Pasch (1935–1939) 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
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 ...
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 ...
, best known for 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 ...
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 ...
in 1938, a year in which he started favourite for all three legs of the
Triple Crown
Triple Crown may refer to:
Sports Horse racing
* Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
* Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States)
** Triple Crown Trophy
** Triple Crown Productions
* Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
* Trip ...
. In a brief racing career which lasted from April to October of his three-year-old season, he ran six times, recording three wins, one second, and two third places. Apart from his win in the Guineas, he won the
Eclipse Stakes
The Eclipse Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown P ...
and was placed in
The Derby,
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 ...
and
Champion Stakes
The Champion Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlong ...
. He was then retired to stud but died after siring a single crop of foals.
Background
Pasch was a
bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
horse with a narrow white
blaze and one white
foot
The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...
bred his owner Henry E. Morriss, a
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
-based bullion broker. He was sired by
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 ...
, a highly successful breeding stallion whose other notable winners included
Bahram
Bahrām ( fa, بهرام) is a male given name. Other variants Behram, Bahran, Vahran, and Vahram ( uz, Баҳром, Bahrom and Tajik: Баҳром, Bahrom)
The older form is Vahrām ( pal, 𐭥𐭫𐭧𐭫𐭠𐭭, in la, Varrames), also spell ...
,
Windsor Lad
Windsor Lad (1931–1943) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. As a three-year-old in 1934, he won both The Derby and the St Leger in record time. In 1935, he won the Coronation Cup and the Eclipse Stakes before his career ...
,
Blenheim,
Trigo and
Brantôme. Pasch's dam Pasca was a daughter of Morriss's Derby winner
Manna
Manna ( he, מָן, mān, ; ar, اَلْمَنُّ; sometimes or archaically spelled mana) is, according to the Bible, an edible substance which God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert during the 40-year period follow ...
out of the mare Soubriquet, a half-sister of
Fifinella
Fifinella was a female gremlin designed by Walt Disney for a proposed film from Roald Dahl's book ''The Gremlins''. During World War II, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) asked permission to use the image as their official mascot, and th ...
. Soubriquet was a high class runner in her own right, winning five races and finishing second in both 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 (1,609 ...
and
The Oaks. At the end of her racing career she was bought by Morriss for 12,500
guineas
The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...
to become a broodmare.
Pasca won two minor races and also produced Pasqua, the dam of the Derby winner
Pinza
Pinza (1950–1977) was a Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career which lasted just over a year– from July 1952 until July 1953– he ran seven times and won five races. He was the best British colt of his generation in 1953, ...
.
Morriss sent the colt into training with
Fred Darling
Frederick Darling (1884–1953) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse trainer who trained a record-equalling seven English Derby winners.
Darling's father, Sam Darling senior, was a trainer at Beckhampton, near Avebury in Wiltshire, who train ...
at his stable at
Beckhampton in
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
. At Darling's stable, Pasch was lodged in the box which had previously been occupied by the Derby winners
Coronach
A coronach (also written coranich, corrinoch, coranach, cronach, etc.) is the Scottish Gaelic equivalent of the Goll, being the third part of a round of keening, the traditional improvised singing at a death, wake or funeral in the Highlands of S ...
and Manna.
Racing career
1938:three-year-old season
Pasch was unraced as a two-year-old after sustaining an injury to his
pastern
The is a part of the leg of a horse between the fetlock and the top of the hoof. It incorporates the long pastern bone (proximal phalanx) and the short pastern bone (middle phalanx), which are held together by two sets of paired ligaments to fo ...
in the spring.
Although he recovered by autumn it was decided not to race him until the following year.
He was highly regarded by his owner who described him in November 1937 as a colt who might "be heard of next year in the classic races, as he is very good".
In 1938 he began his racing career by winning the Coventry Stakes 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 of ...
on 16 April. He was then stepped up in class to contest the 2000 Guineas over the Rowley Mile course at
Newmarket eleven days later. Despite his lack of experience and an unfavourable draw, the colt was strongly supported in the betting and started the
5/2 favourite in a field of eighteen runners. Pasch started quickly and led in the early stages before being settled by the
champion jockey Gordon Richards. He regained the lead at half way and despite showing his inexperience by "looking round him like a novice" he won by two
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 ...
from
Scottish Union
Scottish Union (1935–1954) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and Horse breeding#Terminology, stallion best known for winning the British Classic Races, classic St Leger Stakes in 1938. He was one of the highest-rated British two-year-olds in ...
and Mirza. Richards said that the colt had won with at least seven
pounds in hand, adding "I really cannot see what can beat him in the Derby."
It was also noted that the colt's quick, "bouncing" action was ideally suited to the prevailing fast ground.
Other observers, however, felt that Pasch's excitable temperament would be a disadvantage in the
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 ...
classic.
By 1 June, when the Derby was run over one and a half miles at Epsom, the ground had been softened by rain. Although he was racing in more testing conditions than he had previously encountered, Pasch started the 9/4 favourite against twenty-one opponents. He moved up to challenge the leader Scottish Union in the straight and looked likely to win before
Bois Roussel
Bois Roussel (1935–1955) was a French-bred Thoroughbred champion racehorse and a leading broodmare sire. He won the 1938 Epsom Derby on his second racecourse appearance.
Background
He was named for Haras du Bois-Roussel, the breeding farm in A ...
, a French colt who had arrived in Darling's stable two weeks before the race, produced a "spectacular finish" to win by four lengths. Pasch lost second place by two lengths to Scottish Union with Richards offering no real excuses, although he did state that the favourite had "hated coming down the hill". Pasch was then brought back in distance and matched against older horses in the Eclipse Stakes over ten
furlong
A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hors ...
s at
Sandown
Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom with the resort of Shanklin to the south and the settlement of Lake, Isle of Wight, Lake in between. Together ...
. He started at odds of 13/8 and won impressively by three lengths from the four-year-old Fair Copy, with Scottish Union in fourth.
On 7 September, Pasch ran in the
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 ...
over one mile, six and a half furlongs 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 ...
. He started favourite but finished third of the nine runners beaten a neck and four lengths by Scottish Union and Challenge.
After the St Leger it was announced that Pasch had been retired but he returned for the
Champion Stakes
The Champion Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlong ...
at Newmarket in October. He was expected to end his career with a win but was beaten five lengths by the
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 ...
Rockfel
Rockfel (1935 – November 1941) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare, best known for winning two British Classic Races, Classics in 1938. In a career which lasted from July 1937 until May 1939 she ran thirteen times and won eight ...
.
Assessment
In their book ''A Century of Champions'', based on a modified version of the Timeform system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Pasch an "average" winner of the 2000 Guineas.
Stud record
Pasch was retired from racing to become a breeding stallion at Morriss's Banstead Manor stud. After completing one season at stud he became ill in September 1939
and died shortly afterwards of
meningitis
Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...
.
His foals included a filly named Pasquinade who became a successful broodmare, producing
Royal Serenade (
Nunthorpe Stakes
The Nunthorpe Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged two years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 5 furlongs (1,006 metres), and it is schedu ...
,
Hollywood Gold Cup
The Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of miles on the dirt held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California in May. The race currently offers a purse of $400,000. ...
) and Royal Palm (Nunthorpe Stakes).
Pedigree
References
{{2000 Guineas Winners
1935 racehorse births
1939 racehorse deaths
Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom
Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom
Thoroughbred family 3-i
2000 Guineas winners