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Chelandry
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Chelandry was one of those rare individuals which Thoroughbred breeders and owners pray for, but very rarely possess. Chelandry was exquisitely bred, a beautiful individual, a racetrack performer of the highest class, and a broodmare who went on to become one of the most renowned of her era and one whose influence is still being felt in the breeding world.
Foaled in 1894, Chelandry was bred by Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery. That year was a monumentous one for the Earl, for he won the Two Thousand Guineas and Derby with homebred Ladas and was elected Prime Minister of Britain. His Mentmore Stud was stocked with a high quality band of broodmares, where the mare Illuminata was just one of the gems among a harem which also included Vista, dam of the Earl's 1892 Two Thousand Guineas champion Bona Vista, who was later to become the dam of Derby winner Sir Visto.
Illuminata hailed from one of the most prestigious families in the British Stud Book at the time, that of the Redshank mare Ellen Horne. Originally purchased by Major (later General) Mark Pearson as a riding horse for his wife, Ellen Horne paid unexpected and happy dividends when she became the dam of two fillies which went on to become major producers: Rouge Rose, by Thormanby, dam of Bend Or, second dam of Roxelane and third dam of Roi Herode; and Paradigm, dam of the classic winning Stockwell siblings Achievement and Lord Lyon, the latter a winner of the Triple Crown. A third sibling, the filly Chevisaunce, became the dam of Lord Falmouth's Oaks and St. Leger heroine Jannette. A three-quarter sibling, Paraffin (1870) became an important foundation matron for Lord Rosebery, producing the Cremorne filly, Footlight, foaled in 1876, and the Rosicrucian filly, Illuminata, foaled in 1877.
Illuminata only raced at age two, winning her first start in a four-furlong race. In eight starts she also had a second and third place, before being retired to stud. During her long life (Illuminata lived to the age of 26, dying in 1903), she produced eighteen foals, two of which were classic winners--Derby winner Ladas and Chelandry-- and a third, Gas, who became the dam of Cicero and second dam of Vaucluse.
In 1893, the Earl of Rosebery sent Illuminata to the court of the young stallion Goldfinch. This horse was an exceptionally bred individual, being by Triple Crown hero Ormonde and out of the Scottish Chief mare Thistle. Bred and raced by Lord Alington, Goldfinch was a half brother to another Triple Crown champion, Common, and also to Throstle, a winner of the St. Leger. Goldfinch had some racing merit, winning the New Stakes and Ascot Biennial as a two-year-old. When Goldfinch went to stud, Illuminata was the very first mare he served. The result was CHELANDRY.
A handsome bay filly, Chelandry eventually topped out at 15.3 1/4 hands. She was described as having great quality, and when put into training, her talent was obvious. Adding to all her attributes of superb breeding and appearance was her disposition, being blessed with what was unanimously described as the sweetest of tempers.
Chelandry on the Turf
The trainer for Lord Rosebery in the mid-1890s was William Walters, Jr., and it was to his yard at Newmarket that Chelandry was sent to be trained. Accompanying Chelandry was another highly regarded youngster from the Mentmore paddocks, the Donovan colt Velasquez, half-brother to classic winners Bona Vista and Sir Visto.
During the season of 1896, Lord Rosebery's two youngsters swept virtually all before them. Velasquez brought home laurels in the New Stakes, July Stakes, and Champagne Stakes. Chelandry began her career with a strong second place finish to Eager in the Royal Plate at Kempton Park and then proceeded to post victories in the Woodcote Stakes at Epsom and the Great Surrey Breeders' Foal Plate, also at Epsom. Chelandry was beaten in the Coventry Stakes at Ascot, but returned to her winning form in July, when at Sandown Park she captured the National Breeders' Stakes. In winning this race, at the time the most valuable two-year-old event on the British racing calendar, Chelandry established herself beyond a doubt as the best two-year-old of the season. Chelandry was also the first of five winners of the race for Lord Rosebery. Chelandry concluded her juvenile season with a victory in Kempton Park's Imperial Produce Stakes.
