Super Concorde (20 April 1975 – 1987) was an American-bred French-trained

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 ...

. He was the highest-rated two-year-old in France in 1977 when he won

Prix de Cabourg The Prix de Cabourg is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,200 metres (about 6 furlongs), and it is scheduled to take place each year in lat ...

and

Prix Morny The Prix Morny is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,200 metres (about 6 furlongs), and it is scheduled to ...

over sprint distances before defeating a strong field in France's premier race for juveniles, the

Grand Critérium Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commun ...

. He was disappointing in three runs in 1978 and was retired to stud after having won four of his eight races.

Background

Super Concorde was a "strong, attractive" brown horse bred in Kentucky by

Nelson Bunker Hunt Nelson Bunker Hunt (February 22, 1926 – October 21, 2014) was an American oil company executive. He was a billionaire whose fortune collapsed after he and his brothers William Herbert and Lamar tried to corner the world market in silver ...

. He was from the second of three crops of foals sired by

Bold Reasoning Bold Reasoning (April 29, 1968 – April 24, 1975) was an American thoroughbred racehorse. He is best known as being the sire of the 1977 Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...

, the winner of the

Withers Stakes The Withers Stakes is a Graded stakes race, Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three years old horses over the distance of miles on the dirt scheduled annually in February at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York (state), New York. T ...

in 1971. Bold Reasoning also sired the

American Triple Crown In the United States, the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, commonly known as the Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for three-year-old Thoroughbreds, consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. The three r ...

winner

Seattle Slew Seattle Slew (February 15, 1974 – May 7, 2002) was a champion American Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who became the tenth winner of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States), American Triple Crown (1977). He is one of only ...

before dying at the age of seven in 1975. Super Concorde's dam, Prime Abord won the

Prix de Royallieu The Prix de Royallieu is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,800 metres (about 1 mile and ...

and finished seventh when second favourite for The Oaks in 1970. A daughter of the Oaks winner Homeward Bound, she was born with a

club foot Clubfoot is a birth defect where one or both feet are rotated inward and downward. Congenital clubfoot is the most common congenital malformation of the foot with an incidence of 1 per 1000 births. In approximately 50% of cases, clubfoot aff ...

and was reportedly bought by Nelson Bunker Hunt only because his agents visited the farm during a snowstorm and failed to notice the deformity. As a yearling, Super Concorde was sent to the sales and was bought for $200,000 by representatives of

Walter Haefner Walter Haefner (13 September 1910 – 19 June 2012) was a Swiss businessman and a thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder in Ireland. As a young man Haefner went to work in the auto industry as an employee of the Swiss division of General Mo ...

. The colt was sent to Europe where he was trained in France by

François Boutin François Boutin (21 January 1937 – 1 February 1995) was a French Thoroughbred horse trainer. The son of a farmer, he was born in the village of Beaunay in the northerly Seine Maritime département. He began riding horses at a young age and ...

Racing career

1977: two-year-old season

On his racecourse debut, Super Concorde defeated three opponents in race over 1000 metres at

Chantilly Racecourse Chantilly Racecourse (In French: "Hippodrome de Chantilly") is a Thoroughbred turf racecourse for flat racing in Chantilly, Oise, France, about north of the centre of the city of Paris. Chantilly Racecourse is located in the country's main hors ...

and then won the Prix de Cabourg over 1200 metres at

Deauville Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film Fes ...

. The colt was then moved up in class for the

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

Prix Morny run on 21 August over the same course and distance as the Prix de Cabourg and started the 8/10 favourite after

Philippe Paquet Philippe Paquet is a former champion jockey from France, who in 1974 was the winner of the Prix du Jockey Club on Caracolero, and the Gran Premio d'Italia on Ribecourt. In 1976, he also won the Irish Derby on Malacate, and the Irish Oaks on Lagunet ...

elected to ride him in preference to the

Prix Robert Papin The Prix Robert Papin is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 1,200 metres (about 6 furlongs), and it is scheduled to take ...

winner Vific. Super Concorde led soon after the start, as he had done in his previous starts, and held on in the closing stages to win by a neck from Little Love, with the Italian colt El-Muleta a length and a half away in third. The colt started favourite for the

Prix de la Salamandre The Prix de la Salamandre was a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It was run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,400 metres (about 7 furlongs), and it was scheduled to take place each year in Sep ...

over 1400m at

Longchamp Racecourse The Longchamp Racecourse (french: Hippodrome de Longchamp) is a 57 hectare horse-racing facility located on the Route des Tribunes at the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, France. It is used for flat racing and is noted for its variety of interlaced tr ...

on 11 September, but failed to reproduce his earlier form, fighting his jockey's attempts to restrain him and finishing fourth of the eight runners behind the British-trained outsider John de Coombe, Bilal and Kenmare. On 9 October at Longchamp, Super Concorde started 3.4/1 second favourite for the

against a field which included Bilal, Kenmare, Jaazeiro, John de Coombe, Pyjama Hunt, Little Love and

Acamas Acamas or Akamas (; Ancient Greek: Ἀκάμας, folk etymology: 'unwearying') was a name attributed to several characters in Greek mythology. The following three all fought in the Trojan War, and only the first was not mentioned by Homer. *Acam ...

