Minster Son (1985 – 30 August 2006), 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 c ...

racehorse and

sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" a ...

. In a career which lasted from late summer 1987 until September 1988, he ran eight times and won five races. He recorded his most important success when winning the

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 ...

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 ...

as a three-year-old in 1988, ridden by his breeder,

Willie Carson William Fisher Hunter Carson, OBE (born 16 November 1942) is a retired jockey in thoroughbred horse racing. Life and career Best known as "Willie", Carson was born in Stirling, Scotland in 1942. He was apprenticed ...

. In the same year in which he also won the

Newmarket Stakes The Newmarket Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres) on t ...

, the Predominate Stakes and the

Gordon Stakes The Gordon Stakes is a Group races, Group 3 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old horses. It is run at Goodwood Racecourse, Goodwood over a distance ...

. He was retired to stud following his St Leger victory.

Background

Minster Son was a strongly-built chestnut horse with a white blaze bred by the leading jockey Willie Carson who rode him in all of his races. He was sired by the American-bred stallion Niniski, who won the

Irish St. Leger The Irish St Leger is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 6 furlongs (2,816 metres), and it i ...

and the

Prix Royal-Oak The Prix Royal-Oak 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 3,100 metres (about 1 mile and 7½ furlongs), and ...

in 1979 before going on to sire many good staying horses including

Petoski Petoski (24 February 1982–2003) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career that lasted from June 1984 to July 1986, he ran twelve times and won four races. Petoski is most notable for his win against a strong international f ...

, Hernando (

Prix du Jockey Club The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a ...

) and Lomitas (

Preis von Europa The Preis von Europa is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Cologne over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is scheduled to take place eac ...

). His dam, Honey Bridge, was a member of Thoroughbred family 14-a, which also produced notable horses including

Tetratema Tetratema (27 April 1917 – July 1939) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a racing career which lasted from May 1919 until October 1921 he won thirteen of his sixteen races, include the all twelve of his ...

and Polynesian. Before his racing career began, Minster Son entered the ownership of

Lady Beaverbrook Marcia Anastasia Aitken, Baroness Beaverbrook (''née'' Christoforides, previously Lady Dunn; 27 July 1909 – 28 October 1994) was a British philanthropist, an art collector, and racehorse owner. Early life and first marriage Born in Sutton, ...

and was sent into training with

Major Dick Hern William Richard Hern (20 January 1921 – 22 May 2002) was an English Thoroughbred racehorse trainer and winner of sixteen British Classic Races between 1962 and 1995, and was Champion Trainer on four occasions. Following his early career in ...

West Ilsley West Ilsley is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. The population of the village at the 2011 Census was 332. Location and amenities It is situated in West Berkshire, north of Newbury on the Berkshire Downs. The companion village ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

Racing career

1987: two-year-old season

Minster Son made his first appearance in a maiden race at

Newbury Racecourse Newbury Racecourse is a racecourse and events venue in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England. It has courses for flat races and over jumps. It hosts one of Great Britain's 36 annual Group 1 flat r ...

in which he defeated his stable companion

Unfuwain Unfuwain (5 March 1985 – 16 January 2002) was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse bred and owned by Hamdan Al Maktoum. In a career of ten starts, lasting from 1987 to 1989, he won four Group races and was placed in the Ki ...

and twenty-five others. He was beaten in his two remaining starts in 1987.

1988: three-year-old season

Minster Son began his three-year-old season in the Newmarket Stakes over ten furlongs in April. Carson rode the colt to a one length victory over the favourite Red Glow. Two weeks later, Red Glow won the

Dante Stakes The Dante Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old horses. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 56 yards () at Y ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. Minster Son was sent to Goodwood for the Predominate Stakes on 18 May, a recognised trial race for The Derby. He took the lead in the straight and won by one and a half lengths from

Sheriff's Star Sheriff's Star (27 April 1985 – after 1995) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. As a two-year-old he won his first two races before establishing himself as one of the best British colts of his generation with a close second in ...

. At Epsom on 1 June, Minster Son started the 6/1 third favourite for the Derby behind Red Glow and Unfuwain. Carson chose to ride the horse he had bred in preference to the more fancied Unfuwain and 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 at ...

runner-up Charmer. Minster Son was never in contention for the lead and finished eighth of the fourteen runners behind

Kahyasi Kahyasi (2 April 1985 – 2008) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse. He won the first five races of his seven-race career, including the Epsom Derby and the Irish Derby as a three-year-old in 1988. Backg ...

. It was to be his only defeat of the season. In July, Minster Son returned to Goodwood for the Gordon Stakes and won by two lengths from Assatis to establish himself as major contender for the St Leger. Shortly after Minster Son's win in the Gordon Stakes, Hern underwent heart surgery, and the colt's training was taken over by his assistant Neil Graham. At

Doncaster Racecourse Doncaster Racecourse (also known as the Town Moor course) is a racecourse in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It hosts two of Great Britain's 36 annual Group 1 flat races, the St Leger Stakes and the Racing Post Trophy. History Doncas ...

on 10 September, Minster Son started third favourite for the St Leger behind the filly

Diminuendo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependi ...

who had won The Oaks,

Irish Oaks The Irish Oaks is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs (2,414 metres), and it is s ...

and

Yorkshire Oaks The Yorkshire Oaks is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile 3 fu ...

. Sheriff's Star was made second favourite after winning the

King Edward VII Stakes The King Edward VII Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 211 yards (2,406 met ...

and the

Great Voltigeur Stakes The Great Voltigeur Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 18 ...

. Carson kept his horse towards the front of the field before sending him into the lead three furlongs from the finish, and Diminuendo emerged as his only serious challenger. Minster Son "stayed on gamely" to beat the filly by a length, with Sheriff's Star finishing eight lengths further back in third. Willie Carson became the first man to win a Classic on a horse he had bred himself. After the race, Carson explained that Minster Son's performance as the colt had been affected by a back injury in his previous two starts. He also expressed the hope the colt would be better as a four-year-old. Minster Son remained in training in 1989 but in March Lady Beaverbrook announced that he would be retired to stud without racing again.

Stud career

Minster Son stood as a stallion at the Acrum Lodge Stud near

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

from his retirement until his death on 30 August 2006. He had no success as a sire of flat racers, but had more success as a

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

stallion. The best of his progeny was probably the steeplechaser Rambling Minster who started second favourite for the 2009 Grand National after winning the Blue Square Gold Cup at

Haydock Haydock is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 11,416 Haydock's historic area covers the Haydock electoral ward and a section of the Blackbrook ward. Haydoc ...

Pedigree

References

{{St Leger Winners Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom 1985 racehorse births 2006 racehorse deaths Thoroughbred family 14-a St Leger winners