Épinard
Encyclopedia
Épinard was a French
Thoroughbred
racehorse
who was given the French
name for spinach
. He is considered a racing legend by French racing authority France Galop
.
He was a chestnut stallion sired by Badajoz from Epine Blanche by the British Triple Crown
winner Rock Sand
. Epine Blanche was conceived in the U.S.A. and foaled in France. She was out of an American mare named White Thorn by Nasturtium who was a brilliant two-year-old. Epine Blanche was also the dam of the race winner Epinette III by Mont Bernina. Épinard was inbred to the undefeated racehorse, St. Simon
in the third and fourth generation (4m x 4f).
, Épinard made his racing debut at two by winning the Prix Yacowlef
at the Deauville Racecourse
. He went on to dominate his age group in France, winning four important races
in impressive fashion and earning 1922 champion honours. As a three-year-old, he continued to win in France before being sent to compete in England. At the Goodwood Racecourse
near Chichester
, he won the 1923 Stewards' Cup
defeating a strong field including Pharos
. After conceding a great deal of weight, he finished second by a neck to Verdict in the Cambridgeshire Handicap
.
In October 1923, Epsom Derby
winner Papyrus
was sent to the United States
to compete in a much- ballyhooed match race
against Kentucky Derby
winner Zev
. After the American horse easily won, the following year the racing world began to talk about Épinard taking on America's best. Following negotiations with leading American horsemen August Belmont, Jr.
, James Shevlin and Matt Winn
, Wertheimer agreed to send Épinard to compete in a series of three American races billed as the International Special
.
Épinard arrived at the port of New York
on the Cunard Line
's luxury liner, the RMS Berengaria
. The races were to be held at Belmont Park
and Aqueduct Racetrack
in New York and at Latonia Race Track
in Kentucky
; it would be the first time Épinard raced on a dirt track. Although he finished second in all three of the International Specials, Épinard's 1924 performances earned him U.S. Champion Older Male Horse honours.
after his four-year-old season, Épinard had only limited success as a sire. In 1926 he was standing in the US and two years later he returned to France. Then in 1930 he made another trip to America only to return to France in 1932.
His progeny included Epithet (won Hopeful Stakes), Rentenmark (won Prix Ganay
) and Rodosto, winner of 1933 French 2,000 Guineas
and the English Classic, the 2,000 Guineas. Épinard was reportedly commandeered during the German occupation of France, and was last seen as a cart horse before he died in 1942.
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...
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...
who was given the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
name for spinach
Spinach
Spinach is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant , which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions...
. He is considered a racing legend by French racing authority France Galop
France Galop
France Galop is the governing body of flat and steeplechase horse racing in France. It was founded on May 3, 1995 as the result of the amalgamation of four different industry organizations...
.
He was a chestnut stallion sired by Badajoz from Epine Blanche by the British Triple Crown
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...
winner Rock Sand
Rock Sand
Rock Sand was a brown Thoroughbred race horse who was a very good young galloper, winning six of his seven starts. Always showing great courage he won the 2,000 Guineas Stakes, St. Leger Stakes and Epsom Derby which earned him the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.He was a beautifully conformed...
. Epine Blanche was conceived in the U.S.A. and foaled in France. She was out of an American mare named White Thorn by Nasturtium who was a brilliant two-year-old. Epine Blanche was also the dam of the race winner Epinette III by Mont Bernina. Épinard was inbred to the undefeated racehorse, 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 (4m x 4f).
Racing career
Owned and bred by one of France's leading horsemen, Pierre WertheimerPierre Wertheimer
Pierre Wertheimer was a French businessman.In October 1910, Pierre Wertheimer married Germaine Revel, a daughter of a stockbroker and a member of the Lazard family of investment bankers....
, Épinard made his racing debut at two by winning the Prix Yacowlef
Prix Yacowlef
The Prix Yacowlef is a Listed flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,000 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late June or early July....
at the Deauville Racecourse
Hippodrome Deauville-La Touques
Hippodrome Deauville-La Touques is a race track for thoroughbred horse racing located in Deauville in the Calvados département, in the Basse-Normandie région of France. Originally called Hippodrome de la Touques, it was named for the Touques River that separates the city of Deauville from...
