| Abernant | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Owen Tudor |
| Grandsire | Hyperion |
| Dam | Rustom Mahal (FR) |
| Damsire | Rustom Pasha |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1946 |
| Country | Great Britain |
| Colour | Grey |
| Breeder | Catherine Macdonald-Buchanan |
| Owner | Reginald Macdonald-Buchanan |
| Trainer | Noel Murless |
| Record | 17: 14-2-0 |
| Earnings | £26,394[1] |
| Major wins | |
| Bedford Stakes (1948) Middle Park Stakes (1948) Champagne Stakes (1948) National Breeders' Produce Stakes (1948) King's Stand Stakes (1949) July Cup (1949 & 1950) Nunthorpe Stakes (1949 & 1950) King George Stakes (1949 & 1950) |
|
| Awards | |
| Timeform rating: 142 | |
| Honours | |
| Abernant Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse | |
| Horse (Equus ferus caballus) | |
| Last updated on 6 November 2009 | |
Abernant (1946–1970) was British Thoroughbred racehorse who is "considered by many as the greatest British sprinter of the 20th century," according to Godolphin Racing.
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He was sired by the Epsom Derby winner Owen Tudor, by Hyperion, a son of the English Triple Crown winner, Gainsborough. Abernant's dam, Rustam Mahal, was a non-winning daughter of Rustom Pasha and the very important broodmare Mumtaz Mahal who in turn was sired by The Tetrarch.[1] Abernant was a half brother to Kurdistan (by Tehran) who was a successful sire in New Zealand, siring among others, Baghdad Note, a winner of the Melbourne Cup.[2]
Abernant was a dominant two-year-old in English racing, winning five of his six starts. Ridden by jockey Sir Gordon Richards, he was unbeatable at distances of five to six furlongs. At age three he lost the eight furlong 2,000 Guineas by a matter of inches to Nimbus but after being limited to sprints, he won four major races. At age four in 1950, he won the Lubbock Sprint Stakes and repeated as the easy winner of the July Cup, the Nunthorpe Stakes and the King George Stakes. He ended his career that year with fourteen wins from the seventeen races he entered.
His Timeform rating of 142 equals that of Ribot as the fourth best ever awarded. In the years that followed his retirement, among the many accolades, The Independent newspaper wrote that Abernant "was the best sprinter ever to grace a racecourse." [2]
Abernant sired several stakeswinners that included:
He died in 1970 at age twenty-four and is buried at Egerton Stud in Newmarket. In a recent interview with trainer Mark Tompkins, Julie Murless, the daughter of Abernant's trainer, recalled that the gentle horse loved children and as a child of five she would sit on his back.[4]
| Sire Owen Tudor 1938 |
Hyperion Ch. 1930 |
Gainsborough | Bayardo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rosedrop | |||
| Selene | Chaucer | ||
| Serenissima | |||
| Mary Tudor 1931 |
Pharos | Phalaris | |
| Scapa Flow | |||
| Anna Bolena | Teddy | ||
| Queen Elizabeth | |||
| Dam Rustom Mahal 1934 |
Rustom Pasha 1927 |
Son-in-Law | Dark Ronald |
| Mother in Law | |||
| Cos | Flying Orb | ||
| Renaissance | |||
| Mumtaz Mahal Gr. 1921 |
The Tetrarch | Roi Herode | |
| Vahren | |||
| Lady Josephine | Sundridge | ||
| Americus Girl (Family: 9-c) |