Sickle (horse)
Encyclopedia
Sickle was an English
Thoroughbred
racehorse who was later exported to the US where he was twice the Leading sire in North America
. Sickle was bred by Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby
.
He was a full brother to Pharamond
, who also was a successful sire in the United States, Their sire Phalaris
, was twice the Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland and a three-time Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland
. His dam Selene produced 11 named foals including the leading Argentine
and Brazil
ian sire Hunter's Moon and Hyperion
, the 1933 Epsom Derby
and St. Leger Stakes
winner and a six-time Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland as well as a four-time Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain and Ireland. Pharamond and Sickle were inbred to Cyllene in the third and fourth generation (3m x 4f) and St. Simon
in the third and fourth generation (3f x 4m).
Sickle was raced by Lord Derby and trained by George Lambton
. The colt met with some success in racing, winning three of his ten starts and notably finishing third in the 2,000 Guineas Stakes.
that included a $100,000 option to purchase
, Sickle was sent to the United States in time for the 1930 breeding season at Widener's Elmendorf Farm. In England, Sickle's first crop produced three stakes winners and in 1932 Widener exercised his option and purchased the horse. His first offspring in the U.S. also met with racing success and Sickle went on to become a two-time leading sire in the United States. During his stud career, Sickle was the leading sire in North America in 1936 and again in 1938. He was the sire of 297 foals, including 45 stakes winners of which two were Champions
.
His progeny includes:
Among Sickle's other progeny were numerous multiple stakes winners including Advocator, Brevity, Brownian, Chief Barker, Concordian, Director J E, Hindu Queen, Jabot, Misty Isle, Price Level, Reaping Reward and Sickle T.
Sickle's bloodline legacy came through his son Unbreakable who would sire the 1945 Preakness Stakes
winner and 1947 American Champion Sprint Horse, Polynesian
. Polynesian in turn sired the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
inductee Native Dancer
who was rated No. 7 in the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century
. Native Dancer sired Raise a Native
, damsire of Northern Dancer
. Polynesian also sired 1956 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, Barbizon, plus Imbros
, a multiple stakes winner who set or equaled five track records including a world record for 7 furlongs, and the very good runner and important broodmare, Alanesian
. Because of Polynesian, Sickle's sire line includes Sea Bird II
, the 1965 Epsom Derby
and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
winner whose Timeform
rating is the highest ever awarded in flat racing
, and the very influential Mr. Prospector
, a two-time Leading sire in North America and nine-time Leading broodmare sire in North America.
Sickle was the damsire of Kersala, the 1958 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year
, as well as the damsire of these four Champions:
At age nineteen, Sickle died unexpectedly on 26 December 1943 and was buried in the Elmendorf equine cemetery on acreage that was later subdivided and is now known as Normandy Farm.
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...
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 who was later exported to the US where he was twice the Leading sire in North America
Leading sire in North America
The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won by the sire's progeny during the year...
. Sickle was bred by Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby
Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby
Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby KG, GCB, GCVO, TD, PC, KGStJ, JP , known as Lord Stanley from 1893 to 1908, was a British soldier, Conservative politician, diplomat and racehorse owner. He was twice Secretary of State for War and also served as British Ambassador to...
.
He was a full brother to Pharamond
Pharamond II
Pharamond was an English Thoroughbred racehorse who became a successful sire of Champions in the United States where he was registered as Pharamond II. He was a full brother to Sickle, who also stood at stud successfully in the United States. Pharamond was bred and raced by Edward Stanley, 17th...
, who also was a successful sire in the United States, Their sire Phalaris
Phalaris (horse)
Phalaris was a British bred Thoroughbred racehorse, later a Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland and a Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland...
, was twice the Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland and a three-time Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland
Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland
The list below shows the leading sire of broodmares in Great Britain and Ireland for each year since 1899. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won during the year by racehorses which were foaled by a daughter of the sire.-----References:*...
. His dam Selene produced 11 named foals including the leading Argentine
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...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian sire Hunter's Moon and Hyperion
Hyperion (horse)
Hyperion was a British bred Thoroughbred, a dual classic winner and an outstanding sire. Owned by Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, Hyperion won £29,509 during his career - a considerable sum at the time. His victories included the Epsom Derby and St...
, the 1933 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...
and 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...
winner and a six-time Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland as well as a four-time Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain and Ireland. Pharamond and Sickle were inbred to Cyllene in the third and fourth generation (3m x 4f) and 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 generation (3f x 4m).
