Lady Angela (1944–1966) was a British-bred

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 ...

who became the foundation mare of

E.P. Taylor Edward Plunket Taylor, CMG (January 29, 1901 – May 14, 1989) was a Canadian business tycoon, investor and philanthropist. He was a famous breeder of Thoroughbred race horses, and a major force behind the evolution of the Canadian horse-racing ...

Windfields Farm Windfields Farm was a six square kilometre (1,500 acre) Thoroughbred horse breeding farm that was founded by businessman E. P. Taylor in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Origin The first stable and breeding operation of E. P. Taylor originated w ...

in Canada. She was the dam of

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America ...

, the

Canadian Horse of the Year The Canadian Horse of the Year is a thoroughbred horse racing honour given annually since 1951 by the Jockey Club of Canada. It is the most prestigious honour in Canadian thoroughbred horse racing. Part of the Sovereign Awards program since 1975, ...

in 1958 and seven-time leading sire in Canada. Among Nearctic's offspring was the great

Northern Dancer Northern Dancer (May 27, 1961 – November 16, 1990) was a Thoroughbred who, in 1964, became the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. He then became one of the most successful sires of the 20th century. He is considered a Canad ...

, a champion in both Canada and the United States, and subsequently a leading sire in both North America and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. For her worldwide influence on the breed, Lady Angela was inducted into the

Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 to honour those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and Thoroughbred horse racing in Canada. It is located at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. The ...

in 2010.

Background

Lady Angela was a chestnut mare bred in Great Britain by Martin H. Benson. Benson was a prominent bookmaker and the owner of

Beech House Stud Beech House Stud is an English Thoroughbred racehorse breeding farm located on Cheveley Road near Newmarket, Suffolk currently owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum's Shadwell Racing operation. Originally a land parcel within the Cheve ...

. Just before the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Benson purchased the undefeated

Nearco Nearco (January 24, 1935 – June 27, 1957) was an Italian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse described by '' Thoroughbred Heritage'' as "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century" and "one of the most important sires of the century." He ...

from

Federico Tesio Federico Tesio (17 January 1869 – 1 May 1954) was an Italian breeder of Thoroughbreds for horse racing. He has been called "the only genius ever to operate in the breeding world" and "the greatest single figure in the history of Italian raci ...

for a then-record £60,000. Benson thought so highly of Nearco that he installed a bomb shelter in Nearco's paddock and had the horse trained to enter it during air raids. Nearco had a dominant, highly strung temperament that he passed on to many of his descendants. Lady Angela was sired by Hyperion, who won the 1933 Epsom Derby and then became a leading sire and broodmare sire. Lady Angela was out of Sister Sarah, the dam of four stakes winners – Black Peter, Lady Sybil, Barkersgate, and Welsh Abbot. Sister Sarah also produced several influential broodmares, including Caerlissa, Lady Sybil, Sybil's Sister, and The Veil. These mares have produced numerous stakes winners around the world, including St Paddy,

To-Agori-Mou To-Agori-Mou (22 April 1978 – 1990) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire who won the classic 2000 Guineas in 1981. He was the best British-trained two-year-old of 1980 when he won the Solario Stakes and was ...

Sixties Icon Sixties Icon (foaled 14 February 2003), is a retired British Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. In a career which lasted from April 2006 until November 2008, he ran seventeen times and won eight races. He recorded his most important victory ...

, and

Workforce The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic reg ...

, as well as important sire

Great Nephew Great Nephew was a British thoroughbred who became a champion miler in France. He also became a very successful sire, producing two Derby Stakes winners.

Racing career

Lady Angela raced 11 times, earning one win 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 ...

. She also placed four times.

