Grundy (horse)
Encyclopedia
Grundy was an Irish
-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred
Champion racehorse
. He was a leading two-year-old in 1974 and went on to win the Epsom Derby
in 1975. He is best remembered however, for his last win, in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes.
, in Worcestershire
, England
, he was a son of Great Nephew who also sired Epsom Derby
winner Shergar
and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame
filly
, Carotene
. His dam, Word From Lundy, was a daughter of the French
runner Worden, whose wins included Italy's
Premio Roma
and the 1953 Washington, D.C. International Stakes in the United States. Grundy was owned and raced by Carlo Vittadini, the Italian banker who owned a stud farm in Italy as well as Beech House Stud
in Newmarket, England.
Peter Walwyn
, after winning his 1974 debut race, Grundy won the Sirenia Stakes
, the Dewhurst Stakes
and the Champagne Stakes. Unbeaten in four starts, he entered 1975 as a winterbook favorite for the British Classic Races but his conditioning was interrupted as a result of an injury from another horse at his stables.
, Grundy started his three-year-old campaign with a second-place finish in both the Greenham Stakes
and in the first of the British Classics, the 2,000 Guineas. Grundy then won the Irish 2,000 Guineas, Epsom Derby
, Irish Derby, and then captured what the British racing world and major newspapers dubbed the "Race of the Century."
newspaper's list of the "10 greatest horse races of all time," the match between Grundy and Bustino
in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot Racecourse
on July 26, 1975 was ranked number two.
Three-year-old Grundy was up against a very solid field in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes that was open to older horses. The participants included Eclipse Stakes
winner, Star Appeal
, Nelson Bunker Hunt's
mare, Dahlia
, one of the greatest female horses in world Thoroughbred racing history, and Lady Beaverbrook's
four-year-old horse Bustino, the winner of the previous year's St. Leger Stakes
Classic.
Two of Bustino's "rabbit" stablemates set a blistering early pace in the 2,414 metre (1½ miles) race that was designed to wear down Grundy. With half a mile left to run, Bustino and jockey Joe Mercer
moved into the lead. He was ahead by four lengths by the time they entered the top of the straight when Pat Eddery on Grundy mounted a charge. The two horses began pulling away from the rest of the field and with a furlong
left to run, Grundy caught and passed Bustino who in turn refused to quit and retook the lead. Just fifty yards from the finish line, a relentless Grundy fought back and recaptured the lead, holding off Bustino's continued furious effort to win by half a length with Dahlia another five lengths behind in third.
Grundy's winning time of 2:26.98 broke the race record by almost two and a half seconds, the record stood until 2010 when Harbinger
ran 2:26.78 over a sightly modified course. As sometimes happens, a race of this nature took a toll on both horses. Bustino never raced again, and Grundy ran only once more, finishing a tired fourth in the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup
after which he was retired to stud
.
winners include the 1980 Epsom Oaks
winner, Bireme, the 1981 Gran Premio d'Italia
winner, Kirtling, and the 1983 Ascot Gold Cup
victor, Little Wolf. Until 1984, Grundy stood at The National Stud
when he was exported to a breeding operation in Japan
where he died in 1992.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred
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...
Champion racehorse
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
. He was a leading two-year-old in 1974 and went on to win the Epsom 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...
in 1975. He is best remembered however, for his last win, in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes.
Background
Bred by Overbury Stud of OverburyOverbury
Overbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Worcestershire.It is located midway between the towns of Evesham and Tewkesbury to the south of Bredon Hill....
, in Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, he was a son of Great Nephew who also sired Epsom 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...
winner Shergar
Shergar
Shergar was an acclaimed Irish racehorse, and winner of the 1981 Epsom Derby by a record 10 lengths, the longest winning margin in the race's 226-year history. This victory earned him a spot in The Observer newspaper's 100 Most Memorable Sporting Moments of the Twentieth Century...
and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame
The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 at the Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario to honor those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and thoroughbred horse racing in Canada....
filly
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
, Carotene
Carotene (horse)
Carotene is a Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse who holds the filly or mare record for winning the most Sovereign Awards. Bred by David Willmot's Kinghaven Farms, she was a daughter of the British sire Great Nephew who also sired Epsom Derby winners Grundy and Shergar...
. His dam, Word From Lundy, was a daughter of the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
runner Worden, whose wins included Italy's
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Premio Roma
Premio Roma
The Premio Roma is a Group 1 flat horse race in Italy which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Capannelle, Rome, over a distance 2,000 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in November....
and the 1953 Washington, D.C. International Stakes in the United States. Grundy was owned and raced by Carlo Vittadini, the Italian banker who owned a stud farm in Italy as well as Beech House Stud
Beech House Stud
Beech House Stud is an English Thoroughbred racehorse breeding farm located on Cheveley Road near Newmarket, Suffolk currently owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum's Shadwell Racing operation....
in Newmarket, England.
1974:two-year-old season
Trained as a two-year-old by trainerHorse trainer
In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...
Peter Walwyn
Peter Walwyn
Peter Tyndall Walwyn is a retired British racehorse trainer. He was based at stables at in the Lambourn, Berkshire, area and enjoyed his period of greatest success in the mid 1970s when he was British flat racing Champion Trainer twice....
, after winning his 1974 debut race, Grundy won the Sirenia Stakes
Sirenia Stakes
The Sirenia Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to two-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Kempton Park over a distance of 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early September....
