Meld (1952–1977) 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 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 ...

. When she completed the English Fillies Triple Crown by defeating

Nucleus Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucle ...

in the 1955

St Leger The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a d ...

, she was only the fourth filly to do so in the 20th century. She was undefeated as a three-year-old (3YO) and was head of the 3YO Handicap.

Pedigree

Meld was well bred, being by the top-class stayer and successful sire,

Alycidon Alycidon (1945–1963) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who was described as "one of the greatest stayers in history". In a career which lasted from the autumn of 1947 until September 1949 he ran seventeen times and won eleven races. He w ...

, her dam Daily Double who won four races and was the dam of five winners was by Fair Trial. The second dam of Meld was Doubleton by Bahram, making her a half-sister to

Precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

. Meld was line-bred to

Blandford Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this was abolished and i ...

in the fourth generation (4x4).Ahnert, Rainer L. (editor in chief), ''Thoroughbred Breeding of the World'', Pozdun Publishing, Germany, 1970

Racing record

Meld dominated her rivals in the

1,000 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 ...

and The Oaks, before taking on the colts for the first time that year in

St Leger Stakes The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a d ...

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

. She won by just under a length, and then had to survive an objection from

Lester Piggott Lester Keith Piggott (5 November 1935 – 29 May 2022) was an English professional jockey and trainer. With 4,493 career flat racing wins in Britain, including a record nine Epsom Derby victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest f ...

, who had ridden Nucleus. Her win enabled

Cecil Boyd-Rochfort Sir Cecil Charles Boyd-Rochfort KCVO (188718 March 1983) was an Irish thoroughbred racehorse trainer who was British flat racing Champion Trainer five times. Background Cecil was the son of Rochfort Hamilton Boyd-Rochfort and the grandson of ...

to become the first trainer in England to have won more than £1 million for his patrons. Meld's winnings of £43,051 was an all-time record for fillies in England for at least several years after her retirement.Leicester, Sir Charles, ''Bloodstock Breeding'', J.A. Allen & Co, London, 1969

Stud record

Meld produced six winners including: *

Charlottown Charlottown (1963 – 1979) was a Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career which lasted from 1965 until 1967 he ran ten times and won seven races. He is best known for winning the 1966 Derby. Background Charlottown was bred in England by his ...

(seven wins, including

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...

for £116,863, and sire in England and Australia. He carried the colours of

Lady Zia Wernher Lady Anastasia Mikhailovna Wernher (' Countess Anastasia Mikhailovna de Torby; 9 September 1892 – 7 December 1977) was a German-born Russian-British aristocrat and thoroughbred racehorse owner. She was the elder daughter of Grand Duke Micha ...

. * Intaglio, a winner and was the second dam of Easy Regent (

Critérium de Saint-Cloud The Critérium de Saint-Cloud is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Saint-Cloud over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles), and it is sche ...

etc.) * Lysander II, a successful sire in Australia * Mellay, unraced, a Leading Sire in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1973 and 1977 * Scarletville, winner, sire. Meld's more modern descendants include Intaglio's great-great-great-grandson

Ramonti Ramonti (foaled 28 March 2002) is a retired French-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. He was originally trained in Italy, where he won eight races at the ages of three and four including the Group One Premio Vittorio di Capua. He was ...

Honours

Following 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 ...

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,

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ways Deltic diesel locomotive no. D9003 (later 55 003) was named after the horse on 7 July 1961, and remained in service until 31 December 1980.

References

* The Complete Encyclopedia of Horse Racing – written by Bill Mooney and George Ennor {{St Leger Winners 1952 racehorse births 1977 racehorse deaths Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 2-i St Leger winners 1000 Guineas winners Epsom Oaks winners

Pedigree

Racing record

Stud record

Honours

See also

References