Airborne (horse)
Encyclopedia
Airborne was an Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred
racehorse and sire. After showing little worthwhile form as a two-year-old, Airborne improved to become one of the leading three-year-olds in Britain in 1946. He won five successive races including two Classics: the Derby
at Epsom
and the St Leger
at Doncaster
. He was the most recent of four greys to have won the Epsom Classic. Airborne went on to have a stud career of limited success.
, in Ireland by Harold Boyd-Rochfort, the brother of the successful trainer Cecil Boyd-Rochfort
. As a yearling he was sent to the sales where he was bought for 3,900 guineas
by the British plastics manufacturer and racehorse-breeder John Ferguson. Ferguson sent the colt to be trained by the former jockey Richard “Dick” Perryman at his Beaufort House stables at Newmarket, Suffolk.
Airborne’s sire Preciptation was a top class racehorse, best-known for winning the Ascot Gold Cup
in 1937. He went on to become a successful stallion, siring three other Classic winners in Why Hurry (Oaks) Precipitation (St Leger) and Chamossaire (St Leger). Premonition himself was sired by the unbeaten champion, Hurry On
, making him a representative of the Godolphin Arabian
sire line. Airborne’s dam, Bouquet, from whom he inherited his grey colour, never ran in a race, but produced nine winners, the best of them, apart from Airborne, being a sprinter named Fragrant View.
.
in April. Two weeks later he showed the first signs of ability when he returned to Newmarket and won a maiden race over one and a half miles, indicating that at the very least, he had no problems with stamina.
The Derby of 1946 was the first to be run at Epsom since 1939, the course having been used as an anti-aircraft battery position during the war
, and the race attracted a huge crowd, estimate at up to 500,000, including the King and Queen. Airborne, ridden by Tommy Lowrey, was an unconsidered outsider, starting at odds of 50/1 in a field of seventeen, in a race run on soft ground. In early stages, Airborne was held up and was still well back turning into the straight. Gulf Stream took the lead in the last quarter mile as Lowrey pulled Airborne wide to produce a sustained run down the centre of the course. He caught the leader Persian Gulf inside the final furlong and won by a length.
Airborne reappeared in the Princess of Wales's Stakes
at Newmarket in July where he took on older horses. He won his third successive race by beating the five-year-old Hardwicke Stakes
winner Priam II. The following month he ran at Newmarket for the fourth time that season and dead-heated with Fast and Fair in the Stuntney Stakes. At Doncaster in September he started 3/1 favourite for the St Leger which was run before another huge crowd. He tracked the leaders before being sent to the front in the straight and winning "in magnificent style" by one and a half lengths from Murren, with Fast and Fair third. It was a second win in the race for Perryman and Lowrey, who had been successful with Chamoissaire the previous year. On his final start of the season Airborne was matched against the Grand Prix de Paris
winner Souverain in the King George VI Stakes over two miles at Newmarket in October. Airborne started 4/5 favourite for a race which was publicised as an "international championship" for three-year-olds but was well beaten, finishing third to the French colt, with the Irish Derby winner Bright News taking second.
Attempts to train Airborne as a four-year-old, with the Ascot Gold Cup
as his target, ended in failure and he was retired to stud without racing again.
and won the Irish Oaks
in 1957. The best horse he sired however, was the Irish-trained jumper Flyingbolt
. Airborne's progeny had won approximately £25,000 in stakes up until the end of 1955. His date of death has not been recorded, but his last recorded foals appear to have been conceived in 1961.
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
racehorse and sire. After showing little worthwhile form as a two-year-old, Airborne improved to become one of the leading three-year-olds in Britain in 1946. He won five successive races including two Classics: the Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
at Epsom
Epsom Downs Racecourse
Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse near Epsom, Surrey, England. The "downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs. The course is best known for hosting the Epsom Derby, the United Kingdom's premier thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old colts and fillies, over a mile and a half...
and the St Leger
St. Leger Stakes
The St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...
at Doncaster
Doncaster Racecourse
Doncaster Racecourse is a racecourse in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It hosts two of Great Britain's 31 Group 1 flat races, the St Leger Stakes and the Racing Post Trophy.- History :...
. He was the most recent of four greys to have won the Epsom Classic. Airborne went on to have a stud career of limited success.
Background
Airborne was a tall, rangy grey horse bred at Castletown Geoghegan, County WestmeathCounty Westmeath
-Economy:Westmeath has a strong agricultural economy. Initially, development occurred around the major market centres of Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its military significance, and its strategic location on the main Dublin–Galway route across the River Shannon. Mullingar...
, in Ireland by Harold Boyd-Rochfort, the brother of the successful trainer Cecil Boyd-Rochfort
Cecil Boyd-Rochfort
Sir Cecil Charles Boyd-Rochfort CVO was a British thoroughbred racehorse trainer who was British flat racing Champion Trainer five times....
