Pall Mall (horse)
| Pall Mall | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Palestine |
| Grandsire | Fair Trial |
| Dam | Malapert |
| Damsire | Portlaw |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1955 |
| Country | Ireland |
| Colour | Chestnut |
| Breeder | Queen Elizabeth II |
| Owner | Queen Elizabeth II |
| Trainer | Cecil Boyd-Rochfort |
| Record | 14:7-4-1 |
| Earnings | £20,542 |
| Major wins | |
| New Stakes(1957) Thirsk Classic Trial (1958) 2000 Guineas(1958) Lockinge Stakes(1958, 1959) | |
| Awards | |
| Timeformrating 132 | |
Pall Mall(1955–1978) was an Irish-bred, British-trainedThoroughbredracehorseandsire,best known for winning theclassic2000 Guineasin 1958. Owned and bred byQueen Elizabeth II,Pall Mall was one of the leading British two-year-olds of 1957, when he won theNew StakesatRoyal Ascotand was placed in three other important races. In the following spring, he performed moderately in two trial races before creating a 20/1 upset by winning the 2000 Guineas. He later won the first two runnings of theLockinge Stakesbefore being retired to stud, where he had some success as a sire of winners.
Background
[edit]Pall Mall was a dark-coated chestnut horse with a whiteblazeand three whitesocks[1]bred in Ireland by his owner,Queen Elizabeth II.The colt was sent into training withCecil Boyd-Rochfortat his Freemason Lodge stable inNewmarket, Suffolk.Boyd-Rochfort trained the horses owned by British monarchs from 1943 until 1968.[2]
Pall Mall was the only British classic winner sired by the 1950 2000 Guineas winnerPalestine,the best of whose other progeny included Green Banner (Irish 2,000 Guineas) and Palariva (King's Stand Stakes). Pall Mall's dam, Malapert, showed no ability as a racehorse and was bought on behalf ofKing George VIfor 100guineasat the Newmarket sales in December 1949.[3]A year before Pall Mall's birth, Malapert had produced Cheetah, a moderate racehorse but a good broodmare who became the grand-dam of the1000 GuineaswinnerCaergwrleand theWills Milewinner St Chad.[4]
Racing career
[edit]1957:two-year-old season
[edit]Pall Mall's first racecourse appearance came in May 1957 when he won amaiden raceatHaydock Parkby fivelengths.A month later, he was moved up in class to contest the New Stakes over fivefurlongsatRoyal Ascot.Ridden by Harry Carr, he started at odds of6/1and won by a length from Troubadour and Will Somers. A month after his Ascot win, he finished second to thefillyAbelia in theJuly StakesatNewmarketand then ran third in theGimcrack StakesatYork.He had been expected to win the latter race[5]but was well beaten by Pheidippedes, a colt who had finished unplaced in the New Stakes. On his final appearance of the season, he was beaten a short head by Kelly in theChampagne StakesatDoncaster.In the Free Handicap, a ranking of the best two-year-olds to race in Britain, Pall Mall was assigned 126pounds,seven pounds below the top-rated Major Portion.[6]
1958:three-year-old season
[edit]In April 1958, Pall Mall began his three-year-old season by finishing fourth on soft ground behindAggressorin the 2000 Guineas Trial atKempton Park Racecourse,leading some observers to write him off as a sprinter with no classic prospects.[7]Two weeks later, he won the Classic Trial Stakes atThirskby a length. In the 2000 Guineas, run over the Rowley Mile course at Newmarket on 30 April, Pall Mall started a 20/1 outsider in a field of fourteen runners. He was ridden byDoug Smithas Harry Carr had elected to ride the stable's other runner,Bald Eagle,who was made 7/4 favourite.[8]Pall Mall took the lead a furlong and a half from the finish and won by half a length from Major Portion (ridden by Smith's older brotherEph), with Nagami three lengths further back in third. The win was a first classic for Boyd-Rochfort and a second for the Queen, who missed the race through illness.[9]