Sickle was raced by Lord Derby and trained by George Lambton
George Lambton
George Lambton was a British thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He was British flat racing Champion Trainer in the 1906, 1911 and 1912 seasons....
. The colt met with some success in racing, winning three of his ten starts and notably finishing third in the 2,000 Guineas Stakes.
Stud record
Retired to Lord Derby's stud for the 1929 breeding season, in a three-year lease agreement with American Joseph E. WidenerJoseph E. Widener
Joseph Early Widener was a wealthy American art collector who was a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C...
that included a $100,000 option to purchase
Lease purchase contract
A lease purchase contract is a shortened name for lease with option to purchase contract. It is a form of real estate purchase which combines elements of a traditional rental agreement with an exclusive option of right of first refusal to later purchase the home.These contracts are commonly used...
, Sickle was sent to the United States in time for the 1930 breeding season at Widener's Elmendorf Farm. In England, Sickle's first crop produced three stakes winners and in 1932 Widener exercised his option and purchased the horse. His first offspring in the U.S. also met with racing success and Sickle went on to become a two-time leading sire in the United States. During his stud career, Sickle was the leading sire in North America in 1936 and again in 1938. He was the sire of 297 foals, including 45 stakes winners of which two were Champions
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...
.
His progeny includes:
- CravatCravat (horse)Cravat was an American record-setting Thoroughbred racehorse who won races on both dirt and turf that today are Grade 1 events and in the U.S. Triple Crown series, finished second in the Preakness Stakes and third in the Belmont Stakes....
won the Brooklyn HandicapBrooklyn HandicapThe Brooklyn Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on Long Island. It currently is a Grade II event open to three-year-olds and up willing to race one and one-half miles on dirt....
, Suburban HandicapSuburban HandicapThe Suburban Handicap is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is run at the classic one-and-one-quarter mile distance on dirt for a $400,000 purse....
, Jockey Club Gold CupJockey Club Gold CupThe Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers Stakes is of the...
, and set a new Santa Anita ParkSanta Anita ParkSanta Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring. With its backdrop of the purple San Gabriel Mountains, it is considered by many as the world's most beautiful race...
track record of 2:30 2/5 in winning the mile and a half San Juan Capistrano Handicap. - Gossip (FR), won FR Grand Criterium
- Silver Spear, won Durban July HandicapDurban July HandicapThe Durban July Handicap is a South African Thoroughbred horse race held annually on the first Saturday of July since 1897 at Greyville Racecourse in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. Raced on turf, the Durban July Handicap is open to horses of all ages. It is South Africa's premier horse racing event and...
- StagehandStagehand (horse)Stagehand was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the only horse to ever win the Santa Anita Handicap and the Santa Anita Derby in the same year....
was the American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse of 1938 and had wins in the Santa Anita HandicapSanta Anita HandicapThe Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up , and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during the winter racing season...
, Santa Anita DerbySanta Anita DerbyThe Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California and carries a purse of $1 million. Inaugurated in 1935, it is considered the most important West Coast stepping-stone to the Kentucky Derby...
, and Narragansett SpecialNarragansett SpecialThe Narragansett Special was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Narragansett Race Track in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. At the time of its inaugural running in 1935, the Narragansett Special offered a purse of $25,000 making it New England's richest horse race Open to horses age three...
, among others. - Star PilotStar Pilot (horse)Star Pilot was an American thoroughbred stallion race horse. Sired by Joseph Widener's English stakes winner Sickle, he was out of the mare Floradora, whose French sire, Bull Dog, was one of the leading sires of stakes winners in the 1950s.He was sold as a yearling to Elizabeth Arden of Maine...
, was the 1945 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt whose wins that year included the Hopeful Stakes and both the Pimlico and Belmont Futurity Stakes.
Among Sickle's other progeny were numerous multiple stakes winners including Advocator, Brevity, Brownian, Chief Barker, Concordian, Director J E, Hindu Queen, Jabot, Misty Isle, Price Level, Reaping Reward and Sickle T.
Sickle's bloodline legacy came through his son Unbreakable who would sire the 1945 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...
winner and 1947 American Champion Sprint Horse, Polynesian
Polynesian (horse)
Polynesian was an American Thoroughbred racehorse owned by Gertrude T. Widener, of the prominent Widener family of Philadelphia, and bred by her father-in-law Joseph E...
