Nijinsky II

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Nijinsky

Nijinsky: Blue Riband Sire by Lesley I. Sampson
Sire: Northern Dancer
Grandsire: Nearctic
Dam: Flaming Page
Damsire: Bull Page
Sex: Stallion
Foaled: 1967
Country: Canada
Colour: Bay
Breeder: Windfields Farm
Owner: Charles W. Engelhard, Jr.
Trainer: Vincent O'Brien
Record: 13: 11-2-0
Earnings: $677,177
Major Racing Wins & Honours & Awards
Major Racing Wins
Gladness Stakes (1969)
Railway Stakes (1969)
Anglesey Stakes (1969)
Beresford Stakes (1969)
Dewhurst Stakes (1969)
Two Thousand Guineas (1970)
Epsom Derby (1970)
Irish Derby (1970)
St. Leger Stakes (1970)
King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (1970)
Racing Awards
United Kingdom Champion 2-Yr-Old Colt (1969)
Ireland Champion 2-Yr-Old Colt (1969)
15th U.K. Triple Crown Champion (1970)
European Horse of the Year (1970)
Timeform rating: 140
Leading sire in GB & Ireland (1986)
North American leading broodmare sire (1993 & 1994)
Honours
1970 Motion Picture - A Horse Called Nijinsky
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (1976)
Sun newspaper - Horse of the Millennium
Nijinsky Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack

Infobox last updated on: September 19, 2006.

The racehorse Nijinsky (1967-1992) (named after the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky) was a son of Northern Dancer and Flaming Page, both winners of the Queen's Plate, and a great grandson of Nearco and Bull Lea. For registration clarification, he was recorded as Nijinsky II.

One of the greatest in thoroughbred horse-racing history, this imposing, muscular horse with anything but a gentle nature was bred at E. P. Taylor's famous Windfields Farm in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. He was then bought at the Windfields Farm's annual yearling auction for $84,000 by American minerals industrialist Charles W. Engelhard, Jr. (1917-1971) on whom the James Bond character "Goldfinger"—from the film of the same name—was based, and his wife Jane Engelhard (1917-2004).

Shipped to Ireland, where he was trained by Vincent O'Brien in Ballydoyle, County Tipperary, Nijinsky became champion two-year-old of both England and Ireland in 1969. The next year, after winning the Two Thousand Guineas Stakes, the Epsom Derby and the Irish Derby, Nijinsky then defeated an illustrious field of older horses at Ascot in the mile and a-half King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes. These victories revealed Nijinsky and regular jockey Lester Piggott as perhaps the most formidable horse and jockey combination ever seen on a racecourse.

Despite a subsequent attack of ringworm, he then went on to win the Doncaster St. Leger over one mile and six furlongs, thereby becoming the first horse since Bahram 35 years earlier to complete the English Triple Crown. In his next race, Nijinsky ran in the world-famous Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Hippodrome de Longchamp in Paris, France, where he was sensationally beaten a short head by Sassafrás. Many attribute his defeat to an unusually sloppy performance from Piggott, who gave the horse far too much ground to make up in a race not long after his exertions in the St Leger over a longer distance.[citation needed] In his final race, the Champion Stakes, he again finished second, this time to Lorenzaccio. This defeat, while partly attributable to the horse becoming too excited and sweating in the warm-up, confirmed that Nijinsky was past his brilliant peak, and he was immediately retired to stud at Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky where he became a very successful stallion.

Nijinsky at the 1970 Irish Derby
Nijinsky at the 1970 Irish Derby

In the course of his brilliant racing career, Nijinsky smashed the European earnings record. He was subsequently syndicated for a world record sum. His unfortunate Longchamp defeat took the gloss off a career that many still regard as the greatest ever in terms of brilliance. He also travelled widely, something that can be overlooked when comparing him to other great horses. The staff at O'Brien's stable regarded Nijinsky as they greatest of all the champions they had looked after.

In 1970, a film was made about his racing career entitled A Horse Called Nijinsky. Narrated by Orson Welles, it was released in U.K. movie theaters and in 1988 put out on VHS video. The much-loved Nijinsky team also was voted the 1970 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award. In a poll in 2000, readers of the UK newspaper The Sun voted Nijinsky their "Horse of the Millennium."

[edit] Career as a sire

The sire of 155 Stakes/Group winners, Nijinsky's progeny includes Epsom Derby winners Golden Fleece, Shahrastani and Lammtarra. He is the only sire to have a winner of the Kentucky and Epsom Derbies in the same year. As well, he sired other notable European racers such Shadeed, Royal Academy, and Green Dancer plus Seattle Dancer, who in 1985 became the world's most expensive yearling of all time when he was sold for US$13.1 million. Nijinsky also was the sire of highly successful North American Champions including Sky Classic and Kentucky Derby & Breeders' Cup Classic winner, Ferdinand.

Nijinsky died in 1992 from laminitis. He is buried at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky.

Pedigree of Nijinsky
Sire
Northern Dancer		 Nearctic Nearco Pharos
Nogara
Lady Angela Hyperion
Sister Sarah
Natalma Native Dancer Polynesian
Geisha
Almahmoud Mahmoud
Arbitrator
Dam
Flaming Page		 Bull Page Bull Lea Bull Dog
Rose Leaves
Our Page Blue Larkspur
Occult
Flaring Top Menow Pharamond
Alcibiades
Flaming Top Omaha
Firetop


[edit] References

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../n/i/j/Nijinsky_II_58e2.html"
In other languages