page_title: La Fleche (horse)
section_title: 1891: two-year-old season
hierarchical_section_title: La Fleche (horse) / Racing career / 1891: two-year-old season
caption_attribution_description: English: Caricature of John Porter (1838-1922), "Mr. John Porter" Lithograph Oct. 12, 1889 15"x10.5" Vanity Fair portrait, Men of the Day No. 443.
context_page_description: La Fleche was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. After being sold for a world record price as a yearling in 1890, she was undefeated as a two-year-old in 1891, winning races against her own sex and defeating some of the year's leading colts. She went on to become the dominant British three-year-old of 1892, claiming the Fillies’ Triple Crown by winning the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, the Oaks at Epsom and the St Leger at Doncaster. Her only defeat of the year came when she finished second when starting favourite for The Derby.
  La Fleche remained in training for a further two seasons, winning important races such as the 1893 Liverpool Autumn Cup, the 1894 Ascot Gold Cup, and the Champion Stakes on her final appearance. In all, she won sixteen times in twenty-four racecourse appearances. After her retirement from racing she became a successful and influential broodmare.
context_section_description: La Fleche won all four of her races as a two-year-old. She made her first appearance on 16 July at Newmarket in the Chesterfield Stakes, for which she started 6/4 favourite. Although she had not grown as much as might have been expected from her yearling days, she was reported to be deceptively powerful, being described by one observer as "all wire and whipcord." Ridden by George Barrett, she led from the start and shook off he rivals "without an effort" to win by two lengths, in an impressive time of 1:04.2. The third placed finisher, a colt called Bonavista (or Bona Vista), went on to win the following year's 2000 Guineas. On 29 July, La Fleche was sent to Goodwood for the five furlong Lavant Stakes in which she met Priestess, another filly whose sale price (£4,000) had attracted comment. La Fleche tracked Priestess, who set a strong pace, before moving ahead in the final furlong to win "very cleverly" by a length. Two days later, she reappeared at the same course for the Molecomb Stakes and recorded another easy win, beating Adoration by one and a half lengths. At Doncaster in September she won the Champagne Stakes to take her earnings for the year to £3,415.
  La Fleche's stable companion, Orme, was regarded as the best of the year's two-year-old colts, and there was speculation as to which of the two was the better. It was also generally believed that La Fleche would have the Derby as her principal target for the following year.
caption: John Porter, La Fleche's trainer in 1891-2
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