shannon ( 1941 – 1955 ) , named shannon ii in america , was an outstanding australian thoroughbred racehorse who was inducted into the hall of fame .

he created new racecourse records in australia before he was sold to an american buyer who exported him to california in 1948 .

there shannon equalled the world record of 1:47 ³ ⁄ ₅ for the nine furlongs ( 1,800 metres ) in winning the forty niner handicap stakes , then one week later equalled the world record of 1:59 ⁴ ⁄ ₅ for a mile and a quarter ( 2,000 metres ) .

shannon was named the 1948 american champion older male horse .

at stud in america he proved to be a good sire .

shannon ( horse )

chris hemsworth and michael shannon are set to star in the afghanistan war drama “ horse soldiers ” for black label media .
sometime after the publication of jessica owers’ book about shannon , spendthrift farm erected two brass plaques to honour both bernborough and shannon ii .
dr . fager recorded one of the greatest campaigns in the annals of american racing when he was named horse of the year , champion older horse , champion grass horse and champion sprinter in 1968 .
shannon’s dam was the australian idle words . her sire was the british horse magpie that made the passage to victoria in 1917 . her grandsire was irish horse dark ronald , one of the most renowned sires of all time .
if the highest scoring horse is unable to participate , the next highest scoring horse earns the right for participation . if the second horse cannot participate the right will go to the next horse and so forth , as long as the horses have scored the minimum points of qualification set forth below .
there was , however , another aussie to arrive at spendthrift — the great shannon .
andrew murphy , chief commercial officer for shannon group , which operates shannon airport , said the airlift was in keeping with the airport’s target of growing its livestock cargo business .
shannon was retired to stud in 1948 where he sired 99 winners in eight seasons .
today’s throwback takes us to stampede park in 2005 and apprentice rider sovereign award winner shannon beauregard . in 2005 shannon told us that “nothing compares to riding horses – it’s my life . it’s my love” and she still has that love . shannon had a fall from a horse in 2014 and most jockeys would have retired , but all shannon could think about was getting back on a horse . shannon’s work ethic is second to none , and her hard work , dedication and love for the horses has her back on the track , and in the winner’s circle . shannon is a veteran in the jockey’s room at northlands park , and this winter she got her 800th win at turf paradise in phoenix . come see shannon ride on friday night and saturday afternoon at northlands park !
* overs has shannon finishing 4th in this race however the atr records unplaced horses in weight order rather than place order . according to the smh felcorn finished 4th and shannon 5th .
rider on the bronze horse . new york ; bobbs - merrill , 1942 .
he ' s probably the laziest horse i ' ve ever jogged or trained .
shannon was purchased for the bargain price , or at least so it seems a bargain after the fact , of £367 by peter riddle , who also served as shannon’s trainer in australia .
standing at spendthrift farm in kentucky , he was joined by another pretty good australian horse , bernborough . shannon’s progeny would eventually produce over $ 4 million in prize money . <
* * overs has shannon finishing 11th in this race however the atr records unplaced horses in weight order rather than place order . according to the smh goose boy finished 11th and shannon 8th .
a major airlift of irish thoroughbred horses has taken place from shannon airport , bound for china .
sport horse breeding gb uses cookies . find out more about our use of cookies .
all time results for caverna high school ( prior to 1950 , horse cave high school and cave city high school and prior to 1957 , horse cave colored school . )
the airlift of 76 horses in a boeing 747 cargo plane from shannon took place late last week .
sword dancer was champion 3 - year - old and horse of the year for 1959 .
whatever the correct figure might be for either horse ( and some commentator ' s have phar lap on a lesser figure ) there is no doubt shannon retired as australasia ' s greatest stake winner .
he ' s probably the laziest horse i ' ve ever jogged or trained ,
shared murphy , while also calling the horse one of the most intelligent he ' s met .
an airport spokesperson said : “we are disappointed by united’s decision to reduce its shannon / new york service for the winter period . united have operated services at shannon since 1999 and are a core and valued customer .
a chinese billionaire has bought up 76 irish thoroughbred horses which were airlifted to the asian country from shannon airport .
des hoysted back in the mid 70s called the wrong horse during a race and only realised his error after the horse had won . giving the prices and breeding info he gave the winners breeding as
bred and owned by christopher t . chenery , hill prince won six of seven starts as a juvenile before a horse of the year campaign at age 3 and further success as an older horse .
1939 state tournament ( at alumni gym , u . k . , lexington ) horse cave season record 33 - 3 , coach w . b . owen first round – brooksville ( 10th region ) 42 horse cave ( 6th region ) 36 1939 all state tournament team included jack jennings of horse cave
* * * overs has shannon finishing 4th in this race however the atr seems to record unplaced horses in this set weight race in betting order rather than place order . according to the smh accession finished 4th and shannon 5th .
tom fool was champion 2 - year - old in 1951 and horse of the year in 1953 .
storm is the only horse sally competes , although she does have her retired eventer at home too .
united airlines’ decision to suspend its daily shannon - new york route for the winter is a “bombshell” to the industry .
he broke his leg in 1955 , requiring his euthanization . rosehill racecourse runs the shannon stakes annually in his honour .
the airlift , it is hoped , will lead to further purchases by chinese horse racing / breeding interests .
french - bred filly all along won four major races in the span of 41 days during 1983 en route to becoming the first foreign - based horse to be voted horse of the year in the united states .
named after the guns of war , ack ack was the final horse bred and raced by harry guggenheim .
foiled again , with trainer shannon murphy , has an official doll modelled in his likeness . ( sara fraser / cbc )
he used what was thought - to - be undetectable horse tranquilizer to kill mohr , allegedly to collect on insurance policies totaling more than $ 300 , 000 . he bashed her head with a rock and blamed a horse . officials initially bought his story , calling mohr ' s death an accident caused by a fall from a horse .
1938 state tournament ( at alumni gym , u . k . , lexington ) horse cave season record unavailable , coach w . b . owen first round – madisonville ( 2nd region ) 31 horse cave ( 6th region ) 30
shannon’s first months in california were a disaster . placed into the bay meadows barn of willie molter , the hall of fame trainer just didn’t get it . shannon was a puzzle , had a running style unknown to molter’s other charges . and johnny longden didn’t fare much better . asking shannon to run from the front , the jock got nothing from the famous australian . shannon hung on the turns , choked in the straights , and became a laughing stock across california . it would take him six months to win a race .
shannon queen took 3 minutes 22 . 4 seconds for the 2600 metre distance to win this covered group 3 sheikh zayed cup race .
united currently operates daily flights from shannon to newark , new jersey , a short distance from the biggest city in the united states .
another champion , albeit one who never met up with bernborough , was shannon ( 1941 ) . a remarkable thoroughbred described by author jessica owers as “peerless , ” he was also the fastest horse that johnny longden — who had ridden count fleet — had ever sat astride . racing to brilliance in australia , shannon was imported to the usa after being bought by harry curland . unlike ajax , who had also been acquired by american interests , shannon was bought to race in america , where he became shannon ii . for a summary of this great thoroughbred’s career ( who is the subject of jessica owers’ latest book ) please click on this link : urltoken
after 1936 there was a regional realignment where the 8th region , that included horse cave , became the 6th region .
in the fourth race on opening day this year at brockton , amonte was involved in a three - horse collision .
during the time shannon raced in the usa the usd was pegged at usd3 . 224 to 1 . 00 aus pound ( wikipedia ) .
back in 1963 , figueroa won five races in eight days on the circuit with a horse he trained named shannon ' s hope . figueroa said the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals came to investigate . ' ' i told them , ' i run shannon ' s hope short distances , six and a half furlongs , no farther , ' ' ' he said . ' ' this paul revere , he ' s a hero in massachusetts , but he ran his horse 26 miles in one night ! ' '
1934 * * * 17th annual * * * state tournament ( at alumni gym , u . k . , lexington ) the year the system became what it is today : 16 regions ; 1 class ; “the greatest show on earth . ” horse cave season record unavailable , coach w . b . owen first round – horse cave ( 8th region ) 33 louisville manual ( 6th region ) 16 elite eight – horse cave 24 lexington henry clay ( 11th region ) 22 final four – danville ( 9th region ) 26 horse cave 24 1934 all state tournament team included ralph dorsey and leslie ross of horse cave
in may 1948 , at the coming around of the hollywood park meeting , molter slung a new jockey into shannon’s irons and found himself a different horse . johnny adams , and later jack westrope , rode the horse as he had been ridden in sydney – sit back and sprint later . and shannon unfurled . the argonaut , hollywood gold cup , forty - niners , golden gate , and san francisco handicaps . . . the australian swept them all . nine - furlong records , 10 furlongs , they all tumbled . they called him “the bullet from down under” and , when it came to a proposed match race with citation , “the white hope of the west coast . ” but the match race never occurred . shannon was retired in november 1948 , champion older horse of his year .
in the winter of 1947 , peter riddle passed away and shannon was sold at public auction . fetching the highest price ever paid for a thoroughbred at auction , he went to the randwick yard of trainer frank dalton for new owner w . j . smith . he raced four times in smith ' s colours for two wins and two seconds , but as a burgeoning seven year old shannon would not be able to recoup his purchase price . smith promptly shipped the horse to california , heralding a rough and rocky time for the sensitive shannon .