, the Dewhurst Stakes
Dewhurst 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...
and the Champagne Stakes. Unbeaten in four starts, he entered 1975 as a winterbook favorite for the British Classic Races but his conditioning was interrupted as a result of an injury from another horse at his stables.
1975:three-year-old season
Ridden by jockey Pat EdderyPat Eddery
Patrick James John "Pat" Eddery is a former flat racing jockey. Pat's father Jimmy Eddery was a jockey, as is his brother Paul Eddery.-Career:...
, Grundy started his three-year-old campaign with a second-place finish in both the Greenham Stakes
Greenham Stakes
The Greenham Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and geldings. It is run at Newbury over a distance of 7 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in April....
and in the first of the British Classics, the 2,000 Guineas. Grundy then won the Irish 2,000 Guineas, Epsom 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...
, Irish Derby, and then captured what the British racing world and major newspapers dubbed the "Race of the Century."
Britain's "Race of the Century"
In The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper's list of the "10 greatest horse races of all time," the match between Grundy and Bustino
Bustino
Bustino was a British Thoroughbred Champion racehorse and an important sire. Bred by E. Cooper Bland, he was sired by 1967 British Horse of the Year, Busted, and out of the mare Ship Yard....
in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot Racecourse
Ascot Racecourse
Ascot Racecourse is a famous English racecourse, located in the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 32 annual Group 1 races...
on July 26, 1975 was ranked number two.
Three-year-old Grundy was up against a very solid field in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes that was open to older horses. The participants included Eclipse Stakes
Eclipse Stakes
The Eclipse Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 7 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early July.-History:The event is named after Eclipse, a...
winner, Star Appeal
Star Appeal
Star Appeal was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred who became the only German-trained racehorse ever to win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. He was initially raced in Ireland, where his first trainer was John Oxx. He then moved to Germany where he achieved success with his third trainer, Theo Grieper.Star...
, Nelson Bunker Hunt's
Nelson Bunker Hunt
Nelson Bunker Hunt is an American oil company executive. He is best known as a former billionaire whose fortune collapsed after he and his brother William Herbert Hunt tried but failed to corner the world market in silver. He is also a successful thoroughbred horse breeder.-Personal:Hunt was born...
mare, Dahlia
Dahlia (horse)
Dahlia was an American-bred Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racemare who won major races in France, England, Ireland, Canada, and the United States...
, one of the greatest female horses in world Thoroughbred racing history, and Lady Beaverbrook's
Marcia Anastasia Christoforides
Marcia Anastasia Christoforides, Lady Beaverbrook was a philanthropist, an art collector, and racehorse owner.-Married to two millionaires:...
four-year-old horse Bustino, the winner of the previous year's St. Leger Stakes
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...
Classic.
Two of Bustino's "rabbit" stablemates set a blistering early pace in the 2,414 metre (1½ miles) race that was designed to wear down Grundy. With half a mile left to run, Bustino and jockey Joe Mercer
Joe Mercer (jockey)
Joseph Mercer is a retired English Thoroughbred race horse jockey. He was active as a jockey from 1947 to 1985 and rode a total of 2,810 winners in Britain, a figure exceeded only by Sir Gordon Richards, Lester Piggott and Doug Smith at the time of Mercer’s retirement, and subsequently only...
moved into the lead. He was ahead by four lengths by the time they entered the top of the straight when Pat Eddery on Grundy mounted a charge. The two horses began pulling away from the rest of the field and with a furlong
Furlong
A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to 220 yards, 660 feet, 40 rods, or 10 chains. The exact value of the furlong varies slightly among English-speaking countries....
left to run, Grundy caught and passed Bustino who in turn refused to quit and retook the lead. Just fifty yards from the finish line, a relentless Grundy fought back and recaptured the lead, holding off Bustino's continued furious effort to win by half a length with Dahlia another five lengths behind in third.
Grundy's winning time of 2:26.98 broke the race record by almost two and a half seconds, the record stood until 2010 when Harbinger
Harbinger (horse)
Harbinger is a retired thoroughbred racehorse trained by Sir Michael Stoute. He won the 2010 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in a track record time, and beat the previous race record set by Grundy in 1975, albeit at the old Ascot track.He was sold at yearling auction for 180,000 guineas...
ran 2:26.78 over a sightly modified course. As sometimes happens, a race of this nature took a toll on both horses. Bustino never raced again, and Grundy ran only once more, finishing a tired fourth in the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup
International Stakes
The International Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 88 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in August....
after which he was retired to stud
Stud (animal)
A stud animal is a registered animal retained for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species usually imply that the animal is entire—that is, not castrated—and therefore capable of siring offspring...
.
Stud career
A successful stallion, Grundy's Group OneGroup One
Group One or Group 1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. Group One races may be run under handicap conditions in Australia but in Europe weight-for-age conditions always apply. Races may be also restricted to age groups or a...
winners include the 1980 Epsom Oaks
Epsom 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....
winner, Bireme, the 1981 Gran Premio d'Italia
Gran Premio d'Italia
The Gran Premio d'Italia is a Listed flat horse race in Italy which is open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at San Siro, Milan, over a distance of 2,200 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June....
winner, Kirtling, and the 1983 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....
victor, Little Wolf. Until 1984, Grundy stood at The National Stud
The National Stud
The National Stud is a United Kingdom Thoroughbred horse breeding farm located two miles from Newmarket. The Stud originated in 1916 as a result of a gift by William Hall Walker of the entire bloodstock of his stud farm in Tully, Kildare town in County Kildare, Ireland...
when he was exported to a breeding operation in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
where he died in 1992.