At age three, Chelandry made five starts and won once. Her stamina did not equal her brilliance, in fact she never won beyond a mile during her entire racing career. But she nevertheless proved herself a game and courageous filly, as her performances attest. She took the One Thousand Guineas on May 7, 1897, coincidentally Lord Rosebery's birthday, over the good Galopin fillies Galatia and Goletta. Thereafter, Chelandry failed to win as the distances increased. She ran second to Limasol in the Oaks. That effort may have sapped her, as returned to one mile for the Coronation Stakes at Ascot, she ran unplaced to Goletta, whom she had easily beaten in the One Thousand Guineas.
In the 1-3/4 mile St. Leger at Doncaster, Galtee More was favored to complete a sweep of the Triple Crown. The dominating son of Kendal was not to be denied in the St. Leger. He had taken the measure of Chelandry's stablemate Velasquez in both the Two Thousand Guineas and the Derby, Lord Rosebery's gallant colt finishing second both times. This time, Lord Rosebery saw Chelandry run second to Galtee More, though it was a courageous effort, given that the distance was far beyond her capabilities. Chelandry rounded out her three-year-old season running third to Love Wisely and Velasquez in the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket.
Kept in training at four, Chelandry failed to win. Her best effort was another third place finish in the Jockey Club Stakes, the winner being the Bona Vista colt Cyllene with Velasquez again relegated to a runner-up spot. A consolation of the race was that Chelandry did finish ahead of that year's Oaks heroine, the Duke of Portland's Ayrshire filly Airs and Graces, who struggled home fourth.
Chelandry in the Breeding Shed
With five victories, including a classic to her resume, Chelandry was retired to Mentmore to begin her new career as a broodmare. There, Lord Rosebery's filly transformed from a champion racehorse into one of the most important English broodmares of her era. Beginning with the birth of her first foal in 1901, Chelandry became a model of consistency, producing sixteen consecutive foals without ever having a barren year.
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| PRODUCE RECORD OF CHELANDRY |
| Year | Name | Stats | Sire | Racing (stakes) | Offspring |
| 1900 | Skyscraper | f. | Ayrshire | SW at 2 and 3 | Dam of Ascenseur, Feu de Joie |
| 1901 | Chelys | f. | Sir Visto | winner and 2 and 3 | Dam of Chili II, Simper |
| 1902 | Samphire | f. | Isinglass | non-winner | Dam of Wrack |
| 1903 | Pomander | c. | Persimmon | non-winner |
| 1904 | Traquair | ch. c. | Ayrshire | SW at 2 | Sire in Australia |
| 1905 | Popinjay | f. | St. Frusquin | SW at 2 | Dam of 8 winners, Popingaol, Good and Gay,Magpie |
| 1906 | Perdiccas | c. | Persimmon | SW at 2 | Sire in Russia |
| 1907 | Neil Gow | ch.c. | Marco | SW at 2 and 3 | Good filly and b.m. sire |
| 1908 | Martial Note | f. | Carbine | -- | 2nd dam Chacolet |
| 1909 | Yippingale | f. | William the Third | -- | Dam of Australian stakes winners |
| 1910 | Chastelard | ch.c. | Bachelor's Button | -- |
| 1911 | Soulouque | bl.c. | Marco | -- |
| 1912 | Dark Flight | f. | Dark Ronald | -- | Dam of Vespasian, The Night Patrol |
| 1913 | Bobolink | f. | Willonyx | -- | Dam of Caveat Emptor, St. James, Nomad, Where Away |
| 1914 | Pennula | f. | Sunstar | unraced | Dam of Cynara |
| 1915 | Chersonese | f. | Cylgad | -- | Dam of Heroic |
Lord Rosebery decided to send her to the Duke of Portland's Derby champion Ayrshire for her first mating and the resulting foal was the filly SKYSCRAPER, foaled in 1900. Chelandry's first-born proved a fine race filly, for she accounted for the Cheveley Park Stakes as her most important victory, along with the Prince of Wales's Plate (in which she beat Our Lassie), and two runnings of the New Biennial Stakes at Ascot. She also placed third to Quintessence in the One Thousand Guineas, third to Our Lassie in the Oaks, and third in the Coronation Stakes.