“i understand that the airline has assured shannon airport that it will begin flying from shannon again from march 10 , but there will still be over three months during the winter without such a service . i will be working hard over the coming weeks with businesses from the area to highlight to united airline and the aviation industry the need for a connection between new york and shannon during these winter months , ” added minister breen .
shannon’s sale to the u . s . followed a trend of australian bloodstock steaming its way to american farms at that time . beau pere , ajax , bernborough et al had all found stud careers in america . but shannon was to tread new territory . he wasn’t sold to stud ; he was sold to race , and he became the first australian thoroughbred to infiltrate the highest levels of american horse racing .
bred and owned by sam riddle , crusader was sired by man o’ war out of the star shoot mare star fancy . crusader was recognized as horse of the year in 1926 and became the first horse to win consecutive runnings of the suburban handicap .
shannon next won the hill stakes , and then took the epsom handicap running as the favourite . it does not take long in racing , just the time it takes for one of the bag men to pay rather than collect , for a horse to go from long to short . after four starts for four wins , flight beat shannon in the craven plate , and he was given an autumn and winter holiday .
eventing represents the strongest ab participation sport in the uk . owning an event horse with us could be really good for business .
exclusively owning or part owning an event horse with us can create a unique and powerful shop window for your products and services .
1945 khsal state tournament ( at kentucky state college gymnasium in frankfort ) ( khsal membership eventually reached a high of 69 schools and it was reported that horse cave won 65 straight games over two years , 1943 - 1945 . ) horse cave colored high school season record unavailable , coach newton stone thomas scores are unavailable championship – horse cave ( ky ) defeated rosenwald ( madisonville , ky )
he was syndicated and sent to spendthrift farm . leslie combs ii had much to advertise . shannon was arguably the most decorated horse in the stallion barn , commanding $ 2 , 500 a service , bettered only by his lofty neighbour , alibhai . and his books were good . both combs and mccarthy sent their own mares to shannon , and he produced 132 foals of racing age . one hundred nineteen made it to the racetrack , of which 100 were winners . but the blue - chip progeny were rare . shannon produced only six stakes winners before he died in 1955 .
farriers were in great demand by the australian light horse so when harold arthur mertin joined up 1914 he was welcomed with open arms .
horse of the year and champion 3 - year - old male in 1994 , holy bull was bred in florida by rachel carpenter’s pelican stable . he was owned and trained by jimmy croll after carpenter died prior to the horse’s career debut in 1993 at monmouth park .
don’t miss the full report from the horse & hound grassroots eventing championships in h & h — on sale thursday , 8 june .
the shannon stakes is held on the same day as the group 2 stan fox stakes , group 3 research stakes & the group 3 colin stephen quality .
1937 * * * 20th annual * * * state tournament ( at alumni gym , u . k . , lexington ) horse cave season record unavailable , coach w . b . owen first round – midway ( 11th region ) 43 horse cave ( 6th region ) 23
[ 1 ] johnstone was a grazier from camperdown and never owned the horse in fact . he was paid , or rather laid £200 to nothing against don juan winning the melbourne cup by bookmaker joe thompson , for the use of his name . the horse was own by thompson
[ 5 ] as soon as inglis claimed don juan thompson bought the horse back for £2 , 000 . first prize in the elbourne cup was £1360 but that was nothing compared with what thompson had won betting the unraced mystery horse down to 3 / 1 * in the cup
dance smartly was the second filly to win the canadian triple crown and the first canadian - bred horse to win a breeders’ cup race .
affirmed became america’s 11 th triple crown winner in 1978 during the first of his back - to - back horse of the year campaigns .
shannon was foaled in the new south wales hunter valley in the spring of 1941 . his sire , midstream , was a son of blandford , and his dam , idle words , was by the champion stallion magpie . their union was then unremarkable . the blandford line was new to australian breeding , and shannon was dropped from only the second crop of midstreams . but though plain and small , he proved far from unremarkable . in five seasons of sydney racing , shannon was peerless .
hazel on promise r performing in the dressage arena , early days with hazel on northern fable and hazel & clifford at the adelaide horse trials .
1933 * * * 16th annual * * * state tournament ( at alumni gym , u . k . , lexington ) this was the last year that schools were divided into two classes…and it was the 2nd of two years that only the overall region champions advanced to the state tourney with the “a” and “b” class system still in effect . five of the sixteen teams to reach the state tournament were designated as “b” schools : clear springs , guthrie , corinth , walton , and hazel green . horse cave was an “a” team . some 600 schools started district tourney play . horse cave season record unavailable , coach w . b . owen first round – horse cave ( 8th region ) 44 henderson ( 3rd region ) 29 elite eight – horse cave 28 hazard ( 16th region ) 22 final four –horse cave 21 hazel green 20 ( 13th region – b ) 26 championship – ashland ( 14th region ) 33 horse cave 25 1933 all state tournament team included joe billy mansfield and ralph dorsey of horse cave
bernborough lived until 1960 , when he died of a heart attack in his paddock as clem brooks cradled the great horse’s head in his arms .
bred in maryland by william l . brann and robert s . castle , challedon was recognized as horse of the year in 1939 and 1940 .
“we are well used to ‘firsts’ at shannon but having a record airlift of irish horses to china from here was very exciting for all concerned , ” he said .
as a three - year - old , shannon went through a bad patch , running unplaced in the stc flying handicap . he did win the hobartville stakes in 1944 , held at randwick during the years of world war ii . the previous year , flight had won the race , and he and shannon would stage several high - profile matchups further on . shannon then had two unplaced finishes , and the decision was made to spell him , resulting in his not starting again for 10 months .
for years shannon was not accepted into the english stud book . the story is that his maternal ancestor arrived in australia in 1826 . the ship on which she was travelling sank in a storm off sydney heads . she survived but her identification papers were lost . in 1949 the stud book rules were relaxed and shannon was included .
the 1st geelong troop was renamed the 1st geelong troop shannon ' s own and there were so many boys wanting to join it was necessary to divide it into the 1st and 3rd geelong shannon ' s own . percy stevens was scoutmaster of the 1st and his deputy , e . a . alsop , became scoutmaster of the 3rd .
pedigree questions caused shannon to be sold twice before he ever raced in california . an exhausting issue with the american stud book and a supposed flaw in his pedigree took months to sort out , and it was down to hollywood attorney neil steere mccarthy to do it . mccarthy paid w . j . smith a good , though discounted , price for shannon , and eventually he smoothed the passage for shannon ' s stud book eligibility . the horse debuted in california at santa anita racecourse , los angeles , on 24 january 1948 . but over raced and misunderstood , battling acclimatisation , a new surface and a furious , often cut - throat style of running , it took shannon six months to win a race . in that time , he became a physically different animal , much lighter than he had ever been in australia .
the first horse in more than 20 years to win consecutive division championships as a sprinter , housebuster was known for decimating his competition by wide margins .
the first horse to win both the kentucky derby and preakness stakes while undefeated , majestic prince also achieved fame as a record - priced auction yearling .
over the years , the shannon stakes has seen a fair spattering of talent pass through where placegetters and winners have remained in contention in major group races throughout the spring carnival .
the bill shannon biographical dictionary of new york sports is an open database of sports biographies maintained by jordan sprechman and marty appel . we welcome public and scholarly contributions and suggestions .
a three - time horse of the year and winner of eight eclipse awards , forego was one of the most accomplished and popular horses of the 1970s .
' he ' s coddled a little bit , ' says foiled again ' s trainer shannon murphy as he grooms the gelding after his morning jog . ( sara fraser / cbc )
horse cave’s all - time record in seven state tournaments ( 1925 , 1926 , 1933 , 1934 , 1937 , 1938 , 1939 ) was 7 - 6 .
legendary jockey tod sloan , who rode hundreds of good horses in america and europe , stated flatly : “hamburg was the only great horse i ever rode . ”
by the end of 1948 , it was believed there was only one horse in the united states that had any chance of defeating citation . a world - record holder over a mile , this horse was the first animal in america to crack two minutes for a mile - and - a - quarter . but you probably won’t have heard of him . he’s not in the american hall of fame . in fact , he’s not even american . he was australian , a 1947 california import called shannon ii .
the world war ii era was a second great coming for australian racing . after the marvellous 1930s , it produced many of the great heroes that live on in memory – bernborough , flight , tranquil star . but with these champions came the great speedster shannon , a lightly waisted bay horse , foaled in september 1941 at famous kia ora stud .
longfellow was referred to as the “king of the turf” during the 1870s . racing historian walter vosburgh said longfellow was “beyond question the most celebrated horse of the 1870s . no other horse of his day was a greater object of public notice . his entire career was sensational ; people seemed to regard him as a superhorse . ”
[ 6 ] a protest was lodged by samuel bowler against the horse ' s age . further objections are heard that the horse was not don juan at all by his stablemate mentor ( also owned by thompson ) . the horse ' s bona fides check out , the confusion stemming from his older brother don giovanni having raced in the st leger in adelaide in 1872 . trainer of dagworth etienne demestre refused to join the protest action on the grounds that there weren ' t any grounds .