. He went on to dominate his age group in France, winning four important races
Conditions races
Conditions races are horse races where the weights carried by the runners are laid down by the conditions attached to the race. Weights are allocated according to; the sex of the runners, with female runners carrying less weight than males; the age of the runners, with younger horses receiving...
in impressive fashion and earning 1922 champion honours. As a three-year-old, he continued to win in France before being sent to compete in England. At the Goodwood Racecourse
Goodwood Racecourse
Goodwood Racecourse is a horse-racing track five miles north of Chichester, West Sussex, in England controlled by the family of the Duke of Richmond, whose seat is nearby Goodwood House...
near Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
, he won the 1923 Stewards' Cup
Stewards' Cup (Great Britain)
The Stewards' Cup is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late July or early August....
defeating a strong field including Pharos
Pharos (horse)
Pharos was a British bred Thoroughbred racehorse and a Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland.-Pedigree:Bred and raced by Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, he was a brother to the stakeswinners, Fair Isle and Fairway who won 31 races and ₤71,635 between them...
. After conceding a great deal of weight, he finished second by a neck to Verdict in the Cambridgeshire Handicap
Cambridgeshire Handicap
The Cambridgeshire Handicap is a flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile and 1 furlong , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late September or early October.The event...
.
In October 1923, 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 Papyrus
Papyrus (horse)
Papyrus was a British Thoroughbred racehorse bred in Ireland. Out of the mare Miss Matty, he was sired by Tracery whose sire was Rock Sand....
was sent to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to compete in a much- ballyhooed match race
Match race
A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.The term may be best known as a race between two sailing boats racing around a course...
against Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
winner Zev
Zev (horse)
Zev was an American thoroughbred horse racing champion.-Background:A brown colt, Zev was sired by The Finn out of the mare Miss Kearney . Bred by the famous horseman John E. Madden, Zev was owned by the Rancocas Stable of Harry F...
. After the American horse easily won, the following year the racing world began to talk about Épinard taking on America's best. Following negotiations with leading American horsemen August Belmont, Jr.
August Belmont, Jr.
August Belmont, Jr. was an American financier, the builder of New York's Belmont Park racetrack, and a major owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses.-Early life:...
, James Shevlin and Matt Winn
Matt Winn
Colonel Martin J. "Matt" Winn was a prominent personality in American thoroughbred horse racing history and president of Churchill Downs racetrack, home to the Kentucky Derby race that he made famous....
, Wertheimer agreed to send Épinard to compete in a series of three American races billed as the International Special
International Special
The International Specials of 1924 were a series of three Thoroughbred horse races held in September and October at three different race tracks in the United States...
.
Épinard arrived at the port of New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on the Cunard Line
Cunard Line
Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...
's luxury liner, the RMS Berengaria
SS Imperator
SS Imperator was an ocean liner built for the Hamburg Amerikanische Packetfahrt Actien Gesellschaft launched in 1912. She was the first of a trio of successively larger Hamburg America ships that included and built by the line for transatlantic passenger service...
. The races were to be held at Belmont Park
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...
and Aqueduct Racetrack
Aqueduct Racetrack
Aqueduct Racetrack is a thoroughbred horse-racing facility and racino in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Its racing meets usually are from late October/early November through April.-History:...
in New York and at Latonia Race Track
Latonia Race Track
Latonia Race Track on Winston Avenue in Latonia Kentucky, six miles south of Cincinnati, Ohio, was a Thoroughbred horse racing facility opened in 1883. The track hosted a spring-summer racing series and a second in late fall. It was once regarded as among the United States' top sites for racing,...
in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
; it would be the first time Épinard raced on a dirt track. Although he finished second in all three of the International Specials, Épinard's 1924 performances earned him U.S. Champion Older Male Horse honours.
Stud record
Retired to stand at studHorse 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...
after his four-year-old season, Épinard had only limited success as a sire. In 1926 he was standing in the US and two years later he returned to France. Then in 1930 he made another trip to America only to return to France in 1932.
His progeny included Epithet (won Hopeful Stakes), Rentenmark (won Prix Ganay
Prix Ganay
The Prix Ganay is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,100 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late April or early May....
) and Rodosto, winner of 1933 French 2,000 Guineas
Poule d'Essai des Poulains
The Poule d'Essai des Poulains, sometimes referred to as the French 2,000 Guineas, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts...
and the English Classic, the 2,000 Guineas. Épinard was reportedly commandeered during the German occupation of France, and was last seen as a cart horse before he died in 1942.