Nimbus was a British

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...

 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...

 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...

.

Background

One of several horses named Nimbus, he is designated as Nimbus "V" in accordance with his birth year. He was bred by William Hill

William Hill (businessman)

William Hill was the founder of William Hill, one of the United Kingdom's largest firms of bookmakers.-Career:...

 who would go on to win the 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...

 in 1959 with Cantelo. Sired by Nearco

Nearco

Nearco was an Italian bred Thoroughbred racehorse described by Thoroughbred Heritage as "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century" and "one of the most important sires of the century." He was not only unbeaten, winning 14 races at distances from 5 furlongs to 1 mile 7 furlongs ,...

, one of the most important sires of the 20th century, his dam was Kong, a daughter of Baytown who won the 1928 Irish 2,000 Guineas and Irish Derby.

1948: two-year-old season

Purchased and raced by Mrs. Marion Glenister, Nimbus was trained by George Colling. At age two, his best major race performances were a second-place finish in the Coventry Stakes

Coventry Stakes

The Coventry Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June....

 and a second by six lengths to Abernant

Abernant (horse)

Abernant was British Thoroughbred racehorse who is "considered by many as the greatest British sprinter of the 20th century," according to Godolphin Racing.-Pedigree:...

 in the 1948 Champagne Stakes.

1949: three-year-old season

More fully developed at age three, Nimbus was unbeaten, earning British Champion Three-Year-Old Colt honors for 1949. Ridden by Charlie Elliott, Nimbus defeated Abernant in winning the 2,000 Guineas. He then won Britain's most prestigious race, 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 which a photograph

Photograph

A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...

 of the finish was used by officials for the first time.

Stud career

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...

 duty for the 1950 season, the offspring of Nimbus met with limited racing success. However, a daughter, Lucy Lufton, was the dam of Greek Money

Greek Money

Greek Money was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series, the Preakness Stakes. Out of the English mare, Lucy Lufton, he was sired by Greek Song whose wins included the 1950 Arlington Classic...

 who won the 1962 American Classic, the Preakness Stakes

Preakness Stakes

The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

. Sent 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...

 in 1963, Nimbus died there in 1972.

Honours

Following the LNER tradition of naming locomotive

Locomotive

A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...

s after winning racehorses, British Rail

British Rail

British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

ways "Deltic" Diesel locomotive no. D9020 (later no. 55 020) was named Nimbus after this horse on 12 February 1962, and remained in service until 5 January 1980.