“we remain very committed to working with them and our other airline partners to continue to provide services and access to key markets . maximising shannon’s potential will continue to be a priority . ”
chris hemsworth and michael shannon are set to star in the afghanistan war drama “horse soldiers” for black label media . nicolai fuglsig is directing the film from a script by peter craig and ted tally . black label media is co - financing the project . molly smith , trent luckinbill , and thad luckinbill are producing with jerry bruckheimer through his [ … ]
at the time of his retirement in 1959 , round table was the sport’s all - time leading money earner . he had been named horse of the year in 1958 , grass champion three consecutive years ( 1957 through 1959 ) and handicap champion twice ( 1958 and 1959 . he was also the horse that literally saved claiborne farm .
named horse of the year for five consecutive years from 1960 through 1964 , kelso was one of the most accomplished and unique thoroughbreds in the annals of american racing .
sally pidsley proved she is still going strong in the saddle aged 71 after riding tranwheal tineth moon to 70cm victory at the inaugural horse & hound grassroots eventing championships .
and he ' s not the only ron burke - owned horse up from new jersey who could be a contender : limelight beach , a much bigger and fitter horse who has more than $ 1 million in lifetime earnings , was in the stall next to
gremlin
and is one of the fastest in the field of 14 .
mccarthy gave him to william molter for race conditioning . shannon then won several prestigious races , the argonaut handicap , and then the hollywood gold cup . in october of 1948 , he tied the world record for nine furlongs en route to winning the forty niner handicap stakes . he then ran the 2000 metre golden gate handicap in under two minutes , seemingly defying age and getting faster with the passage of time . in one race , he went up against the triple crown winner citation , running second to the horse that was four years his junior , if you neglect the horse birthday protocol regarding age dependent on hemisphere of birth and simply do the math . the following month , he ran his last race in november of 1948 , winning the san francisco handicap . he was declared the 1948 american champion older mare horse , whilst citation won the champion handicap horse .
shannon was sold the following year when peter riddle died , first to w . j . smith , who raced the horse four times in australia . he won the canterbury stakes and another george main stakes , and was then sold again to american neil mccarthy for £52 , 000 , so it is obvious that mccarthy was not connected to the mccarthy’s of county dublin .
the 76 horses were airlifted in a four - month - old boeing 747 cargo plane from shannon , landing in beijing late on thursday night . they are being transported to stables over the weekend .
united airlines announced last week that due to a fall in demand from passengers , it would stop flying from shannon airport to newark , new jersey , between november 26 2017 and march 9 2018 .
recognized as horse of the year in 1936 — the first year of formal voting — granville was a son of triple crown winner gallant fox out of the sarmatian mare gravita .
alysheba was a champion as a 3 - year - old , horse of the year at age 4 and retired with the highest purse earnings in the history of the sport .
he dr . yousif eisa hassan alsabri , uae ambassador to poland , ms . lara sawaya , executive director of the hh sheikh mansoor bin zayed al nahyan global arabian horse flat racing festival , chairperson of the international federation of horse racing academies ( ifhra ) and chairperson of ladies & apprentice racing committees in the international federation of arabian horse racing authorities ( ifahr ) and general manager of wathba stallions and ahmed al qubaisi , director of marketing and communication at the abu dhabi sports council attended the races and gave away the trophies .
shannon was foaled in 1941 at st . albans stud . his sire , the british horse midstream , seems to have only the criterion stakes to his credit as a racer , but as a sire he accounted for 39 horses that produced stakes winners that won well over a hundred stakes races . the grandsire was blandford , a decent racer and like midstream , a prodigious sire .
another target may be the group 2 crystal mile at moonee valley . runner up in the 2009 shannon stakes , rangirandoo won the crystal mile after running a close second in the epsom handicap as well .
3rd bn cef nominal roll ( pdf 7 . 8 mb ) raised in toronto and consisted primarily with soldiers from the 2nd regiment , queen’s own rifles ; the 10th regiment ( later the royal regiment of canada ) ; and the governor general’s body guards ( ggbg ) ( amalgamated in 1936 with the mississauga horse to become the governor general’s horse guards ) .
1869 bay horse ( lucifer gb - levity gb ) bred by hon . john baker , sth aust . owned by joe thompson trained by james wilson , st . albans , vic
posted in thoroughbred horse , tagged athol george mulley , australia , azzalin romano , bernborough , bernborough phenomenon , duncan stearn , famous australian racehorses , flight , frank back , harry plant , jack bach , jessica owers , leslie coombs ii , louis b . mayer , phar lap , romano ' s restaurant , shannon , spendthrift farm , zeb armstrong on august 8 , 2014 | 8 comments »
a winner of 16 graded stakes races and four eclipse awards , including horse of the year in 1998 , skip away was one of the most popular and accomplished horses of the 1990s .
swaps was the best horse to come out of california in years . he set five world records at a mile or more , three track records , and equalled an american turf record .
the top horse in america in 1889 and 1890 , salvator won 16 of his final 17 career starts to secure his legacy as one of the finest thoroughbreds of the 19 th century .
that’s according to local businessman and shannon board member tony brazil , who added : “airlines do not have an awful lot of sympathy for 20 years of success . they are only looking at today and tomorrow
.
shannon recently signed on to play george westinghouse in weinstein’s “the current war” and has two movies , “nocturnal animals” and “loving , ” both bowing this fall and generating plenty of awards buzz . he is repped by caa .
after 46 years as manager , percy stevens died in march , 1945 . more than 5000 boys had come under his control during this period - and the 1st geelong shannon ' s own group of scouts had flourished .
by the late ' forties the incumbent president , percy j . wilks , noted that because compulsory education in victoria
did not go far enough
an increasing number of youth clubs were springing up . he was justly proud that the try boys ' brigade was the first of these clubs . wilks was the last direct link from the brigade with shannon . he had been a close neighbor and contemporary of the shannon family from childhood .
but let’s begin at the end . by november 1948 , when shannon ran his last race in the san francisco handicap , there was no horse anywhere that held or shared more world records than he . he had broken watches at bay meadows , hollywood park , golden gate fields , tanforan , and sydney’s randwick and rosehill racecourses . he had won the hollywood gold cup and the argonaut handicap , broke the hearts of the excellent on trust and mafosta , and his earnings were bettered by only citation that year . johnny longden said he had never been astride a faster horse . just who was he ?
the air was filled with the sound of thundering hoofs and the shouts of exhilaration from hundreds of young australian light horse troops as they raced across the desert towards the turkish lines at beersheba .
bred in chile , cougar ii was a major stakes winner in his home country before enjoying success on both dirt and turf in america and winning the 1972 eclipse award for champion grass horse .
download pdf document of awm28 2 / 136 - [ recommendation file for honours and awards , aif , 1914 - 18 war ] 2nd australian light horse regiment ( 92 . 69 kb pdf )
in 1979 the shannon stakes was first held as a principal race and was promoted as a listed event the next year . it gained recognition as a group 3 race in 1985 and has enjoyed group 2 status since 2001 .
in 1875 he married emily agnes strachan and they had eight children . he was chairman of the first council of management at the geelong college where four of his sons were students . one of the school houses is called shannon in his memory . the family lived at st . helen ' s for a few years before shannon commissioned a large two - storey home in prospect road , newtown , which today is a reception centre called kirrewur court .
by the end of 1948 , shannon was the champion horse of california , defeating the likes of on trust and mafosta again and again , and he became the only horse in america given any chance of defeating the boom three year old citation . when a match between the pair almost occurred in the tanforan handicap on 11 december 1948 , it became the racing event of the year . but the handicapper didn ' t do the australian any favours , and when he was given three pounds more than citation , neil mccarthy promptly retired his horse . ' citation ' , he said , ' was no ordinary three year old , and should not be weighted as one . ' shannon was sold to a syndicate and went to spendthrift farm for stallion duties . he was one of the most popular horses to enter stud in america that year . but his career was short . on 14 may 1955 , he shattered a bone over his near hock and was put down that day . his life was never properly documented . . . until now .
lake returned the following year to survey the colony . the first settlers traveled by railway from ontario to moose jaw and then made the grueling 160 mile trip to saskatoon in horse - drawn carts .
bred and owned by calumet farm , citation became america’s eighth triple crown winner in 1948 , fashioned a 16 - race win streak and was the first horse with $ 1 million in career earnings .
