Pillion (1923 – 1940) 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

broodmare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

. As a juvenile in 1925 she showed promising form by winning once and finishing second in three races including the Rous Memorial Stakes and the

Cheveley Park Stakes The Cheveley Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it i ...

. On her three-year-old debut she recorded a 25/1 upset victory in 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 ...

. She was retired from racing at the end of the season and had some influence as a broodmare.

Background

Pillion was a bay mare bred and owned by

Anthony Gustav de Rothschild Anthony Gustav de Rothschild (26 June 1887 – 5 February 1961) was a British banker and member of the Rothschild family. Biography Born in London, England, he was the third and youngest of the three sons of Leopold de Rothschild (1845–1917) ...

. She was set into training with John Watson at the Palace House stable in Newmarket in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. Her sire Chaucer won the

Gimcrack Stakes The Gimcrack Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and geldings. It is run at York over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to t ...

as a juvenile in 1902, and later proved himself a high-class performer in handicap races. As a breeding stallion he sired 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 ...

winner

Canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

and was the damsire of Fairway, Hyperion,

Pharos The Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria (; Ancient Greek: ὁ Φάρος τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας, contemporary Koine ), was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, during the re ...

and

Sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock, ei ...

. Pillion's dam Double Back also produced the

Coventry Stakes The Coventry Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each ...

winner Reflector and was a descendant of the influential broodmare Sunray.

Racing career

1925: two-year-old season

In 1925 Pillion recorded her only win from five starts at

Nottingham Racecourse Nottingham Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It is situated at Colwick Park, close to the River Trent and about 3 km east of the city centre. Characteristics There are actually ...

in summer when she won the £1,000 Nottinghamshire Breeders' Foal Plate. In the Rous Memorial Stakes at

Goodwood Racecourse Goodwood Racecourse is a horse-racing track five miles north of Chichester, West Sussex, in England controlled by the family of the Duke of Richmond, whose seat is nearby Goodwood House. It hosts the annual Glorious Goodwood meeting in lat ...

in July she ran well but was no match for the colt

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 ...

. In October, Pillion finished second to Karra in the

over six furlongs at

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...

. In her two other races that year the filly finished second in the Houghton Stakes and ran fourth in the Champion Breeders' Foal Stakes at

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

. In the Free Handicap, ranking of the year's best two-year-olds, Pillion was placed in joint 24th place, fourteen pounds behind the top-rated

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

1926: three-year-old season

On 30 April Pillion, ridden by Dick Perryman, started a 25/1 outsider in a twenty-nine runner field for the 113th running of the 1000 Guineas over the

Rowley Mile Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of British horseracin ...

course at

. Karra started favourite but made no impact as Pillion went to the front a quarter of a mile from the finish and won "nicely" by a

length 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 Interna ...

from Trilogy with half a length back to

Short Story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

in third. In the

Oaks Stakes The Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards (2 ...

over one and a half miles at

Epsom Racecourse Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse on the hills associated with Epsom in Surrey, England which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. The "Downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs. The course, which has a crowd capacity of 13 ...

a month later Pillion started 11/2 second favourite but after disputing the lead until the final turn she tired in the last quarter mile and finished fifth of the sixteen runners behind Short Story. Later that year, the filly reportedly won the Stewards Handicap at Nottingham.

Assessment and honours

In their book, ''A Century of Champions'', based on the Timeform rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Pillion an "inferior" winner of the 1000 Guineas.

Breeding record

At the end of her racing career, Pillion was retired to become a broodmare. She produced at least three foals between 1932 and 1938: *Tandem, a bay colt, foaled in 1932, sired by

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 ...

*Magic Carpet, chesnut gelding, 1937, by Miracle *Pilch, bay filly, 1938, by

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 caree ...

. Dam of Aldborough (

Doncaster Cup The Doncaster Cup is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 2 miles 1 furlong and 197 yards (3,600 metr ...

) and granddam of Kythnos (

Irish 2000 Guineas The Irish 2,000 Guineas is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is ...

). Pillion was euthanised in 1940 after being barren since 1938.

Pedigree

* Pillion was

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 ...

2 × 4 to St Simon, meaning that this stallion appears in both the second and fourth generations of her pedigree.

References

{{1000 Guineas Winners 1923 racehorse births 1940 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 1-i 1000 Guineas winners