Carr resumed his association with Pall Mall in the inaugural running of the Lockinge Stakes atNewbury Racecoursea month later. The Guineas winner was made the 4/6 favourite and won easily. AtGoodwoodin July met Major Portion again in theSussex Stakesand was beaten a length in his final race of the year.[3]
1959:four-year-old season
[edit]As a four-year-old, Pall Mall won a second Lockinge Stakes, starting the 1/2 favourite and winning from the Scottish-trained three-year-old Rexequus (later to win that season'sCambridgeshire Handicap). At Royal Ascot, raced inhandicapcompany for the only time, when he was assigned top weight of 133 pounds in theRoyal Hunt Cup.He started 5/2 favourite and finished second of the twenty-three runners, beaten one and a half lengths by Faultless Speech, a four-year-old to whom he was conceding 20 pounds.[10]At the Newmarket July meeting, Pall Mall won his last race by taking the Midsummer Stakes.[3]
Assessment
[edit]The independentTimeformorganisation awarded Pall Mall a peak annual rating of 132.[6]In their bookA Century of Champions,based on a modified version of the Timeform system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Pall Mall an "average" winner of the 2000 Guineas.[11]
Stud record
[edit]Pall Mall had some success as a breeding stallion. The best of his offspring was probablyReform,foaled in 1964, whose wins included theChampion Stakes,Queen Elizabeth II Stakes,St James's Palace StakesandSussex Stakes.He also siredSallust,who won the Sussex Stakes and thePrix du Moulinin 1972. His daughter Boulevard has had some influence as a broodmare, being the female-line ancestor ofStreet Cry,Shamardal,andNeo Universe.Pall Mall died in 1978.[3]
Pedigree
[edit]| Sire Palestine(GB) 1947 |
Fair Trial(GB) 1932 |
Fairway | Phalaris |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scapa Flow | |||
| Lady Juror | Son-in-Law | ||
| Lady Josephine | |||
| Una (IRE) 1930 |
Tetratema | The Tetrarch | |
| Scotch Gift | |||
| Uganda | Bridaine | ||
| Hush | |||
| Dam Malapert (GB) 1946 |
Portlaw (IRE) 1928 |
Beresford | Friar Marcus |
| Bayberry | |||
| Portree | Stefan the Great | ||
| Saddlemark | |||
| Malatesta (GB) 1937 |
Sansovino | Swynford | |
| Gondolette | |||
| Tetranella | The Tetrarch | ||
| Bettyhill (Family 7-d)[4] |
- Pall Mall wasinbred4 × 4 to The Tetrarch, meaning that this stallion appears twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.
References
[edit]- ^"Pall Mall image".sporthorse-data.com.Retrieved3 February2013.
- ^"Sir Cecil Boyd-Rochfort".Horseracing History Online.Retrieved4 February2013.
- ^abcdMortimer, Roger; Onslow, Richard; Willett, Peter (1978).Biographical Encyclopedia of British Flat Racing.Macdonald and Jane's.ISBN0-354-08536-0.
- ^ab"Thoroughbred Bloodlines – Jeu d'Esprit – Family 7-d".Bloodlines.net.Retrieved3 February2013.
- ^"Pall Mall to win Gimcrack for the Queen?".Evening Times.21 August 1957.Retrieved3 February2013.
- ^abMorris, Tony; Randall, John (1990).Horse Racing: Records, Facts, Champions(Third ed.). Guinness Publishing.ISBN0-85112-902-1.
- ^"We have no answer to Bella Paola".The Bulletin (Glasgow).14 April 1958.Retrieved3 February2013.
- ^"Queen's Pall Mall is Guineas classic victor".Schenectady Gazette.1 May 1958.Retrieved3 February2013.
- ^"2,000 Guineas to Pall Mall".Montreal Gazette.1 May 1958.Retrieved3 February2013.
- ^"Faultless Speech 8-1 Hunt Cup winner".Evening Times.17 June 1959.Retrieved3 February2013.
- ^Morris, Tony; Randall, John (1999).A Century of Champions.Portway Press.ISBN1-901570-15-0.
- ^"Pall Mall pedigree".Equineline.8 May 2012.Retrieved3 February2013.