“many of these horses might not have met the high standards of the irish and european market but they are still of a higher standard than the average horse currently racing in china . so irish breeders get a good price for horses they might not otherwise have got , the industry here further develops the emerging chinese market and china gets a higher quality race horse . everyone wins with this . ”
by submitting your email , you agree to receive electronic communications from horse publications group , containing news , updates and promotions about the canadian equestrian industry . you may withdraw your consent at any time .
shannon became sydney ' s champion two year old through the 1943 - 44 racing season . starting seven times for three victories and three seconds . his wins included the kirkham stakes and the rich sires ' produce stakes , but his three - year - old season was plagued by injury and mismanagement . peter riddle was in and out hospital with illness , and on an interrupted program shannon started four times for a single victory in the hobartville stakes at randwick .
the minister for trade , employment , business , eu digital single market and data protection will meet with senior management at united airlines this week to ask them to rethink the decision to suspend its new york winter flights from shannon .
despite the rain a large crowd of racing fans were on hand as shannon queen ridden by alexander reznikov finished a little over a length ahead shahad athbah under sergey vasyutov while just a head behind was mogadiusz ridden by szeczepan mazur .
named horse of the year in 2001 , point given became the first thoroughbred to win four consecutive $ 1 million races when he won the preakness , belmont , haskell and travers in succession that year .
in her career summary jessica owers has shannon ' s us winnings as usd 212 , 810 ( p398 ) however the total of all the winnings listed in the detailed table at pp399 - 402 adds up to usd 212 , 110 .
over 90 % of thoroughbred horses in china are imported from australia and new zealand but industry experts have claimed that this airlift confirms the growing chinese interest in the more expensive , higher - quality irish horse .
described as a “once in a lifetime” horse by trainer kiaran mclaughlin , invasor defined himself as an elite thoroughbred by winning in three countries , at seven tracks and in some of the world’s most prestigious races .
damascus was named horse of the year and set a single - season earnings record in 1967 when he turned in one of the most impressive seasons by a 3 - year - old colt in racing history .
the thought of spending five weeks travelling through the beautiful greek countryside would make most people ' s eyes light up but when sgt r a ' snow ' mcbain and his mate vic shannon had that experience , things were a bit different .
purchased first by catering king harry curland , shannon ended up in the hands of hollywood attorney neil mccarthy . curland’s exit from the ownership was no accident . shannon had barely touched foot in california in november 1947 when the jockey club deferred his registration . there was a flaw in his pedigree , they declared . it occurred 11 generations back , in 1823 or so , and u . s . racing flew into a flap . the blood - horse , daily racing form , even the new yorker , weighed in on the issue . and the problem went all the way back to the jersey act . when the issue was finally resolved , neil mccarthy had himself a heck of a famous racehorse .
1926 * * * 9th annual * * * state tournament ( at alumni gym , u . k . , lexington ) this was the last of 5 years that there were “sectionals . ” there were 18 of them from 1924 - 26…which required two “preliminary” games at state . first round – horse cave ( 5th sectional ) 37 covington ( 10th sectional ) 23 elite eight – ashland ( 16th sectional ) 42 horse cave 22
…caverna ( cave city and horse cave ) … [ ended an ] amazing 26 - game win streak . it was the first setback for caverna since it was beaten in the opening game of the 1950 season .
the brigade was begun by a man who had emigrated to australia thirty - two years earlier . in 1865 the young charles shannon sailed from scotland with his family leaving behind their home in greenock on the firth of clyde not far from glasgow .
everyone was delighted with the purchase and the committee agreed to pay £30 ( $ 60 ) annual rent for the brigade ' s second home . this was later rescinded when brigade funds ran low and shannon granted use of the building rent free .
1925 * * * 8th annual * * * state tournament ( at alumni gym , u . k . , lexington ) this was the last of 5 years that there were “sectionals . ” there were 18 of them from 1924 - 26…which required two “preliminary” games at state . first round – horse cave ( 5th sectional ) 22 campbellsville college high ( 6th sectional ) 16 elite eight – winchester ( 12th sectional ) 26 horse cave 15
he ' ll show up , they ' ll know he ' s in there ,
said murphy , calling the horse ' s odds to win
very good … i love his chances this week .
“i am deeply concerned about the move to suspend the newark - shannon winter schedule , especially given the increase in investment into the mid west from across the atlantic and the huge potential for even more , ” added the minister of state from clare .
jackson , mi - a man infamous for drugging his wife to death in 1980 and masking it as a horse - riding accident has died at the michigan department of corrections ' duane l . waters health center in jackson .
horse cave colored high school’s record in three state tournaments ( 1943 , 1944 , 1945 ) was apparently 11 - 1 . after finishing third in 1943 they won back - to - back state championships in 1944 and 1945 .
america’s 10 th triple crown winner and the first to complete the series with an undefeated career record , seattle slew was horse of the year in 1977 and an eclipse award winner in each of his three years on the racetrack .
an energetic and enterprising man , shannon was involved in community life in geelong and held office in civic and sporting organisations . after five years on the geelong town council he became mayor of newtown and chilwell and was the first captain of the barwon rowing club .
shannon was a world class racehorse who ran record times on both sides of the pacific ocean . in australia he established an australasian record for the mile , his favourite distance , when he defeated flight by six lengths in the 1946 george main stakes at randwick .
the group 2 shannon stakes worth $ 175 , 000 is held at rosehill gardens racecourse in sydney during the spring racing carnival in september . the race attracts a quality field with many horses preparing for the group 1 epsom handicap at randwick racecourse , one week later .
the horses travelled with a team of professional flying grooms and a vet , with a team of 30 handlers on the ground involved in the three - hour process of loading the animals at shannon . the horses will go into training in china before becoming local racers .
high school students from both towns attended school in the buildings in horse cave ; junior high school students from both schools attended classes in the buildings in cave city ; grades one through six in each town remained in their local schools .
funeral is at 2 p . m . wednesday at horse cave baptist church , with burial in horse cave municipal cemetery . visitation is from 10 a . m . to 9 p . m . monday at j . c . kirby & son funeral home , lovers lane chapel , from 9 a . m . to 9 p . m . tuesday at winn funeral home and from 9 a . m . to 2 p . m . wednesday at the church .
according to the 1949 american racing manual shannon earned usd 1 , 500 and not usd 2 , 000 from his third placing on 11 nov 1948 in the marchbank hcp . jessica owers had a figure of usd 2 , 000 in the table at appendix a of her book .
shannon queen won the sheikh zayed bin sultan al nahyan - nagroda europy - group 3 race while jockeys hungarian csenge sutak and home favourite ireneusz wojcik won their respective races in hh sheikha fatima bint mubarak world championship ladies and apprentices races at the sluzewiec racecourse in warsaw on sunday .
he won his third consecutive campbelltown handicap as a five - year - old in the 1946 – 47 season , although the handicappers had given him an extra 4 kg , compared to last year’s race . he then took the theo marks quality handicap , but he could not reward the backers who had made him the favourite to repeat the epson handicap , because he spotted the field 100 metres before he began racing . his jockey , darby munro , almost got shannon back to the front and finished second by half a head . that disappointment was forgotten when , just two days later , shannon won the george main stakes in record time that saw flight six lengths behind . he then beat flight again , along with russia in the king’s cup , just a month prior to that horse winning the melbourne cup .
this same group , joined by dr kennedy , held its first regular meeting the following month in the mechanics ' institute classroom - a galvanised iron shed in malop st . at the back of the old chamber of commerce building . at this meeting shannon introduced the committee members to joseph yeowart , manager of the melbourne try boys ' society , who had agreed to become leader and manager of their new club on an annual salary of £120 ( $ 240 ) . shannon generously guaranteed a sum of £200 ( $ 400 ) to fund the club for its first year .
shannon’s stud record did not reflect his racing record . he was a far better racehorse than stallion . the famous australian lies in an unmarked grave at spendthrift farm , and although a plaque commemorating his name was recently added to the stallion barn , shannon seemed to drift off into the hot twilight of memory after his death . but , pull out his life and you’re met with an extraordinary story , one of racing fame in two hemispheres . it was a pioneering life that reads stranger than fiction , and it begs the question : how did we manage to forget him ?
caverna took its name from its location in the heart of kentucky’s cave country . students chose the purple and white colors from the red and white of cave city and the purple and gold of horse cave . they also chose the school nickname – colonels .
it was established at a time when horse - drawn vehicles clattered along streets lit by gas and continued without faltering to the electronic age of today . it remained strong through a century which saw two world wars and enormous political , social and economic upheaval .
named for a mountain in scotland , ben nevis ii became the third american - based horse — joining battleship and jay trump — to win the historic grand national steeplechase at aintree , england , accomplishing the feat at odds of 40 - 1 in 1980 .
the first steeplechase horse to win five eclipse awards and the first to earn more than $ 1 million , lonesome glory was the most dominant american jumper of the 1990s , as he was named champion in 1992 , 1993 , 1995 , 1997 and 1999 .
caverna independent school district was formed in march 1950 by agreement between the cave city board of education and horse cave board of education to consolidate their respective schools , each too small to continue separately . doors opened on the new school on september 8 , 1950 .
a grade 1 winner as a 2 - year - old , a . p . indy won three grade 1 races at age 3 — the santa anita derby , belmont stakes and breeders’ cup classic — en route to horse of the year honors in 1992 .
a small but quality field started in the 2600 - metre sheikh zayed bin sultan al nahyan - nagroda europy - group 3 , one of the three races held under the umbrella of the hh sheikh mansoor bin zayed al nahyan global arabian horse flat racing festival .
obviously he ' s not the horse he was two years ago ,
murphy said , noting foiled ' s age is catching up to him — he ' s racing slower than he was , which is a mile in one minute and 50 seconds .
what about his chances in the gold cup heat ? foiled again drew the rail position , which is a favoured spot to set the pace . he ' s sound and seems happy . but as everyone keeps repeating , anything can happen in a horse race .


sir percy ( foaled 2003 ) is a british thoroughbred race horse and sire .

in a career which lasted from july 2005 to june 2007 he ran ten times and won five races .

he was among the leading british two-year-olds of 2005 , when his win included the dewhurst stakes .

in the following year he recorded his most important success when winning the epsom derby .

he was retired to stud after three unsuccessful starts in 2007 .