. As a yearling he was sent to the sales where he was bought for 3,900 guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
by the British plastics manufacturer and racehorse-breeder John Ferguson. Ferguson sent the colt to be trained by the former jockey Richard “Dick” Perryman at his Beaufort House stables at Newmarket, Suffolk.
Airborne’s sire Preciptation was a top class racehorse, best-known for winning the Ascot Gold Cup
Ascot Gold Cup
The Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 2 miles and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June....
in 1937. He went on to become a successful stallion, siring three other Classic winners in Why Hurry (Oaks) Precipitation (St Leger) and Chamossaire (St Leger). Premonition himself was sired by the unbeaten champion, Hurry On
Hurry On
Hurry On was an outstanding, undefeated British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire that revived the Matchem sire line. For a trainer who conditioned as many top winners as the Englishman Fred Darling, the observation that Hurry On was the best horse he ever trained is high praise indeed.-Breeding:He...
, making him a representative of the Godolphin Arabian
Godolphin Arabian
The Godolphin Arabian , also known as the Godolphin Barb, was an Arabian horse who was one of three stallions that were the founders of the modern Thoroughbred horse racing bloodstock...
sire line. Airborne’s dam, Bouquet, from whom he inherited his grey colour, never ran in a race, but produced nine winners, the best of them, apart from Airborne, being a sprinter named Fragrant View.
1945: two-year-old season
As a two-year-old, Airborne was extremely backward (immature) and failed to win in four starts, giving little indication of Classic potential, although he did finish fourth to the future 1000 Guineas winner Hypericum in the Dewhurst StakesDewhurst Stakes
The Dewhurst Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 7 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in October.The event was established in 1875, and it...
.
1946: three-year-old season
Airborne’s three-year-old debut showed little evidence of progress as he finished third in a moderate race at NewmarketNewmarket Racecourse
The town of Newmarket, in Suffolk, England, is the headquarters of British horseracing, home to the largest cluster of training yards in the country and many key horse racing organisations. Newmarket Racecourse has two courses - the Rowley Mile Course and the July Course. Both are wide, galloping...
in April. Two weeks later he showed the first signs of ability when he returned to Newmarket and won a maiden race over one and a half miles, indicating that at the very least, he had no problems with stamina.
The Derby of 1946 was the first to be run at Epsom since 1939, the course having been used as an anti-aircraft battery position during the war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and the race attracted a huge crowd, estimate at up to 500,000, including the King and Queen. Airborne, ridden by Tommy Lowrey, was an unconsidered outsider, starting at odds of 50/1 in a field of seventeen, in a race run on soft ground. In early stages, Airborne was held up and was still well back turning into the straight. Gulf Stream took the lead in the last quarter mile as Lowrey pulled Airborne wide to produce a sustained run down the centre of the course. He caught the leader Persian Gulf inside the final furlong and won by a length.
Airborne reappeared in the Princess of Wales's Stakes
Princess of Wales's Stakes
The Princess of Wales's Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July.-History:The event is named in...
at Newmarket in July where he took on older horses. He won his third successive race by beating the five-year-old Hardwicke Stakes
Hardwicke Stakes
The Hardwicke Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June.-History:...
winner Priam II. The following month he ran at Newmarket for the fourth time that season and dead-heated with Fast and Fair in the Stuntney Stakes. At Doncaster in September he started 3/1 favourite for the St Leger which was run before another huge crowd. He tracked the leaders before being sent to the front in the straight and winning "in magnificent style" by one and a half lengths from Murren, with Fast and Fair third. It was a second win in the race for Perryman and Lowrey, who had been successful with Chamoissaire the previous year. On his final start of the season Airborne was matched against the Grand Prix de Paris
Grand Prix de Paris
The Grand Prix de Paris is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July.-History:...
winner Souverain in the King George VI Stakes over two miles at Newmarket in October. Airborne started 4/5 favourite for a race which was publicised as an "international championship" for three-year-olds but was well beaten, finishing third to the French colt, with the Irish Derby winner Bright News taking second.
Attempts to train Airborne as a four-year-old, with the Ascot Gold Cup
Ascot Gold Cup
The Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 2 miles and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June....
as his target, ended in failure and he was retired to stud without racing again.
Assessment
In their book A Century of Champions, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Airborne an “inferior” Derby winner.Stud career
Airborne was not a success as a stallion. The best of his runners on the flat was the filly Silken Glider who finished second in the OaksEpsom Oaks
The Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 10 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early June....
and won the Irish Oaks
Irish Oaks
The Irish Oaks is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July....
in 1957. The best horse he sired however, was the Irish-trained jumper Flyingbolt
Flyingbolt
Flyingbolt was a famous racehorse.- Overview :Officially he is the second best National Hunt racehorse of all time, after Arkle, but not nearly as well known as his rival. Flyingbolt's racing career was dogged by illness and injury...
. Airborne's progeny had won approximately £25,000 in stakes up until the end of 1955. His date of death has not been recorded, but his last recorded foals appear to have been conceived in 1961.