Bahram (horse)
Encyclopedia
Bahramwas an Irish-bred English-trained racehorse who was undefeated in his racing career winning the 2,000 Guineas Stakes, 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...

 and 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...

 which earned him the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...

.

Breeding

He was foaled at the HH Aga Khan III's
Aga Khan III
Sir Sultan Muhammed Shah, Aga Khan III, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GCVO, PC was the 48th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. He was one of the founders and the first president of the All-India Muslim League, and served as President of the League of Nations from 1937-38. He was nominated to represent India to...

 stud farm
Horse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...

 on The Curragh, Ireland
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...

. Bahram was by the highly successful stallion Blandford, who got four Derby winners in seven years, plus a champion horse in France.. His dam, Friar’s Daughter was inbred to St. Simon
St. Simon (horse)
St. Simon was an undefeated British Thoroughbred racehorse and one of the most successful sires in the history of the Thoroughbred. In May 1886 The Sporting Times carried out a poll of one hundred experts to create a ranking of the best British racehorses of the 19th Century. St...

 in the third and fourth generations. Friar’s Daughter won one small race, but was a good broodmare who produced 11 winners of over £58,000. Bahram was 16.2 hands high, with a good temperament, and described by equine experts as having flawless conformation.

Racing record

Bahram was trained by Frank Butters
Frank Butters
Frank Joseph Arthur Butters was a racehorse trainer specialising in flat racing who trained in Austria, Italy and England in the first half of the 20th century...

 for his breeder, at Newmarket, Suffolk in 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 won the National Breeder's Produce Stakes, Rous Memorial Stakes, Gimcrack Stakes
Gimcrack Stakes
The Gimcrack Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and geldings. It is run at York over a distance of 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in August....

, Boscawen, and Middle Park Stakes
Middle Park Stakes
The Middle Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late September or early October.The event was established...

 as a two-year-old. As a three-year-old Bahram won the Triple Crown, one of only three 20th century horses to achive this feat in peacetime. Also that year he won the prestigious one-mile St.James' Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Stud record

At the end of the 1935 racing season Bahram was retired to Egerton Stud in Newmarket where he stood at a service fee of 500 guineas per mare. With just two crops racing Bahram became the second leading sire
Father
A father, Pop, Dad, or Papa, is defined as a male parent of any type of offspring. The adjective "paternal" refers to father, parallel to "maternal" for mother...

 in 1940 and leading juvenile sire of 1941. Among his English progeny were Big Game (2,000 Guineas and Champion Stakes), Persian Gulf winner of the Coronation Cup and sire of the Derby winner Parthia, Turkhan, winner of the 1940 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...

 and Irish Derby and Zabara, and the winners of 469 races. Bahram was also the damsire of Noor
Noor (horse)
Noor was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse Champion who competed successfully in the United Kingdom and the United States. Given the Arabic name meaning "Light", Noor was sired by five-time U.S. leading sire Nasrullah...

 who competed successfully in England
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 as well as in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 where he would be inducted into the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

.

Following the German occupation of France during World War II, the Aga Khan fled France to the safety of Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, and in September 1940, sold Bahram for £40,000 to an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 syndicate made up of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Alfred G. Vanderbilt II
Alfred G. Vanderbilt II
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt II was a member of the prominent Vanderbilt family, a son of the first Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt who died a hero in the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. His mother, Margaret Emerson, was one of America's wealthiest women and most sought-after hostesses, operating at least...

, James Cox Brady, Jr. and Sylvester Labrot, Jr. In 1941, the horse was brought to Vanderbilt's Sagamore Stud
Sagamore Farm
Sagamore Farm is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding farm on Belmont Avenue in Reisterstown, Baltimore County, Maryland. Established in 1925, it was owned by Margaret Emerson Vanderbilt who gave it to her son Alfred G. Vanderbilt II for his twenty-first birthday...

 in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 then to Walter Chrysler Jr.'s North Wales Stud in Warrenton, Virginia
Warrenton, Virginia
Warrenton is a town in Fauquier County, Virginia, United States. The population was 6,670 at the 2000 census, and 14,634 at the 2010 estimate. It is the county seat of Fauquier County. Public schools in the town include Fauquier High School, Warrenton Middle School, Taylor Middle School and two...

. However, there was considerable resentment amongst British breeders against the Aga Khan for selling to overseas buyers all five of his Derby winners, particularly the three from the Blandford line, Bahram, Blenheim and Blenheim's son, Mahmoud. All of them were considered a severe loss to British breeding stock.

In the US Bahram sired the winners of 660 races worth two million dollars. In 1946 Bahram was sold for a reported $130,000 to a stud farm in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 where he met with only modest success before his death at 24 years of age in 1956.

Tabulated pedigree

External links

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