sir percy

sir percy hits back ( scar . . . has been added to your cart
bbc sport | other sport . . . | horse racing | sir percy snatches dramatic derby
shuttle sire sir percy produced his first stakes performer in europe when percy jackson made the trip from the uk to finish second in cologne .
sir percy was towards the rear of the field towards tattenham corner as dragon dancer and dylan thomas disputed the lead .
black knight ( sir percy ) is a marvel super heroes minifigure that will appear in lego marvel super heroes 2 .
it’s sir andy murray and sir mo farah as tennis’ world number one and the king of distance running are handed knighthoods .
two derby winners also feature among the new stallions in authorized and sir percy , each also a group 1 winner at two .
but hala bek and sir percy suddenly caught up with the field , although a jink to the right cost hala bek vital ground .
sir percy’s racing career will always be remembered for the 2006 epsom derby where he came from an impossible position to win on the line .
sir percy of scandia is the black knight of 6th century a . d . he ' s the ancestor of nathan garrett and dane whitman .
marcus tregoning has warned followers of his vodafone derby winner sir percy to hold their bets on the colt for the irish equivalent on july 2 .
rich hill stud stallion sir percy made a dream start to his career in england overnight when his first northern hemisphere representative was successful on debut .
sir percy , trained by marcus tregoning and ridden by martin dwyer , won the vodafone derby , snatching victory from dragon dancer in a dramatic finish .
sir roger gilbert bannister , cbe . for services to sport . ( oxfordshire )
ian stuart , ' chatterton , sir percy ( 1898–1984 ) ' , pacific islander biography , national centre of biography , australian national university , urltoken accessed 10 july 2018 .
on 13 september it was announced that the retired admiral sir percy scott had been placed in charge of the air defences of london , specifically against attacks by enemy zeppelins .
after a couple of good years tregoning has a yard full of ordinary older horses and his season hinges on the two - year - olds , headed by sir percy .
sir richard charles hastings eyre , cbe . for services to drama . ( london )
tregoning hinted that sir percy would not have many more races this year as his owners anthony and victoria pakenham are keen to race him as a four - year - old .
mark of esteem , whose best son sir percy will stand at rich hill this season , posted a major international double yesterday when he produced group winners in ireland and england .
mrs isabel jane kilmaine percy green . for services to the community in dalham . suffolk .
marcus tregoning has been delighted with sir percy ' s progress since the four - year - old arrived in dubai ahead of his bid for glory in the sheema classic on saturday .
these include the group / grade 1 winners wake forest and sir john hawkwood , group 2 winners lady tiana and sir andrew , and group 3 scorers alla speranza and lady pimpernel .
the males in the first three removes of sir percy’s pedigree provided an indication of what we should expect of him at stud . his sire , both grandsires , and three of his four great - grandsires were classic winners . it was no wonder that sir percy excelled at three , and to be expected that his stock , whatever they achieved at two , would tend to improve in their second season .
former kiwi galloper sin to win ( nz ) ( sir percy ) put the misfortune of his last start behind him when successful in the listed andrew ramsden stakes ( 3200m ) at flemington on saturday .
to have achieved such results to date from comparatively few runners , and with so much potential from bigger crops coming through , sir percy remains tremendous value for money and an asset to the british stallion ranks .
sir percy , winner of the 2005 dewhurst stakes , did not score after the derby but he has been supported by his owners anthony and victoria pakenham and his first crop are spread among several noted juvenile trainers .
jolyon horner , ' joske , sir percy ernest ( 1895–1981 ) ' , australian dictionary of biography , national centre of biography , australian national university , urltoken published first in hardcopy 2007 , accessed online 10 july 2018 .
david lowe , ' spender , sir percy claude ( 1897–1985 ) ' , australian dictionary of biography , national centre of biography , australian national university , urltoken published first in hardcopy 2012 , accessed online 10 july 2018 .
sir percy is by mark of esteem , sheikh mohammed’s 2000 guineas and queen elizabeth stakes winner ( whose undeclared knee injury sustained as a juvenile had prompted the sheikh’s split from trainer henry cecil ) . mark of esteem retired at a fee of £20 , 000 but that had fallen to £7 , 000 until sir percy’s success justified an increase to £12 , 000 before fertility problems forced his retirement from covering duties prior to the 2007 season .
rich hill stud ' s new boy on the block , sir percy , is a stallion with serious sire potential . at two , he attained champion status as an unbeaten winner of 4 races from 1200 - 1400m .
the derby is the race that sets the middle - distance standard for the three - year - old generation and although sir percy now wears the mantle , after yesterday ' s blanket finish others will be tugging at it .
the trainer is tempted by several factors to go to sandown , including a desire to drop back to a mile and a quarter and not to subject sir percy to his first overnight stay in order to run in ireland .
but speaking at a media day at his kingwood house stables just outside lambourn , tregoning said he was : ' 60 / 40 ' in favour of running sir percy in the coral - eclipse stakes at sandown on july 8 .
there was another masterful piece of riding earlier in the day when martin dwyer straightened up marcus tregoning ' s promising two - year - old sir percy to win the group two veuve clicquot vintage stakes . the colt had ducked left under the whip but dwyer , having lost the lead , switched his stick and got sir percy back on an even - keel and back up in a driving finish to beat cool creek and black charmer a neck and a short - head .
sold by denis mcdonnell ' s parkway farm , this colt is out of the mark of esteem mare miss corinne , is a half - brother to three winners , a grand - son of the listed winner percy ' s girl , and from the family of the champion two - year - old of 2005 , derby winner and now first - season sire sir percy .
and while dylan thomas and dragon dancer duelled , and hala bek rallied there , charging from the pack into a charmed gap along the rails , was sir percy , gallantly answering every one of dwyer ' s questions in his late charge to glory .
i ' d had him for three months ,
said tregonning .
it was getting to the stage when something had to go , either the car or sir percy and so it was sir percy . he ' s not a typical two - year - old , he ' s more of a three - year - old . i might run him in the dewhurst but if he goes weak on me i ' ll leave him alone .
he is now 40 - 1 for the derby .
professor sir alec john jeffreys . emeritus professor . university of leicester . for services to medical research and society . ( leicestershire )
professor sir cyril chantler . emeritus professor guy’s . king’s and st . thomas’s medical school . for services to leadership in healthcare .
after the 2 , 000 guineas it was my worst nightmare when sir percy was not quite sound behind . we even wondered if we should go to france for the french derby [ at chantilly today ] where the track is flatter ,
he said .
of course galileo’s popularity will never wane , but high chaparral was never properly afforded the respect he deserved before his untimely death , sir percy is similarly overlooked and authorized was transferred from dalham hall stud to darley’s french wing at haras du logis some years ago .
sir percy cox , recently appointed a high commissioner for iraq , was responsible for carrying out the plebiscite . a provisional government set up by cox shortly before the cairo conference passed a resolution in july 1921 declaring fayṣal king of iraq , provided that his “government shall be…
for instance dragon dancer , the 66 - 1 outsider who has yet to win a race but failed by only a whisker in the biggest of all under darryll holland .
i felt sure he could get a place ,
said the trainer geoff wragg , who used to train sir percy ' s dam percy ' s lass ,
but this really was so near , yet so far .
the scarlet pimpernel was really sir percy blakeney , one of the richest men in england , seen by his peers as a fool , a brainless fop married in a loveless relationship to marguerite . which was , of course , just what percy wanted people to think , as he and his loving wife , herself one of the
most clever women in europe
continued to run rings round their opponents .
as inspector andrew macnutt’s boss , chief commissioner sir percy sherwood needed patience to deal with some people’s exuberance when it came to protecting canada’s borders . it is he who recruits andrew to head his department’s secret service and assigns staff sergeant lacelle to be his second in command .
the story starts in 1624 in the netherlands and concerns the scarlet pimpernels ancestor , diogenes , aka the first sir percy blakeney . diogenes and his friends socrates and pythagoras swear allegiance to the royalist cause . their undivided loyalty results in many adventures  and more than one foe .
rich hill stud have enjoyed outstanding success with foundation sire pentire and the farm ' s new signing has much in common with his established associate . the walton farm , on the outskirts of matamata , has secured the services of shuttle stallion sir percy for the 2009 southern hemisphere season .
sir percy ernest joske ( 1895 - 1981 ) , politician and judge , was born on 5 october 1895 at albert park , melbourne , youngest of three children of ernest joske , a german - born solicitor , and his victorian - born wife evalyne , née richards . evalyne died giving birth to him and ernest remarried in 1898 . percy was educated at wesley college , where he formed a lifelong friendship with ( sir ) robert menzies and at the university of melbourne ( ll b , 1915 ; ll m , 1918 ; ba , 1921 ; ma , 1923 ) , winning the ( sir ) john madden exhibition and graduating with first - class honours . he signed the bar roll on 25 june 1917 .
it is this precocity which made sir percy an exciting addition to the uk stallion ranks , and both breeders and purchasers alike have been quick to support him . they have been rewarded by the young sire posting a lifetime winners - to - runners strike - rate of 60 per cent .
stan james introduced the colt at a top - priced 11 - 4 for the budweiser - sponsored contest at the curragh , a price he shares with hala bek , while coral have seen support for the latter and make him 2 - 1 favourite , with sir percy a 9 - 4 chance .