As a broodmare, Skyscraper produced the Carbine filly Feu de Joie, third in the Coronation Stakes, and the Eager filly Ascenseur, whose daughter La Voiture finished third in the important Park Hill Stakes. Ascenseur was the most significant of Skyscraper's offspring, as, in addition to La Voiture, she produced Irish Derby champion Waygood, was third dam of One Thousand Guineas and Oaks heroine Galatea and fourth dam of top American performers Reneged and Atalanta. Ascenseur is ancestress of such classic winners and champions as Never Say Die, Not Surprising, Melodist, Three Tails, Protagonist, and Ile de Chypre.
Mated next to Lord Rosebery's 1895 Derby hero Sir Visto, Chelandry produced the filly CHELYS in 1901. She had some talent, for her only victory in six starts at two was a maiden race at Epsom in which she defeated the highly-regarded John o' Gaunt. Chelys managed third place finishes in both the Hyde Park Plate at Epsom and the July Stakes at Newmarket. At three, Chelys captured the Flying Handicap at Newmarket and the London & Brighton Handicap at Lingfield. She ran third in the Waterbeach Handicap at Worcester, but was unplaced in the Royal Stakes at Epsom and the Coronation Stakes at Ascot.
Like her half sister Skyscraper, Chelys was retained by Lord Rosebery, but was not an important producer in the short term. She did, however, found a branch of her dam's family which later flourished in New Zealand. Her son, Chili II, by Ayrshire, third place finisher in the Windsor Castle Stakes, was sent to Australia for stud duty. A daughter, Simper, by Symington, was sold to New Zealand, where she became an important broodmare, with six major New Zealand stakes winners to her credit, including New Zealand Oaks heroine Razzle Dazzle. Australian sire Sky High II descended from Dazzling Light, a full sister to Razzle Dazzle. Another daughter of Chelys to be sold to New Zealand was the Llangwn filly Cheloma. In New Zealand she produced two stakes winners. And yet another daughter of Chelys to wind up down under was Virginal, by Lonawand. Through her daughter Virginia Waters, she became second dam of multiple Wellington Stakes winner Golden Spa.
Chelandry's third foal was another filly. Named SAMPHIRE and foaled in 1902, she was by Triple Crown champion Isinglass. Despite her regal heritage, Samphire possessed no racing merit, going unplaced upon the racecourse. As a broodmare, Samphire made an important contribution to the breed as the dam of Wrack. Sired by Ayrshire's son Robert le Diable, Wrack was a decent enough performer on the flat, winning the Sandown Park Stud Produce Stakes, the Lancashire Nursery Handicap, and two runnings of the Newbury Spring Cup. He also placed twice in the Liverpool Autumn Cup and once in the Kempton Park Great Jubilee Handicap. But he was a better hurdler: he won six of his seven starts over fences, including the National Hunt Festival at Cheltenham. He won under a huge impost of 12 st-7lbs. (175 lbs.) in a handicap hurdle at Newbury in March of 1915, and a few weeks later won the Newbury Spring Cup on the flat at the same track.
In 1915 Arthur Boyd Hancock purchased Wrack to stand at his Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky. Lord Rosebery was quite fond of Wrack, often referring to the horse as "dear little Wrack." But sentiment only went so far and was often negated by a business motivation. In the United States, Wrack became leading sire in terms of numbers of winners three times--1923, 1930, and 1931. His best offspring included Petee-Wrack, winner of the Travers Stakes, and the Suburban and Metropolitan Handicaps; and daughter Flambino, a William Woodward homebred who captured the Gazelle Handicap and ran gallant thirds to Chance Shot in the Belmont Stakes and Nimba in the Coaching Club American Oaks. As a broodmare, Flambino provided Woodward with his second Triple Crown champion in Omaha, and an Ascot Gold Cup winner in Flares, both sired by Woodward's first Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox. Wrack spent his entire stud career at Claiborne, dying there in October of 1935.
Samphire comes to us in modern racing history as ancestress of American champion filly Genuine Risk, victress in the Kentucky Derby and second place finisher in both the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes during her 1980 championship season.