Broodmare career

Lady Angela was retired from racing in 1948. Of her first four foals, only one, a stakes-placed filly by Nearco named Mary Martin, was considered a success. Another, also by Nearco, was so temperamental that he was gelded. These two foals were early examples of what later became a famous "nick", referring to Nearco's higher-than-average success rate when bred to mares by Hyperion. In 1952, Lady Angela was mated once more to Nearco and was then offered in foal at the Newmarket December Sales. At the same time, Canadian businessman

was looking to upgrade his breeding stock. He instructed George Blackwell of the

British Bloodstock Agency British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

to purchase the best mare available at the Newmarket sale, so Blackwell picked out Lady Angela at a sale-topping price of 10,500 guineas. Before shipping her to Canada, Taylor also wanted the mare bred back to Nearco, for which he paid an additional $3,000. The foal that Lady Angela was carrying at the sale (her third by Nearco, foaled in 1953) was later named Empire Day and won three races from 36 starts. The foal that Lady Angela produced after arriving in Canada (her fourth by Nearco, foaled in 1954) was

. Nearctic won 21 of his 42 starts despite an extremely high strung temperament that made him difficult to train. He also had a persistent quarter crack that curtailed his three-year-old campaign. Treated patiently by Horatio Luro, he recovered at age four to win major stakes races in both Canada and the United States, and was named the 1958 Canadian Horse of the Year. Upon retirement, he then became the leading sire in Canada seven times. One of his offspring was

, who became the first Canadian-bred to win the Kentucky Derby and then became the most dominant sire worldwide of the late 20th century. Genetic analysis of Thoroughbreds suggests that the reason for Nearctic's success is that he carried a then-rare allele of a gene called MSTN, associated with muscle growth. The more common "T" allele of MSTN is associated with stamina while the rarer "C" allele that Nearctic carried is associated with speed and earlier development. After Nearctic, Lady Angela produced eight more foals, seven of which were winners. The most successful on the racetrack was Choperion, by Chop Chop, who won the

Coronation Futurity The Coronation Futurity Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old horses foaled in Canada. It is run annually in mid-November at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at a distance of miles. Along with its turf counterpart, the ...

. Several of her daughters became successful producers, including: * Countess Angela – dam of

Queen's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of ...

winner Titled Hero * Lady Victoria – dam of

Northern Taste Northern Taste (March 15, 1971 – December 11, 2004) was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who raced in France and who became one of the most successful and influential leading sires in Japanese racing history Background Bred by E. P. ...

, winner of the

Prix de la Forêt The Prix de la Forêt is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,400 metres (about 7 furlongs), and it i ...

and 10-time

leading sire in Japan The list below shows the leading Thoroughbred sire of racehorses in Japan for each year since 1924. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the season. ---- * 1924 - Ebor (1) * 1925 - Ebor (2) * 1926 ...

. Northern Taste was inbred to Lady Angela as he was sired by Northern Dancer Lady Angela died in 1966 and was buried in the Trillium Cemetery at Windfields Farm near Oshawa. The farm was later sold, with the graveyard closed off to public access. In 2014, a request was made to the city of Oshawa to designate portions of the core buildings and cemetery under the Ontario Heritage Act. The proposal summarized Lady Angela's historical importance: "Even if she were the only horse buried in this cemetery, her importance in the way Thoroughbred bloodlines developed due to her influence is enough to preserve and protect it forever." Lady Angela was inducted into the

in 2010, joining Nearctic, Northern Dancer and numerous descendants. The

Lady Angela Stakes The Lady Angela Stakes is a thoroughbred horse race run annually during the third week of May at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Canada. An Ontario Sire Stakes, it is a restricted race for three-year-old fillies contested over a distance of seven ...

at Woodbine Racetrack is named in her honour.

Pedigree

Lady Angela is

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 ...

4S × 4D to Canterbury Pilgrim, the winner of the 1896 Epsom Oaks, meaning Canterbury Pilgrim appears in the fourth generation of both the sire's and dam's sides of her pedigree. Lady Angela is also inbred 4S × 5S × 5D to St. Simon.

References

{{reflist 1944 racehorse births 1966 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductees Thoroughbred family 14-c