orczy became famous in 1905 with the publication of the scarlet pimpernel ( originally a play co - written with her husband ) . its background was the french revolution and its swashbuckling hero , sir percy blakeney , was to prove immensely popular . sequel books followed and film and tv versions were later made .
the first three foals by derby winner sir percy have arrived , including a colt out of codename , a daughter of the group - winning orford ness . in ireland , abbeville and meadow court studs has a filly out of millay who is closely related to the classic - winning fillies give thanks and harayif .
success on the racecourse means that sir percy’s offspring have been well received at the sales . his yearlings have sold for up to 260 , 000gns , and his lifetime yearling average in britain and ireland stands at 27 , 072gns – almost four times his stud fee . in - training purchases include the baronet , selected by leading australian trainer gai waterhouse for 130 , 000gns , and salford art also sold to australia for 110 , 000gns . sir percy’s stakes - placed daughter newsletter was bought by ballylinch stud for 230 , 000gns at the 2015 tattersalls december sale , the same year that love is blindness fetched 190 , 000gns .
from a family that is not short of stamina , sir percy ran a remarkable race on his debut at three when he was second to that thrilling miler george washington in the 2000 guineas . despite that , he was sent off at 6 - 1 for the derby , which was ultimately to prove his last win .
sir percy ( gb ) b . h , 2003 { 3 - c } dp = 1 - 0 - 5 - 1 - 3 ( 10 ) di = 0 . 54 cd = - 0 . 50 - 7 starts , 5 wins , 1 places , 0 shows career earnings : £1 , 149 , 291
rich hill stud stallion pentire is chasing his 10th individual group 1 winner when rangirangdoo tackles saturday ' s epsom handicap . rich hill ' s john thompson spoke to nathan exelby about the breeding of rangirangdoo , xcellent ' s exciting younger brother rockferry and the arrival of english derby winner sir percy for stud duties this year .
but oh , it was close . as dylan thomas , the perceived third string from ballydoyle - both horatio nelson and septimus were ahead of him in the betting - took the initiative from his 17 rivals after a couple of furlongs sir percy , with martin dwyer riding in only his second derby , was nearer last than first .
the pimpernel and his wife appeared in
the scarlet pimpernel
( 1905 ) ,
i will repay
( 1906 ) ,
elusive pimpernel
( 1908 ) ,
eldorado
( 1913 ) ,
lord tony ' s wife
( 1917 ) ,
league of the scarlet pimpernel
( 1919 ) ,
triumph of the scarlet pimpernel
( 1922 ) ,
sir percy hits back
( 1927 ) ,
adventures of the scarlet pimpernel
( 1929 ) ,
way of the scarlet pimpernel
( 1933 ) ,
sir percy leads the band
( 1936 ) and
mam ' zelle guillotine
( 1940 ) .
mark of esteem - percy ' s lass , by blakeney bay , foaled 2003 . breeder : the old suffolk stud . other sons of mark of esteem at stud .
it has come as no surprise that sir percy’s first three - year - olds have been making their mark , most notably with a second win at listed level for coquet at goodwood and a group 3 placing for cavaleiro in lingfield’s derby trial . bomar has been proving a star turn in scandinavia , collecting a listed win in the swedish derby before his second in the more competitive norwegian derby , while free house remains unbeaten after four starts in denmark and sweden . these are early days for sir percy’s second crop of two - year - olds , but there have already been three winners at home and hyder has a second place in listed company to his credit in milan .
the mares that sir percy covered in his first season at lanwades were , with few exceptions , lacking in quality ; nor were they numerous , with a resulting crop of just 50 live foals . given such limited opportunity , it was much to the horse’s credit that 11 of the 30 runners to represent him as juveniles in 2011 won 18 races between them , highlighted by the listed success of coquet in the montrose stakes at newmarket , and the listed placings of alla speranza in ireland and percy jackson in germany .
the dam , percy’s lass won the group three september stakes as a four - year - old , having won an oaks trial and been a leading hope for epsom in her classic year . she disappointed her owner as a broodmare , leading to her sale , in foal to mark of esteem , to the old suffolk stud for 28 , 000 gns in 1998 . that foal was sufficiently imposing to see her returned to mark of esteem each year until 2002 , which mating produced sir percy , her final foal .
that said , the cheltenham festival provided a terrific advert for derby winners , with authorized , sir percy , high chaparral and none other than galileo each siring at least one winner . it is , however , a double - edged sword for those intent on trying to keep top - class middle - distance horses to the fore as flat sires .
the scene was set for a second raid on the prince of wales’s stakes . physically imposing in the paddock beforehand , in the race itself manduro was settled to stalk the pace in third place behind sir percy and notnowcato . two furlongs from home , stephane pasquier pushed the button and manduro swept to the lead where he was quickly joined by dylan thomas .
more than half of sir percy’s first crop of 50 foals raced as juveniles , resulting in 11 individual winners of 18 races from 30 starters . in total , he has been represented by 37 individual stakes horses and six group / grade winners , his versatility highlighted by the fact that these have competed in select company over distances ranging from six to 12 furlongs .
ill - fated danehill superstar george washington left behind just one yearling and the filly was offered for sale on day 2 of the tattersalls october yearling sale overnight . george washington ( ex bordighera , by alysheba ) was a dual group 1 winner at two and he returned at three to triumph in the g1 english 2000 guineas , beating subsequent derby winner sir percy .
born in ottawa in 1854 , sir percy was the chief of police of ottawa from 1879 to 1882 . he left the ottawa police to become a superintendent of the dominion police . he was made chief commissioner in 1885 . under his command , the force continually expanded its role and responsibilities and had gradually increased in numbers to about 140 when he retired in 1919 .
the latter’s retirement from active stud duties made way for canadian champion with approval , group 1 sprinter piccolo and derby winner sir percy to join lanwades early in the new century . in 2009 , the importation of vita rosa from japan opens another chapter in lanwades’ history . archipenko , a group 1 winning son of kingmambo , joined the stallion ranks for the 2010 season .
our physiotherapist has done an amazing job in building up his muscles again . but every credit to the horse . we were struggling to get him here , but he ' s a street fighter and a battler .
tregoning was let off with a warning after being stopped for speeding en route to the track , but his dash was nothing compared with sir percy ' s .
professor christopher haslett , obe , frse . sir john crofton professor of respiratory medicine and director , queen’s medical research institute , university of edinburgh . for services to medical research . ( edinburgh )
dwyer had had a fall at bath the previous evening , but sir percy ' s road to epsom had been even bumpier . the son of mark of esteem was stiff and sore after his fine second place in last month ' s 2 , 000 guineas and tregoning and his team at kingwood stables in berkshire had a race against time to get him ready for his date with destiny .
however , it is sir percy’s achievements as a juvenile that make him such an exciting stallion prospect . the undefeated champion two - year - old in england with the highest ‘top speed’ rating of his generation , his first win was over six furlongs in may , with later victories coming in the group 2 veuve clicquot vintage stakes and culminating in the group 1 dewhurst stakes at newmarket in october .
george washington , a dual group one winner at the curragh , beat off competition from amadeus wolf , stablemate horatio nelson , red clubs and sir percy to be named cartier two - year - old colt while in the race for cartier two - year - old filly , group one prix marcel boussac heroine rumplestiltskin came out ahead of donna blini , flashy wings , nannina and silca ' s sister .
absent from the track due to injury until the champion stakes in october , sir percy never showed his best form again , well - beaten in four starts in group one company . a glimmer of hope came when fourth to hong kong’s vengeance of rain in the dubai sheema classic after a troubled passage , but back in england trainer marcus tregoning drew stumps after the colt was last in manduro’s prince of wales’s stakes .
oracle west has probably achieved the most overseas courtesy of his second place behind the hong kong champion vengeance of rain in the 2007 dubai sheema classic ( when he finished ahead of such top - class international gallopers as youmzain , sir percy , pop rock , quijano and red rocks ) while surveyor also boasts international group one form , courtesy of his second behind epalo in the singapore airlines international cup at kranji in 2004 .
it seems a long time since sir percy won the derby in 2006 , with his late thrust on the rail grabbing the spoils from dragon dancer and dylan thomas , and that makes it easy to forget how good he was as a juvenile , remaining unbeaten in four starts , including the group two vintage stakes at goodwood and the group one dewhurst stakes at newmarket , where he accounted for horatio nelson by a neck .
tinkler has 65 horses in training with eight trainers around the country , including michael dods , who was the first to train for him , sir michael stoute , richard hannon , henry cecil and marco botti .
percy hillary founded and edited the tuakau district news , and as a sideline , took up beekeeping on land allotted to him after service in the first world war . he believed in healthy eating and exercise and had strong egalitarian beliefs . percy was also a strict disciplinarian , and the young edmund found his beatings for misdemeanours humiliating and often unjust . however , in his mother , gertrude ( a teacher ) , he found a more gentle and nurturing parent .
in a dramatic photo - finish of inches , with the likely result changing frame by flickering frame , stride by stretching stride to the line , the 6 - 1 shot sir percy stuck his head out as the camera clicked and won the 227th derby by the minimum margin , a short - head . there was not much further between the next three home , dragon dancer , dylan thomas and hala bek . it was the tightest derby finish since 1913 .