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Traquair
| | A colt by Persimmon, named POMANDER, followed in 1903 who was not a winner. The next year, 1904, came TRAQUAIR, an Ayrshire colt and thus a full brother to Skyscraper. Traquair was a top class juvenile, accounting for the Woodcote Stakes, the Coventry Stakes, July Stakes, and the National Breeders' Produce Stakes. Sadly, this promising juvenile season was all there was. By 1908, Traquair had been sold to stand at stud in Australia, where members of his first crop were born in 1909. Traquair was never a leading sire, but he did well, siring several stakes winners, the best of which was the mare Traquette, winner of six stakes, including the Caulfield Stakes and the Melbourne Stakes. |
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Chelandry was next sent to Leopold de Rothschild's Southcourt Stud to be covered by the classic-winning St. Simon son, St. Frusquin. The resultant foal was a brown filly which was named POPINJAY, foaled in 1905. Lord Rosebery sold her privately to Major (later Viscount ) Waldorf Astor. Lord Astor began breeding his own horses around 1900, primarily for use as hunters. Later, he became interested in breeding runners, and began to amass a select band of quality mares, eventually acquiring such individuals as Conjure, Maid of the Mist and her daughter Hamoaze for his breeding paddocks. Popinjay eventually joined this group after her racing career.
On the track, Popinjay had her best season at two, winning the Stud Produce Stakes, placing second in the Acorn Stakes and the Windsor Castle Stakes, and third in the Coventry Stakes and Cheveley Park Stakes. Once she retired to the breeding paddocks, Popinjay founded a family which over the years helped make the Astor stable into one of the most prestigious in the nation.
Popinjay became the dam of eight winners. But the racetrack deeds of her offspring paled in comparison to what several of them accomplished in the breeding ranks. Daughter Gay Bird, by Gay Crusader, was classics-placed, having run third to Short Story in the 1926 edition of the Epsom Oaks. Bred to Colorado, Gay Bird produced Columba. This mare wound up in France, where she became the dam of French champion and important sire Clarion. Gay Bird was third dam of German Derby and Hungarian St. Leger winner Intermezzo. Several major American stakes winners trace in the female line to Gay Bird, notably Clem, Quick Call, Header Card, Illiterate, and Alphabet Soup. Dual English classic-placed campaigner and successful Australian sire Bellotto also traces to Gay Bird, as do the French classic-winning full brothers Raintrap and Sunshack.
Good and Gay, by Bayardo, was a three-quarter sister to Gay Bird. Her progeny included Tea Tray, a son of The Tetrarch which did well as a sire in Australia, and the Swynford siblings Swift and Sure and Saucy Sue. The former, a winner of the Chester Vase, was a decent English stallion, while Saucy Sue captured both the One Thousand Guineas and the Oaks for her owner Lord Astor in 1925.
Pompadour, a full sister to Good and Gay, was only a minor winner, but became ancestress of several major Canadian performers, including Victorian Prince, Victorian Queen, Woolloomooloo, and champion filly L'Alezane.
Magpie, Popinjay's son by Dark Ronald, was exported for stud duty to Australia, where he became champion sire in 1928/1929. However, it was Magpie's full sister, Popingaol, insignificant on the racecourse, who proved to be the strongest link in the chain between her grandmother Chelandry and succeeding generations. With only her second foal, produced at the age of six, Popingaol became a classic producer. This was the Lemberg filly Pogrom, heroine in the 1922 runnings of the Oaks Stakes and the Coronation Stakes. Pogrom unfortunately had an abbreviated stud career, producing but one recorded foal, the Hurry On filly Scattered.
Popingaol's foal by Cylgad was the filly Miss Gadabout, who went on to earn laurels in the Cheveley Park Stakes at two and second place finishes to Scuttle in the One Thousand Guineas and to Toboggan in the Oaks the next season. Sadly, she had no recorded foals. Then in successive years, Popingaol gave birth to fillies by Buchan: Book Law, foaled in 1924, and Book Debt, foaled in 1925.
Book Law was a staying filly of the highest quality, but she was also versatile. For Lord Astor, she took the Queen Mary Stakes at two, and at three she captured the classic St. Leger, the Jockey Club Cup, the Nassau Stakes, and the one mile Coronation Stakes. She finished second to Cresta Run in the One Thousand Guineas and second to Beam in the Oaks. At four, she finished third in both the Coronation Cup and the Eclipse Stakes, in the latter to Lord Derby's colt Fairway.