. The Boutin stable also ran Crazy Dmitri as a

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eith ...

in order to ensure a true test of stamina over the 1600m course. Super Concorde settled behind the leaders, took the lead 400m from the finish and won by three-quarters of a length and a neck from Pyjama Hunt and Acamas.

1978: three-year-old season

Super Concorde was difficult to train as a three-year-old and ran only three times. On 16 April he started odds-on favourite for the

Prix de Guiche The Prix de Guiche is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts. It is run over a distance of 1,800 metres (about 1⅛ miles) at Chantilly in May. His ...

at Longchamp but finished fifth of the six runners behind

Gay Mecene Gay Mecene (16 May 1975 – 24 December 1998) was an American-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. After winning his only race as a two-year-old in 1977, he developed into one of the best French-trained colts of his generatio ...

. He did not reappear until late June when he was matched against older horses in the Group One

Prix d'Ispahan The Prix d'Ispahan is a Group 1 Group 1 may refer to: * Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Alkali metal * Group 1 (racing), a historic (until 1981) classification for Touring car raci ...

. He produced his best effort of the season to finish fourth behind the four-year-olds Carwhite,

Trillion ''Trillion'' is a number with two distinct definitions: * 1,000,000,000,000, i.e. one million million, or (ten to the twelfth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the meaning in both American and British English. * 1,000,000,000,0 ...

and Gairloch, with Kenmare,

Roland Gardens Roland Gardens (foaled 9 May 1975 – after 1993) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for winning the classic 2000 Guineas in 1978. During a racing career which lasted from 1977 until 1979 he ran sixteen times and won f ...

and

Enstone Spark Enstone Spark (foaled 6 June 1975) was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. She is best known for winning the classic 1000 Guineas in 1978. Racing career Trained by Barry Hills, at age two, Enstone Spark won the 1977 Lowther Stakes at York Ra ...

among the beaten horses. On his final start he finished sixth of the nine runners in 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 ...

, appearing unsuited by the firm ground.

Assessment

There was no International Classification of European two-year-olds in 1977: the official handicappers of Britain, Ireland and France compiled separate rankings for horses which competed in those countries. Super Concorde topped the French handicap, two pounds ahead of Pyjama Hunt and Acamas. The independent Timeform organisation awarded him a rating of 128, two pounds below the Irish-trained

Try My Best Try My Best (1975–1993) was an American-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. A son of Northern Dancer, he won the Dewhurst Stakes in 1978 and was the top-rated two-year-old in Britain and Ireland that year. Background Try M ...

. In the following year, he was rated 123 by Timeform, fifteen pounds below their top-rated horse

Alleged In law, an allegation is a claim of an unproven fact by a party in a pleading, charge, or defense. Until they can be proved, allegations remain merely assertions.

. In the International Classification for three-year-olds he was rated thirteen pounds below the top-rated

Ile de Bourbon Ile de Bourbon (1975–1997) was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career which lasted from 1977 until October 1979 he ran twelve times and won five races. His most important success came in July 1978 wh ...

Stud record

On his retirement from racing Super Concorde was bought back by Nelson Bunker Hunt and became a breeding stallion at

Gainesway Farm Gainesway Farm is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding business in Lexington, Kentucky. It was originally called Greentree Farms. The 1,500 acre (6 km²) property has been home to stallions such as Youth and Exceller and numerous others w ...

in Kentucky, beginning his stud career at a fee of $20,000. He was not a particularly successful stallion, but sired some good winners including Martha Stevens (

Nell Gwyn Stakes The Nell Gwyn Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres) on the Rowley Mile at Ne ...

), Big Shuffle (

Cork and Orrery Stakes The Platinum Jubilee Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. Three-year-olds foaled in the Southern Hemisphere are also eligible. It is run at A ...

, leading sire in Germany), Super May (

Mervyn Leroy Handicap The Precisionist Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. A Grade III event open to horses, age three and up, it was contested over a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on Cushi ...

), Over the Ocean (

Prix Perth The Prix Perth is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Saint-Cloud over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile), and it is scheduled to tak ...

), Concorde Bound ( Suffolk Downs Sprint Handicap) and Croeso (

Florida Derby The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Since 2005, it has been run five weeks before the Kentucky Derby, which is held on the first Saturd ...

). Super Concorde died in 1987.

Pedigree

References

{{reflist 1975 racehorse births 1987 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in France Thoroughbred family 3-l