quick - witted and versatile in conversations , legal and social , spender was independent and assertive , with great determination of purpose . his son john described him as ‘constitutionally incapable of resisting a challenge’ . survived by his wife and the two sons of his first marriage , he died on 3 may 1985 at his home at darling point and was cremated . a bronze bust of sir percy by alex kolozsy ( 1981 ) is held at the national portrait gallery , canberra .
it all opened up for me . the man to thank is marcus [ tregoning ] . he did a good job just to get us here , and in such great form . it was a rough race and i had to go where i could get a run . he [ sir percy ] pulled up sore in the guineas and missed a fair bit of work - i didn ' t see him until last week , but he showed a tremendous turn of form . i ' m so pleased .
but to the victor , the spoils , in this case £740 , 695 . and the reward was a thorough justification of principals . sir percy , who is trained by marcus tregoning for retired solicitor anthony packenham and his wife victoria , cost just 16 , 000 guineas as a yearling , back - pocket change in the bloodstock world . despite his bargain - basement price tag , he proved himself one of last season ' s top juveniles and after he won the dewhurst stakes , telephone - number bids started coming in .
after sir percy’s first two yearling crops sold so well – averaging more than four times his nomination fee - 25 , 823gns in 2010 and 29 , 789gns in 2011 with top prices of 260 , 000gns , 110 , 000gns , 80 , 000gns – and the successes achieved by his initial crop of runners , he has naturally proved more popular with breeders , so there are larger and higher - quality crops to follow . meanwhile , he has already got earners of £337 , 535 , establishing him as a sire with a rising reputation .
sir percy was never going to be like that . he was a champion two - year - old , starting early with two wins over six furlongs in may and june , and remaining unbeaten , with a dewhurst victory to clinch his title . but those juvenile triumphs came as a bonus . he was actually bred to excel as a three - year - old and those expectations were duly fulfilled when he chased the brilliant miler george washington home in the guineas and gave a display of surpassing gameness to prevail in a hotly - contested derby .
sir topham hatt , careful to curb over - confidence , expresses paternalistic disappointment in his engines with the admonishment that that they
have caused confusion and delay .
as a reward for good behavior , he assigns them to hard labor on the ever - expanding
duke and duchess ' summer house ,
yet another
special special .
enforcing their role as grateful servants to the sodor upper class , sir topham hatt gives the trains demeaning tasks like picking up his niece , even when their paint jobs are not yet complete ! james the engine has to go out pink , even though his self - worth is tied to being red and he is teased mercilessly by the other engines ! still , the trains speak sir topham hatt ' s name in hushed tones and do whatever he commands without question .
the pimpernel has been portrayed several times on screen , starting in 1917 with dustin farnum as the pimpernel , and continuing in 1934 with leslie howard in the title role , 1955 with marius goring playing him for an 18 episode series , 1982 when anthony andrews played sir percy against ian mckellan ' s chauvelin , and 1999 ' s series with richard e . grant as the leading man . he was parodied in 1950 ' s cartoon the scarlet pumpernickel with daffy duck playing the lead , 1975 ' s scarlet pinkernel cartoon starring the pink panther , and in live action in carry on , don ' t lose your head , where sid james played sir rodney ffing a . k . a . the black fingernail . the pimpernel also turned up in blackadder the third , in the episode nob and nobility , where tim mcinnery played the part .
if you observe closely , that destination is a nasty , brutish one . the trains , complicit in maintaining this unjust system , humiliate each other for the small scraps of praise the little tyrant doles out rather than banding together ( no unions on sodor ) . thomas and percy are supposedly best friends , but they bicker constantly over those
special special
jobs . these rivalries are punctuated by nasty banter (
thomas knew that percy was scared , so he teased him even more
doesn ' t sound like a very healthy friendship ) , which fuels the larger system of cruelty .
hiro apologizes profusely , almost tearfully (
i thought i was master of the rails , but i am only master of the muddle
) , but that is not enough . hiro must go to each individual train to prostrate himself and explain that only sir topham hatt gives orders . he apologizes to each train for giving them instruction , saying
i was wrong . sir topham hatt didn ' t want that at all .
once he has completed his shame tour ( one half - expects hiro to commit hara - kiri than face the depth of his dishonor ) , hiro chugs back to sir topham hatt ' s side , where the benevolent master tells him he is
helpful ,
which in turn makes hero
happier than he had ever been .
to say this is a little conservative is like saying that animal farm is a little allegorical .
his first sales offerings last year included a €400 , 000 filly bought by sir robert ogden at deauville in august and – as an unbeaten champion two - year - old – hopes must be high for the first runners by the son of galileo , who didn’t run at three because of injury .
sent off at 25 / 1 for the epsom derby , johnny murtagh sent dylan thomas to the front after 4f and having kicked clear with dragon dancer , it looked as though a fairytale may be about to unfold . however , murtagh mount hung slightly off the rail allowing sir percy up his inside to grab the glory in the final strides with dylan thomas being short - headed by dragon dancer for the runner - up position . it was a hugely promising performance nevertheless and four weeks later he was sent off as the 9 / 2 favourite to gain his revenge on dragon dancer in the irish derby .
northern - based silvestre de sousa hit 100 winners in 2010 , including ladies are forever in redcar’s very valuable two - year - old trophy , with his century supplied by 33 different trainers . sir mark prescott , paul cole and mark johnston are among the brazilian’s admirers and his star is certainly in the ascendancy .
teacher and educationalist , youth worker , pastor , linguist and bible translator , public speaker and politician , percy chatterton can look back on a remarkably varied career . the foundations were laid in a lower middle class london home before world war i and it was there that his interest in a wide range of subjects was originally stimulated and his particular talents sympathetically encouraged . percy was born at sale on the outskirts of manchester on 8 october 1898 . he was the younger child of henry and alice chatterton whose first child , a daughter , had been born seven years earlier . the family moved to london while percy was still a baby and he was educated first at the stationers’ company school , an establishment of the ancient livery company , and later at the city of london school , which was run by the city corporation . henry chatterton was a freeman of the city and consequently was eligible for certain privileges such as a scholarship for his son at the corporation’s school . without this assistance the chattertons would not have been able to afford the fees .
percy saw this old hanuabada for the last time in 1942 . a few weeks later the pacific war had swept it away . the village was burned down by labourers living in it and of the pleasant , grass - thatched , palm - leafed walled houses , only the blackened stumps remained , sticking out of the water like betel - nut stained teeth .
the 2007 race was no exception . the six runners had won no fewer than nine g1s between them prior to the race , and by the time the sextet were all retired they would have amassed a grand total of 18 top - level victories around the world between them . the contestants included dylan thomas who had a hat - trick of g1 victories to his name including the irish derby , and would go on to land the prix de l’arc de triomphe . joining him in the line - up was the subsequent eclipse stakes winner notnowcato , the previous year’s epsom derby hero sir percy , the breeders’ cup turf winner red rocks , and pressing , who would go on to land g1 races in italy and germany .
baroness orczy was born in hungary in 1865 , the daughter of baron felix orczy , a landed aristocrat and well - known composer and conductor . orczy moved with her parents from budapest to brussels and paris , where she was educated . she studied art in london and exhibited work in the royal academy . orczy married montagu barstow and together they worked as illustrators and jointly published an edition of hungarian folk tales . orczy became famous in 1905 with the publication of the scarlet pimpernel ( originally a play co - written with her husband ) . its background of the french revolution and swashbuckling hero , sir percy blakeney , was to prove immensely popular . sequel books followed and film and tv versions were later made . orczy also wrote detective stories .
by a derby winner out of an oaks fourth , percy’s lass has some serious speed further back in her pedigree , with sprinters urshalim and horama as her fourth and fifth dams . this exceptional family has produced a host of top - class winners including teenoso , most welcome , ashaya , old country , kirtling and lucky sovereign as well as recent winners imperial dancer , rule of law and harayir .
' marize ' informs me
there ' s also a musical about him called the scarlet pimpernel . the plot is a bit different than the books . the show ran for over two years on broadway , closing on january 2 , 2000 . percy was played by douglas sills in the first and second version . this was followed by the first u . s . national tour , which played in thirty - two cities . the tour concluded on april 1 , 2001 in grand rapids , michigan . it is considered the fourth version of the show . scripts and lyrics are available as well as many cds and individual songs . also , for an alias , in the musical , percy ' s disguise is grappin , a belgian , and he works for chauvelin to keep an eye on him .
she also recommended the following links :
a keen advocate of uniform divorce law in australia , joske pressed the government to introduce a federal divorce bill . he drafted a private member’s bill , passed as the matrimonial causes act ( 1955 ) , which enabled married women to institute divorce proceedings in the state or territory of their residence . in 1957 he introduced , again as a private member , a comprehensive measure that dealt with the grounds of divorce as well as with questions of jurisdiction . the bill was vigorously debated ; ( sir ) howard beale led the campaign against it on the grounds that it was too narrow and conservative . eventually it was replaced by a government bill that became law as the matrimonial causes act ( 1959 ) . the attorney - general , sir garfield barwick , acknowledged a ` great debt’ to joske’s efforts , which made the uniform divorce legislation possible .
when , in march 1972 , percy was presented with his honorary doctorate of laws at the university of papua new guinea , stuart inder , editor of p . i . m . , was moved to commend his speech of acceptance ‘for its brevity and the clarity of thought and the humanity that are so typical of the man himself’ . it was a typical chatterton speech , delivered in his unmistakable deep stentorian tones : [ 15 ]
there would be no more popular winner of the derby than the queen and in carlton house , her majesty looks to have a live contender . trained by sir michael stoute , carlton house followed a debut second at salisbury with a ninth - length romp in a back - end mile maiden at newbury , after which he was as long as 25 - 1 for the blue riband . he is now half that price .
on the island of sodor , the sun has not yet set on the british empire , and the consequences of defiance are illustrated in parables like
hiro helps out .
hiro , asian immigrant ( he is voiced by japanese actor togo igawa , and the images of his island home mirror traditional ukiyo - e woodcuttings ) and onetime
master of the rails ,
here oversteps his authority . in an effort to assist sir topham hatt , the
controller of the rails ,
who is oddly discombobulated , hiro decides to give the other trains their orders himself . but initiative is not a virtue on the island of sodor , and stepping above one ' s station is a serious offense . when sir topham hatt finds that hiro has appointed himself middle - manager , he is furious (
i am controller of the railway !