At stud, Book Law produced Eclipse Stakes winner Rhodes Scholar; Archive, a non-winning Nearco colt who nevertheless got his name in the history books as the sire of champion jumper Arkle; and Highway Code, a Hyperion filly. Archive's best offspring on the flat was a top class sprinter, Arcandy (out of Ann Denise by Turkhan), rated 131 by Timeform in 1957, having won six races from ten starts, including Goodwood's Stewards' Cup and the Diadem Stakes at Ascot
Highway Code won two of her nine starts in two seasons, including the Lavant Stakes (held at Newmarket, rather than Goodwood in wartime); she was purchased from Lord Astor by Arthur Boyd Hancock of Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky. Hancock had just imported Nasrullah to stand at the Kentucky nursery, and several mares were purchased to be mated with the new stallion, Highway Code among them. Her first foal for Hancock by Nasrullah was the filly Courtesy, born in 1952. Stakes placed, she foaled the high class stakes winners Dignitas and Knightly Manner, both by Round Table. A full sister to Knightly Manner and Dignitas was the filly Continue. A speedy filly who equaled the track record at the old Latonia course in Kentucky, running six furlongs in 1:10 flat, she produced for Hancock four important daughters: File (by Tom Rolfe), dam of multiple Grade I winner and major sire Forty Niner; Chain, (by Herbager), a multiple stakes winner; Continuation (by Forli), second dam of Two Thousand Guineas winner and classic sire Shadeed; and Tuerta, also by Forli, and dam of Claiborne's Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Swale.
Book Debt emulated her older sister by producing a classic winner for Lord Astor, that being the Fairway colt Pay Up, victor in the 1936 running of the Two Thousand Guineas. Ironically, one of the horses Pay Up defeated that day was his "cousin," the aforementioned Rhodes Scholar, who ran fourth over the hard surface he obviously disliked. Book Debt's branch of the Chelandry family never attained any lasting prominence, but has yielded some important runners sporadically over the generations, performers such as Group I winner Hot Spark, multiple stakes winning filly Queen Alexandra, and most recently, American champion colt Action This Day.
As if Popingaol had not done enough in producing two classic winners and the dam of another, she came up with Field Trial, third in the Derby of 1938 to Bois Roussel; Tollbooth, whose descendants included Italian classic winner Traghetto and dual Polish classic champion Trabant; and Fair Cop, whose descendants included such standouts as Shady Heights, Tudor Melody, Gay Matelda, and Reine Mathilde.
Clearly, Lord Astor reaped a tremendous bounty when he purchased Popinjay from Lord Rosebery. Thus far, Chelandry had not yet produced a classic winner, but she kept up her stakes-producing record. In 1906, Chelandry foaled a colt by Persimmon named PERDICCAS. This son of Chelandry was a fine two-year-old, winning the Fitzwilliam Stakes, the Hyde Park Plate and the Molecomb Stakes, and placing in the New Stakes and the Hopeful Stakes. Perdiccas was never quite so good after his juvenile season, though he did win the six furlong Epsom Town Plate as a four-year-old. Lord Rosebery sold him, and Perdiccas wound up in Russia for stud duty.
In 1907, Chelandry gave birth to a strapping chestnut colt by Marco who would become her most renowned offspring. This was NEIL GOW, named for the Scottish violinist. With a bold blazed face and four white stockings, Neil Gow made an imposing presence. In appearance, he closely resembled his sire Marco. From Marco and grandsire Barcaldine, he also inherited a willful temperament, which as a two-year-old, attributed to some costly defeats. Neil Gow was sent to Percy Peck's yard at Exning in Suffolk. Peck had difficulty handling the headstrong colt early on, and Neil Gow's bad behaviour prior to the runnings of both the Woodcote Stakes at Epsom and the Coventry Stakes were responsible for his defeats in those events. However, Neil Gow improved enough to reel off four straight wins in the National Breeders' Produce Stakes, the Prince of Wales's Stakes, the Champagne Stakes, and the Imperial Produce Plate.