. Polynesian in turn sired the U.S. Racing 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...
inductee Native Dancer
Native Dancer
Native Dancer , nicknamed the Grey Ghost, was one of the most celebrated and accomplished Thoroughbred racehorses in history, the first horse made famous through the medium of television. He was one of the best horses produced in USA after the war...
who was rated No. 7 in the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century
Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century
In 1999, a panel for The Blood-Horse magazine was made up of distinguished horse racing people: Howard Battle, Lenny Hale, Jay Hovdey, William Nack, Pete Pedersen, Jennie Rees and Tommy Trotter. These experts compiled a list of what they considered to be the top 100 United States thoroughbred...
. Native Dancer sired Raise a Native
Raise a Native
Raise a Native was an undefeated Thoroughbred racehorse that was named 1963 champion two-year-old colt in the Turf and Sport Digest poll. He sired 74 stakes winners, including Majestic Prince and Alydar...
, damsire of Northern Dancer
Northern Dancer
Northern Dancer was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and the most successful sire of the 20th Century. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association calls him "one of the most influential sires in Thoroughbred history"....
. Polynesian also sired 1956 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, Barbizon, plus Imbros
Imbros (horse)
Imbros was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who set or equaled six track records including a new world record for seven furlongs in winning the 1954 Malibu Sequet Stakes at Santa Anita Park and equaled the world record for a mile and a sixteenth in winning the 1954 Californian Stakes at...
, a multiple stakes winner who set or equaled five track records including a world record for 7 furlongs, and the very good runner and important broodmare, Alanesian
Alanesian
Alanesian was an American Thoroughbred racing filly and successful broodmare. She was bred in Kentucky by E. Barry Ryan, a society trainer and owner of Normandy Farm in Lexington, Kentucky...
. Because of Polynesian, Sickle's sire line includes Sea Bird II
Sea Bird II
Sea Bird II is considered by many to be the greatest post-war European flat racehorse. His Timeform rating of 145 is still the highest ever flat figure awarded by that publication. Sea Bird II is most famous for his breathtaking victories in two of Europe's most prestigious races: the Epsom Derby...
, the 1965 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...
and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year, usually on the first Sunday in October.Popularly referred to as the...
winner whose Timeform
Timeform
Timeform Publications is a publishing company in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England founded in 1948 to provide information to fans, bettors, and others involved in the horse racing industry...
rating is the highest ever awarded in flat racing
Flat racing
Flat racing is a form of Thoroughbred horse racing which is run over a level track at a predetermined distance. It differs from steeplechase racing which is run over hurdles...
, and the very influential Mr. Prospector
Mr. Prospector
Mr. Prospector was a thoroughbred racehorse foaled in Kentucky, whose descendants have been dominant in the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. He won half of his 14 career races.-Background:...
, a two-time Leading sire in North America and nine-time Leading broodmare sire in North America.
Sickle was the damsire of Kersala, the 1958 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year
Kentucky Broodmare of the Year
The list that follows is of the all the mares that have won the honor of being named Kentucky Broodmare of the Year. Mares are selected each year by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. Mares are graded by the success of offspring just like stallions in regards to the Leading...
, as well as the damsire of these four Champions:
- Bornastar, the 1958 American Champion Older Female Horse
- But Why NotBut Why NotBut Why Not was an American Thoroughbred filly racehorse. The daughter of Blue Larkspur and granddaughter of Black Servant will be remembered best for wins in the Alabama Stakes, the Acorn Stakes, the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course...
, the American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly and American Champion Older Female Horse of 1947 - CounterpointCounterpoint (horse)Counterpoint was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Sired by 1943 U.S. Triple Crown champion Count Fleet, as a yearling he injured an ankle bone severely enough that his racing future was put in doubt...
, won the 1951 Belmont StakesBelmont StakesThe Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
and was voted the American Horse of the Year and American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse of 1951 - OedipusOedipus (horse)Oedipus was an American Champion Thoroughbred steeplechase racehorse. Sired by 1929's flat racing Horse of the Year Blue Larkspur and foaled in Kentucky, Oedipus was purchased by Lillian Bostwick Phipps and was conditioned by future Hall of Fame trainer Pete Bostwick.Oedipus raced from 1948...
, a three-time American Champion Steeplechase Horse (1950, 1951,1952) and winner of the 1951 American Grand National
At age nineteen, Sickle died unexpectedly on 26 December 1943 and was buried in the Elmendorf equine cemetery on acreage that was later subdivided and is now known as Normandy Farm.