My Flag (March 25, 1993 – April 12, 2014) was an American

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 ...

. She was one of the leading American fillies of her generation, winning the

Coaching Club American Oaks The Coaching Club American Oaks is a race for thoroughbred three-year-old fillies and the second leg of the Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing. Originally run at Belmont Park, the Grade I $500,000 stakes race was moved to Saratoga Race Course in 2 ...

and finishing third against colts in the

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...

in 1996. My Flag was euthanized April 12, 2014, at age of 21, due to foaling complications for her bay colt by

Bernardini Bernadini can mean: * Bernardini (horse), thoroughbred race horse, at Darley Stable in Kentucky * Bernardini (company), safe manufacturer which operated from 1912 to 1992 * Bernardini (surname), family name of Italian origin See also * Bern ...

Background

Born at

Claiborne Farm Claiborne Farm is a thoroughbred horse breeding operation near Paris, Kentucky. It was established in 1910 by Arthur B. Hancock, owner of Ellerslie Stud in Albemarle County, Virginia, and has been operated by members of his family ever since. ...

Paris, Kentucky Paris is a home rule-class city in Bourbon County, Kentucky. It lies northeast of Lexington on the Stoner Fork of the Licking River. Paris is the seat of its county and forms part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. As ...

, bred and owned by

Ogden Phipps Ogden Phipps (November 26, 1908 – April 21, 2002) was an American stockbroker, court tennis champion and Hall of Fame member, thoroughbred horse racing executive and owner/breeder, and an art collector and philanthropist. In 2001, he was inducte ...

, she was trained by

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...

trainer Claude R. McGaughey III. She was sired by the 1988 Champion Two-Year Old Male, Hall of Famer

Easy Goer Easy Goer (March 21, 1986 – May 12, 1994) was an American Champion Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse known for earning American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt honors in 1988 and defeating 1989 American Horse of the Year Sunday Silence in th ...

, and was foaled by the undefeated champion race mare and Hall of Famer

Personal Ensign Personal Ensign (April 27, 1984 – April 8, 2010) was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse who retired undefeated with 13 wins. At the time, this was the longest win streak for a horse at the elite level of American racing in 80 years. Her come ...

. During her racing days, My Flag was known to have a "diva" personality, because she did not like to be around other horses. To calm her uneasy temperament, she would often be led out of the saddling area before the rest of the horses.

Racing career

My Flag won four Grade 1 stakes races during her three years of racing, the biggest being the 1995

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies is a -mile thoroughbred horse race on dirt (although the distance has varied, depending on the configuration of the host track) for two-year-old fillies run annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the Uni ...

. Her victory, coming from off the pace on a muddy race track to collar the second-place finisher at the wire, was strikingly similar to Personal Ensign's 1988

Breeders' Cup Distaff The Breeders' Cup Distaff is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up. Known as the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic between 2008 and 2012, it is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or ...

triumph. My Flag collected three more G1 victories during her three-year-old campaign in 1996, in which she captured the

Ashland Stakes The Ashland Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early April at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. It and the Ashland Oaks, the Kentucky Association racetrack's predecessor race, were named for ...

, the Coaching Club American Oaks, and the

Gazelle Handicap The Gazelle Stakes (formerly Gazelle Handicap until 2004) is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, New York. It is a Grade III event run over a distance of miles on dirt that is open to three-yea ...

. She also finished a very credible third against males in that year's Belmont Stakes. My Flag was retired to broodmare services at Claiborne Farm after an undistinguished four-year-old campaign in 1997.

Broodmare career

Much like Personal Ensign, My Flag has achieved great success as a broodmare. Her first foal is the graded stakes-placed

Storm Cat Storm Cat (February 27, 1983 – April 24, 2013) was an American Thoroughbred stallion whose breeding fee during the peak of his stud career was $500,000, the highest in North America at the time. He was the leading sire in North America in 1999 ...

filly A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

, On Parade, which is the dam of multiple graded-stakes winner Parading. Her second foal, another Storm Cat filly named Storm Flag Flying, won the 2002 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and was honored as that year's Champion Two-Year-Old Filly. She is also the dam of stakes-winning filly With Flying Colors and a stakes-placed

colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: *Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People * Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places *Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States ...

named Leading The Parade, both sired by

A.P. Indy A.P. Indy (March 31, 1989 – February 21, 2020) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Belmont Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic on his way to American Horse of the Year honors in 1992. His time in the Belmont Stakes tied Easy Goer for ...

References

{{reflist 1993 racehorse births 2014 racehorse deaths Thoroughbred family 6-a Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winners Eclipse Award winners Phipps family