At three, Neil Gow earned an easy victory in the Craven Stakes, and then had a furious battle with Lemberg, Alfred Cox's fine half-brother to Bayardo, in the Two Thousand Guineas. The two colts locked horns two furlongs from home and neither would yield until Neil Gow just managed to get the better of his rival by a head at the line. |
Neil Gow
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Neil Gow suffered a curb to his right hock shortly before the Derby, and though the injury was not serious, it caused Peck to abandon the colt's final preparatory gallop. Lemberg won the Derby with Neil Gow fourth. The two renewed their rivalry in the Eclipse Stakes, in which the two colts again battled fiercely. At the finish, the judges could not declare a clear cut winner and the result was ruled a dead-heat. Neil Gow broke down while training for a rematch with Lemberg in the St. Leger and was retired to stud at Mentmore. |
Neil Gow proved a sore disappointment at stud, siring nothing close to his own talent. He did make a decent sire of broodmares. Daughters of Neil Gow produced Chatelaine (Oaks); Cadum (Prix Cadran and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud); Bubbles (Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud); Rose of England (Oaks); Chateau Bouscaut (Prix du Jockey Club and Prix du Cadran); and Rodosto (Two Thousand Guineas and Prix d'Essai des Poulains). Another daughter, Perce-Neige, became the second dam of leading Argentine stallion British Empire.
Re-Echo, a son of Neil Gow which took the Woodcote Stakes at two became the sire of Payaso, winner of the Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini, Gran Premio Jockey Club, and Gran Premio Nacionale in Argentina. Neil Gow died at the early age of twelve on August 21, 1919.
Neil Gow marked the pinnacle of Chelandry's success as a broodmare. From her first eight foals, she had produced six winners, all of which had captured stakes. After Neil Gow, there were no more winners, but there were more daughters which added more luster to the shining reputation of Chelandry's family.
Chelandry was mated to Australian champion Carbine, who stood at the Duke of Portland's Welbeck Abbey Stud, and to his cover Chelandry produced a filly in 1908 who was named MARTIAL NOTE. Two of Martial Note's daughters became important to the breeding program of Kentucky horseman Hal Price Headley.
The Bloodstock Breeders Review in 1924 related an anecdote regarding Headley and the daughters of Martial Note:
"When Hal Price Headley paid a flying visit to England three years ago
by way of taking a "rest cure," he bought, through the British Bloodstock
Agency, the three-year-old filly Chacolet, by St. Amant out of Martial
Note, by Carbine out of Chelandry.
Chacolet was rather small, but Mr. Headley did not mind that as he
wanted her as a broodmare. However, as attempts to get her in foal
failed, it was decided to see what she could do on the track. As a runner,
she turned out a veritable goldmine."
When Headley purchased her, Chacolet had been unraced at two, and unplaced in three starts at three. At four, racing for her new owner, she was a little slow to find her form, winning but twice from eleven starts. But at five, in 1923, Chacolet blossomed. The little granddaughter of Chelandry won nine of 21 starts and was the acknowledged champion handicap mare in the U.S. She won the 1-3/16 mile Kentucky Special at Latonia from In Memoriam, who was giving Headley's filly ten pounds actual weight. Preakness Stakes winner Vigil was well beaten. Chacolet captured the 2-1/4 mile Latonia Cup under top weight of 123 pounds. She was unable to give eighteen pounds to Hephaistos in the Pimlico Cup, but still ran a courageous second. Her season earnings of $73,970 was tops among handicap performers. Chacolet repeated as champion in 1924, and then was sent back to Headley's Beaumont Farm near Lexington for a second chance at a broodmare career.
Chacolet made an admirable producer, for her best was the Supremus colt Dynastic, winner at two of the Champagne Stakes, second in the Tremont and Hudson Stakes, and third in the Futurity and Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. |
Champion Grandaughter Chacolet
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Headley understandably held a special place in his heart for Chacolet. When he died in 1962, one of his obituaries made notice of the fact that Chacolet was his first stakes winner, and with her winnings was able to build a large house at Beaumont for himself and his family. Mr. Headley, in grateful recognition of the courageous little mare's racecourse deeds, had a plaque affixed to the new house which read:
"This is the house that Chac built"
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Alice Headley Chandler, mistress of Mill Ridge Farm near Lexington and daughter of Hal Price Headley, was just a child when Chacolet grazed happily in the broodmare paddocks at Beaumont. Though she was too young to clearly remember the mare who bolstered her father's fortunes, Mrs Chandler nonetheless has fond memories of her father, after selling the house in the late 1950s when he no longer needed such a big house, he removed Chacolet's plaque and presented it to his daughter as a gift. Today, though the house has long since been razed, the plaque is still proudly displayed, attached to a table, in the front office of Mill Ridge. And along with photos of modern day equine celebrities, the office displays a framed picture of Chacolet winning one of her races by a wide margin, a reminder of the role the little British mare played in the lives of Hal Price Headley and his daughter.
