedigree. She was also inbred 4 × 4 to Parmesan.


References

{{1000 Guineas Winners 1903 racehorse births 1923 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 1-m 1000 Guineas winners