Hyperion (horse)
| Hyperion | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Sire | Gainsborough |
| Grandsire | Bayardo |
| Dam | Selene |
| Damsire | Chaucer |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1930 |
| Country | Great Britain |
| Colour | Chestnut |
| Breeder | Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby |
| Owner | Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby |
| Trainer | 1. George Lambton |
| Record | 13: 9–1–2 |
| Earnings | £29,509 |
| Major wins | |
| New Stakes (1932) Dewhurst Stakes (1932) Prince of Wales's Stakes (1933) Chester Vase (1933) Epsom Derby (1933) St. Leger Stakes (1933) |
|
| Awards | |
| Leading sire in GB & Ireland (1940, 1941, 1942, 1945, 1946, 1954) Leading broodmare sire in Britain & Ireland (1948, 1957, 1967, 1968) |
|
| Last updated on 7 January 2007 | |
Hyperion (18 April 1930 – 9 December 1960) was a British bred Thoroughbred, a dual classic winner and an outstanding sire. Owned by Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, Hyperion won £29,509 during his career—a considerable sum at the time. His victories included the Epsom Derby and St. Leger Stakes. He was the most successful British-bred sire of the 20th century and six times champion sire of Great Britain between 1940 and 1954.[1]
Hyperion was by the wartime Triple Crown winner and good sire Gainsborough and his grandsire was Bayardo. His dam, Selene, was by Chaucer, a talented son of the undefeated St. Simon. Selene was also dam of such good sires as Sickle (sire-line ancestor of Native Dancer and Sea Bird II) Pharamond (US), and Hunter's Moon (Argentina). He was inbred in the third and fourth generation to St. Simon. Hyperion was trained at Newmarket to win his classics by George Lambton.[2]
He was one of the smallest horses to ever win a British Classic but had a good action and beautiful temperament.[3] He stood just 15.1 hands (61 inches, 155 cm), with a girth of 68 inches, and measured 7¾ inches below the knee.[2]
Contents
Racing career
At two years
He was a good two-year-old with two good wins in the New Stakes at Ascot and the Dewhurst Stakes plus a dead-heat in the Prince of Wales Stakes from five starts, earning him eighth place in the Free Handicap.[2]
At three years
At three years he was undefeated in four starts, winning the Chester Vase, the Epsom Derby, the Prince of Wales Stakes and the St. Leger Stakes.[2]
At four years
He raced four times also at four years, winning twice, in the March Stakes and Burwell Stakes both contested at Newmarket. In his main race, the Ascot Gold Cup, he was third to Felicitation and Thor. The two and a half miles indicated that he was not a true stayer. In the Dullingham Stakes at Newmarket, only two horses started where three-year-old, Caithness, carrying 8 st. 1 lb. defeated Hyperion carrying 10 st. 2 lb. by a short head.[2]
Stud record
He was retired to stud when he was five years old and became a phenomenal success.
An important stallion, he sired the winners of 752 races, including 53 stakes winners that had 84 stakes wins,[3] and was the leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland six times, counting amongst his progeny:
- Aureole (won Coronation Cup, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes etc.),
- Godiva, won 1000 Guineas, New Oaks
- Gulf Stream (Gimcrack Stakes, Eclipse Stakes)
- Hypericum (1,000 Guineas Stakes, Dewhurst Stakes)
- Owen Tudor (Epsom Derby Stakes, Ascot Gold Cup)
- Pensive, winner of the 1944 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes
- Sun Castle, (St Leger Stakes)
- Sun Chariot (1,000 Guineas, Oaks and St. Leger Stakes)
- Sun Stream (1,000 Guineas Stakes, Epsom Oaks Stakes)[4]
- Heliopolis, was sold to an American breeder for whom he stood in Kentucky and was the Leading sire in North America in 1950 and 1954.
Hyperion's daughters foaled the winners of 1,196 races and £1,131,346.[3] He was also the damsire of Nearctic, who in turn sired Northern Dancer, the 20th Century's greatest sire.
In Australia and New Zealand, Hyperion's descendants have exerted a profound influence on the racing and breeding industry. This influence was introduced via Hyperion's foreign based sons and also by his imported sons, Empyrean, Helios, High Peak, Red Mars, and Ruthless, as well as paternal grandsons such as Star King later known as the outstanding sire, Star Kingdom.[5]
Lord Derby commissioned equine artist Martin Stainforth to paint a portrait of Hyperion.
A lifesize statue modelled by John Skeaping in bronze of Hyperion, stands at the front of the Jockey Club headquarters on Newmarket High Street. From 2009, his skeleton has been exhibited at the National Horseracing Museum (also in Newmarket), lent by the Animal Health Trust to replace the skeleton of Eclipse (currently[when?] undergoing DNA analysis). When Hyperion died, Lord Derby and associates toasted him from a bottle that had been opened in memory of Winston Churchill, and drank to "The two greatest Grand Old Men of our time."[1]
Tabulated pedigree
| Sire Gainsborough Bay 1915 |
Bayardo Bay 1906 |
Bay Ronald | Hampton |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Duchess | |||
| Galicia | Galopin | ||
| Isoletta | |||
| Rosedrop Br. 1907 |
St. Frusquin | St. Simon | |
| Isabel | |||
| Rosaline | Trenton (NZ) | ||
| Rosalys | |||
| Dam Selene Bay 1919 |
Chaucer Brown 1900 |
St.Simon | Galopin |
| St.Angela | |||
| Canterbury Pilgrim | Tristan | ||
| Pilgrimage | |||
| Serenissima Bay 1913 |
Minoru | Cyllene | |
| Mother Siegel | |||
| Gondolette | Loved One | ||
| Donogola (Family No. 6) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Leicester, Sir Charles, “Bloodstock Breeding”, J.A. Allen & Co, London, 1969
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ahnert, Rainer L. (Ed. in Chief), “Thoroughbred Breeding of the World”, Pozdun Publishing, Germany, 1970
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ de Bourg, Ross, “The Australian and New Zealand Thoroughbred”, Nelson, West Melbourne, 1980, ISBN 0-17-005860-3
External links
- Vague or ambiguous time from May 2016
- 1930 racehorse births
- 1960 racehorse deaths
- British Champion Thoroughbred Sires
- British Champion Thoroughbred broodmare sires
- British racehorses
- Epsom Derby winners
- Influential sport horse sires
- Thoroughbred racehorses
- Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom
- Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom
- Thoroughbred family 6-e
- Chefs-de-Race
