Vertigineux (foaled, March 8, 1995 – 2014) was an American Thoroughbred racemare. She is out of the stakes-winning

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Via ...

mare For The Flag, by the outstanding sire

Kris S. Kris S. (foaled April 25, 1977 – May 7, 2002) was an American Thoroughbred race horse who is best known as a highly successful sire. Background Kris S. was a son of the 1972 Epsom Derby winner Roberto who was a sire of international influenc ...

Her owner is Eric Kronfeld, who bought back Vertigineux for $120,000 (equivalent to $ in ) after she failed to meet her reserve at the 1996 Keenland yearling sale. Her name means "breathtaking" or "dazzling" (speed) in French. During her racing career, she was trained by Michael Dickinson and had a modest career, consisting of two wins on Belmont turf in seven starts. Vertigineux is best known, however, not for her racing success as a winner, but for her success as a broodmare. She is the dam of two Grade I stakes winners: Balance, by

Thunder Gulch Thunder Gulch (May 23, 1992 – March 19, 2018) was a Champion American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his wins in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes in 1995, which earned him the title of U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt. Background ...

, and champion and 2010 American Horse of the Year

Zenyatta Zenyatta (foaled April 1, 2004) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Breeders' Cup Classic and Breeders' Cup Distaff and 19 of her 20 starts. She was the 2010 American Horse of the Year, and Champion Older Female in 2008, ...

, by Street Cry. Zenyatta won 19 of 20 career starts, including the

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late October ...

in 2009 and the

Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic 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 ...

, earning Eclipse honors as

American Champion Older Female Horse The Eclipse Award for Champion Older Dirt Female Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a filly or mare, four years old and up, for performances on dirt and main track racing surfaces. In 1971, it became part of the ...

in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Vertigineux has also produced graded stakes winner Where's Bailey, by Aljabr, who is her first foal, a 2006 Pulpit filly named Treasure Trail, and a 2007 colt named Souper Spectacular by

Giant's Causeway The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (5 km) northeast of ...

. Vertigineux was sold in 2008, to Coolmore Stud with the stipulation that Mr. Kronfeld got to keep the Bernardini foal she was carrying. In 2009 she produced Eblouissante, a dark bay or brown filly by Darley sire

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 ...

. In four starts to date for trainer

John Shirreffs John A. Shirreffs (born June 1, 1945, in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Based in California, Vietnam War veteran John Shirreffs began training Thoroughbreds in 1978. He has won a number of stakes races ...

, Eblouissante ran seven times with two wins and one second. For the 2009 breeding season, she was covered by English champion colt

Henrythenavigator Henrythenavigator (foaled February 28, 2005) is an American-bred and Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He won the 2000 Guineas, the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the St. James's Palace Stakes and the Sussex Stakes in 2008. After he finished second ...

and produced a filly on 4 March 2010, later named Pressurizing. Pressurizing never raced. In 2010 she was again covered by

, producing another filly, Harley Rose, who also never raced. She was barren to Street Cry in 2011. On April 9, 2013, she delivered a bay colt, De Coronado, by Street Cry. De Coronado shipped to

Aidan O'Brien Aidan Patrick O'Brien (born 16 October 1969 in County Wexford, Ireland) Aidan O'Brien bio NTRA. ...

for training in 2015. De Coronado ran eleven times with two wins and two thirds. Vertigineux was honored by the association of Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders (KTOB) as "Broodmare of the Year" in April 2009. The mare died sometime in 2014 due to an acute colic attack. Vertigineux was taken to Hagyard Medical Institute, but she could not be saved. She was covered by Tapit in 2013 after foaling De Coronado, but she failed to get in foal, making De Coronado her last foal.Bloodhorse.com, ''Zenyatta's Dam Voted Top Mare'', 22 April 2009.
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References

{{Reflist
Vertigineux pedigree and partial racing stats
1995 racehorse births 2014 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Thoroughbred family 4-r