) .
in his middle teenage years hillary grew tall , and through boxing found some physical confidence . a school ski trip to mt ruapehu in 1935 gave him his first experience of mountains . ‘i returned home in a glow of fiery enthusiasm for the sun and the cold and the snow – especially the snow . ’ 1 that year the family moved to remuera road , auckland , although percy still had more than 1 , 000 beehives on south auckland farms .
percy’s decision not to stand for the third house of assembly in february 1972 was perhaps a wise one . had he stood successfully , he would certainly have supported the coalition government on most issues ; one wonders if he would have been temperamentally comfortable on the government benches . his scrutiny of proposed legislation , based on his own strongly held views regardless of party politics , could have been embarrassing to the coalition at times . papua new guineans , he wrote : [ 13 ]
becoming interested in state politics during the depression when new south wales premier jack lang introduced ‘the lang plan’ , in 1932 spender almost stood as a candidate for the recently formed united australia party in the seat of neutral bay , but withdrew in favour of another uap - endorsed candidate . in 1937 he contested the federal seat of warringah as an independent , winning a stunning victory over the incumbent uap member and minister for defence , sir ( robert ) archdale parkhill . campaigning on the lack of preparedness for australia’s defence and the need for youth in government , spender won on australian labor party preferences .
on his appointment to delena , the l . m . s . had suggested to chatterton the possibility of ordination . percy accepted this call and , after some theological studies , was ordained to the ministry of the congregational church in australia in 1943 . this enabled him to exercise the full functions of a pastor , but it is characteristic of him that he did not use his new authority to set up his own little spiritual kingdom . instead he strengthened the l . m . s . system of village congregational meetings and established a central district church council made up of lay members and pastors representing the village congregations . the effect of this organisation was to involve the ordinary members more closely in the affairs of their church and , during chatterton’s last years at delena , the council took an increasingly greater responsibility for the management of the church in the district . percy’s own role was that of adviser , consultant and conciliator when requested by the councillors . this exercise in localisation was well under way at a time when the word was unheard of in the land and the concept , if thought of at all , was paid little more than lip service . the scheme of church government also helped to prepare the people for the later introduction of local government councils .
within the engine ranks , the trains enforce clear hierarchies and mirror the class rigidity of their aristocratic masters .
steamies
are better than
dirty diesels ,
and the number of tenders a train commands are his marks of distinction . in misty island rescue , sir topham hatt offers the privilege of pulling special
jobi
wood to the most useful engine . when
diesel
( that is his name ; his caste merits no proper name ) suggests that he might compete for this honor , thomas laughs at him , saying ,
i ' m sure [ hatt ] means a really useful steam y ; you ' ll never be that !
when diesel decides to prove thomas wrong by stealing the jobi logs and pulling them himself , thus reinforcing all negative diesel stereotypes , he speeds dangerously out of control . thomas , primarily concerned with saving the cargo , saves diesel as he hangs off a cliff , but loses the wood . thomas is unable to feel much pride in saving another ' s life and sighs balefully over the loss of such valuable timber . sir topham hatt reinforces this perverse value system by bemoaning the loss of the wood , and publicly shames diesel before sending him back to work in a dark tunnel . did i mention that diesel is black ?
yet the conservatism of thomas and friends is not the conservatism of america . key to the
pick yourself up by your bootstraps
mythos in the united states is the notion that anyone can rise to the top with hard work and initiative . the thomas series glories instead in true
white man ' s burden
style british imperialism . our hero , thomas , and his friends jockey for positions just below that of the bullying aristocrat sir topham hatt but never seek to rise to his level . the stern , dour little englishman in top hat and tails dangles meaningless honors like getting to
carry the most special special
to divide and conquer the trains .
another of percy’s favourite themes that was ahead of its time was the warning that , in allowing and encouraging massive overseas investment by big corporations without careful restrictions and control , the country was in danger of exchanging political for economic colonialism . this has since become a subject for worldwide discussion and concern and the papua new guinea government is now well aware of the problems involved . chatterton also had the satisfaction in 1971 of seeing certain jobs in the private sector , as well as in the public service , reserved for local workers . he had proposed this in november 1968 in the face of outraged opposition from many fellow members . in 1974 , the government was also proposing to set up a national capital district and an ombudsman’s commission .
having stood unsuccessfully as an independent liberal and country party candidate for the legislative council seat of monash in june 1949 , joske succeeded ( sir ) thomas walter white to the safe liberal seat of balaclava in the house of representatives at a by - election on 28 july 1951 . the sun - herald described him as a ` fluent debater’ , although his ` thin voice’ was ` sometimes lost in house debates’ . he was a member of various parliamentary committees , an australian delegate ( 1955 ) to the tenth session of the general assembly of the united nations in new york , a councillor ( 1956 - 60 ) of the australian national university and chairman ( 1959 - 60 ) of the commonwealth immigration planning council .
spender’s rise in federal politics over the next four years was circuitous rather than meteoric . joining the uap parliamentary party in 1938 , he was passed over for ministerial positions in the jostling that followed the death of prime minister joseph lyons and the succession of ( sir ) robert menzies , and amid competing demands from the states on the breakdown of coalition with the country party . appointed minister assisting the treasurer ( menzies ) , he became acting - treasurer in november 1939 , then treasurer from march to october 1940 . he advocated high wartime taxes and spending , and allowed a talented young group of economists to apply keynesian ideas to australia’s circumstances . progressive , and supportive of state - directed planning , he flagged industrialisation and population growth as the engines of australia’s postwar economy .
spender became minister for external affairs and minister for external territories in menzies’ 1949 government . although the minister for only sixteen months , he instigated and helped to implement the colombo plan—called initially the ‘spender plan’—and also negotiated with the us envoy , john foster dulles , the terms of the australia - new zealand - united states treaty . he represented australia at the treaty signing ceremony at san francisco in september 1951 . travelling widely , he had a highly developed sense of geopolitics and of change in the asia - pacific region . as a cold war realist he argued that the soviet union posed a global threat and believed that a soviet setback in europe would increase the prospect of communist interest in asia . he was a leading figure in the liberal party’s plan to outlaw the communist party of australia . vice - president ( 1950 - 51 ) of the fifth general assembly of the united nations , he instructed ( sir ) keith shann , against menzies’ wishes , to vote for a resolution condemning chinese aggression in korea .
chatterton’s championship of the underdog and his vigilant defence of all citizens’ rights and freedoms is consistent with his background and upbringing . these had also been the concerns of his nonconformist forefathers and percy carried on in papua new guinea the causes of the english reforming dissenters . looking back over his time as a politician , he believes his efforts to raise local wages , the setting up of the national broadcasting commission and the promotion of the bill of human rights to have been his most important achievements . with regard to the last he says : ‘just how many of the rights set out in the ordinance will survive remains to be seen , but at least it ensures that , if the people of papua new guinea decide to throw them away , or allow them to be taken away , they will know what they are losing’ . his biggest disappointments were the rejection of the ombudsman and the suggestion that a national capital district be created . the latter was an attempt to benefit both the city of port moresby and the rural areas of the central district as well as papua as a whole . if expenditure on the national capital were to be subtracted from the amount allowed in the budget for papua , he believed that a true picture of papua’s comparative neglect in relation to new guinea would be revealed .
but in the wake of yesterday ' s thrilling denouement came the chilling other side of the sport ' s spinning coin . inside the final two furlongs horatio nelson , the mount of kieren fallon , broke a foreleg , his gallop reduced in an instant to a grotesque stagger . fallon pulled up and dismounted and the colt was taken from the course in an equine ambulance , but his injuries proved too severe for him to be saved .
the newmarket - based packenhams kept their nerve and kept their young star . and all the faith , judgement and patience have been gloriously rewarded on the greatest stage of all .
dylan thomas still held the call sweeping down the hill to tattenham corner and into the straight , closely pressed by dragon dancer . the pair began to stretch their lead , with no immediate pursuers and going to the final furlong they were still head - to - head in front .
but then , towards the middle of the track , the 2 - 1 favourite visindar began to make his move , with hala bek alongside and horatio nelson on their heels . the three came tight together and at this point horatio nelson sustained his fatal injury .