Hyperions Fame Grows Yearly But Few Pay Homage to Mates: Dams of Heliopolis, Khaled And Alibhai Surely Helped To Make Offspring Famous, Daily Racing Form, 1955-05-02

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Hyperions Fame GrowsYearly But Few Pay Homage to Mates Dams of Heliopolis, Khaled And Alibhai Surely Helped To Make Offspring Famous By LEON -RASMUSSEN Staff Correspondent Obviously, it is a males world, even, in horse racing. With Heliopolis the 1954 sire leader, Alibhai second and Khaled seventh, Eng- . lands Hyperion, the daddy of them all, is once again being deservedly hailed as the sire of the century, whose beneficent influence on the bloodstock of the world is "immeasurable." Last year, at the advancing age of 24, Lord Derbys sweet-tempered little son of the Triple Crown winner, Gainsborough, not only had sons finishing one, two in this country and, incidentally, becoming the third and fourth sires in history to have their get earn over a million dollars in purses in one i year , but another son, Ruthless, led the New Zealand sires, and another, Aldis Lamp, paced the sires of winners in Bel- ■ ■ — -~ ► gium, while, at the same time, Hyperion himself was occupying the throne in England for the sixth time. He has also been runner-up on four occasions. In 1948 he led the broodmare sire list, and in four other years he has been second in this important category. In other words, Hyperion may almost be regarded as. a breeding mutation, and nothing said or printed, however lavish, can be too generous in praise of the 1933 Derby and St. Leger winner. What About the Dams? Nevertheless, the thought persists: "Didnt these successful breeding sons, Heliopolis, Alibhai and Khaled, have dams?" And if they did, as seems reasonable, didnt the dams have some influence in transmitting this progenitive talent to their sons? After all, didnt they take part in the union, didnt they, carry the unborn foal for approximately 11 months, didnt they foal these offspring, and didnt they nurse them until that tragic day for the. foals when they were taken aay from their dams and became weanlings? Yes, they did. And that would appear to represent genuine influence So what about these dams? Lets take a look at theni; Heliopolis* dam was Drift, a brown daughter of Swynford— Santa Cruz, by Neil Gow, the latter out of Chelandry, one of the most famous of Englands foundation mares. Drift was a good stakes winner, but she has proved to be even a better mother. In addition to Heliopolis, she is dam of the classic winner Tideway, heorine of the 1000 Guineas and dam of Gulf Stream, head of the 2-year-old Free Handicap in his year; the stakes winner Fairhaven; Sun Stream, a full sister to Heliopolis, who won the 1000 Guineas and Oaks, and Seven Seas, a stakes-winning full brother to .Heliopolis now at stud in California. Drifts dam, Santa Cruz, was also a good winner and she bred six winners, including three who won stakes. Santa Cruz, in turn, was out of Santa Brigida, a stakes winner of intense class who, as a matron, produced several stakes winners, including Bridge of Canny and Bridge of Earn. — The proponents of -inbreeding, at least in the third and fourth remove, will take pleasure in noting that Helipolis pedigree shows him. to be inbred in the third and fourth remove to none other than Canterbury Pilgrim, the dam of two of the most famous sires in British turf history, Swynford and Chaucer. The former won the St. Leger, sired Blandford and heads his own flourishing branch of the Eclipse line, while Chaucer sired Selene, the dam of Hyperion, Side and Pharamond II., and Scapa Flow, dam of Pharos sire of Near-co and Fairway sire of Fair Trial, and also Canyon, dam of Colorado. Thus, the doubling up of this renowned ancestress does not seem to have hurt Heliopolis* ability as a sire. In fact, the contrary may be true. For those who really like to climb around in family trees, Heliopolis traces to -the fabled matron Bees Wing, foaled in 1833, winner of 30 races, dam of classic winners and an ancestress of undying adulation. As for Alibhai, already far and away the greatest unraced side in world turf history, his dam was Teresina, a chestnut, and one of the foundation dams of the Aga Khans breeding empire. As a racemare, Teresina," a .stayer, •was of the highest xiass, winning such grueling tests as the Goodwood Cup and Jockey Club Gold Cup., As a matron, ■, she had nine Tf oals and six* of them won stakes with Alibhai, her most noteworthy off -spring, a non-starter. Her stakes winners were Gino, Grand Terrace, Tereson, Alishah, Shahpoor and Teresina, the latter the dam of seven stakes winners herself. Blue Tit, Teresinas dam, won and produced eight winners, four of whom won stakes, while Petit Bleu, Teresinas grand-dam, was a stakes winner and producer of seven winners, including four stakes winners. Two Others of Interest-Two other names of interest appear in the maternal side of Alibhais pedigree. One is that of Plaisanterie, the dam of . Topiary, the dam of the American-bred Tracery, the sire of Alibhais dam, Teresina. Plaisanterie, a veritable Busher and Two Lea in her day, 1885, won. 16 of 18 races in two years and, as a 3-year-old, won the rare Cesarewitch-Cambridgeshire double, a feat accomplished but three times since 1839. The other magnetic name, going quite far back, is that of Angelica, full sister to the incomparable St. Simon and dam of 6rmev, the tail male ancestor of and Teddy, sire of Sir Gallahad m. and Bull "Dog. And then there is Khaled, repeating as Californias champion sire. Khaleds dam was Eclair, a daughter of Ethnarch and Black Ray, by Black Jester. Eclair was a performer; class, winnings »ven races. Aa a producer-she has had eight winners*, Including Khaled who won the Coventry and Middle Park Stakes/ arid Piping ilock, a sire of moderate success in this country. Black Ray, Eclair s dam, bred 19 successive foals, a number of utmost class, including Jacopo, a stakes winner in England and influential sire in the U.S., and Foray n., another stakes winner who stood in this country. Black Rays sire, Black Jester, was out of Absurdity, another of Englands great foundation dams. Absurdity also- foaled Absurd, five times a leading New Zealand sire, and Jest, winner of the 1000 Guineas and Oaks and herself dam of Humorist, the ill-starred but courageous Derby winner who died a few days after the race from tuberculosis. So there is "the other side" of the Heli-opolis, Alibhai and Khaled story. To make both sides happy— and still probably be right as rain — let us conclude by saying, "Hyperion aroused the best in their dams and the best was good enough."


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1955050201/drf1955050201_26_1
Local Identifier: drf1955050201_26_1
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800