There is a postscript to the story of Chacolet. Headley later purchased her younger half-sister Aroma. By the Gallinule stallion Santry, she was winless on the track, but as a broodmare at Beaumont, alongside her elder sister, she produced two stakes winners, Try Too and Valevictorian, winner of the Woodward Stakes.
Chelandry's 1909 foal was a William the Third filly named YIPPINGALE. She was in due course sold to the British Bloodstock Agency, acting on behalf of Australian breeder Norman Falkiner, and exported to Australia. There she became ancestress of Australian stakes winners Beaupa, Strauss, and Chicola. In America, the most important descendant of Yippingale is stakes winner and sire Taylor's Falls.
Two colts followed for Chelandry--the chestnut colt CHASTELARD, by Bachelor's Button, foaled in 1910, and the black colt SOULOUQUE, by Marco and thus a full brother to Neil Gow, foaled in 1911. Neither were of any significance. They were followed in 1912 by the Dark Ronald filly DARK FLIGHT. This filly became a stakes producer, her son Vespasian winning the Spring Handicap and placing in a few other minor stakes. Dark Flight's son by Stedfast, named The Night Patrol, was sold and did his racing in Australia. He was successful there, winning thirteen stales, including the prestigious Cox Plate. The Night Patrol was a decent sire in Australia, his best offspring being Middle Watch, winner of five stakes, including the AJC St. Leger and the VRC St. Leger.
Arthur Hancock went back to the bloodlines of the Earl of Rosebery's stud for a broodmare prospect, and via the British Bloodstock Agency, came away with BOBOLINK, Chelandry's daughter by the William the Third son Willonyx, foaled in 1913. Installed in the broodmare paddocks at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky, where her "cousin" Wrack was holding court in the stud barn, Bobolink became an important stakes producer. Her son Caveat Emptor was a winner of the East View Stakes, son Nomad was a multiple steeplechase stakes winner, and son Where Away was a winner of the Washington Park Handicap and the Great Western Handicap. Her best, though, was her son by imported Ambassador IV. This was St. James.
St. James was sold as a yearling by Hancock for $9,000 to George D. Widener, and for him became a champion. Trained by Andrew Jackson Joiner, St. James captured the United States Hotel Stakes, Saratoga Special, and the Futurity under a 130 pound impost. St. James made only one start as a three-year-old beat the previous year's Derby champion in the Paumonok Handicap, then soundness problems forced his premature retirement.
At stud, St. James came up with the good filly Evening, victress over males in the Florida Derby and Chesapeake Stakes; and Jamestown, a crack two-year in 1930 when he won the Futurity, United States Hotel Stakes, Grand Union Hotel Stakes, Flash Stakes, and Saratoga Special. Jamestown in turn sired Johnstown, a winner of the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes and at stud became broodmare sire of multiple champion Nashua.
PENNULA, foaled in 1914, was Chelandry's daughter by J.B.Joel's Epsom Derby champion Sunstar. Pennula was unraced and not immediately important as a producer, but her branch of the family yielded Queen Mary Stakes winner Cynara and her sons: Chester Vase and Ormonde Stakes winner Ormindo, and Stintino, winner of the Criterium de Saint-Cloud. Australian classic-winning filly Reveille was another descendant of Pennula. |
Chersonese and her third foal Thracian
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In 1915, Chelandry gave birth to her last live foal, and sixteenth in succession. This was the Cylgad filly CHERSONESE. As with her last several offspring, Chelandry's last-born did not make her name known on the racetrack. She was retained by Lord Rosebery for a while, but was eventually sold. Like half-sister Yippingale, Chersonese became the property of Australian breeders. Down under, Chersonese was an immediate success at stud, became the dam of one of Australia's most famous runners, Heroic.
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Heroic was sired by Valais, a son of Lord Rosebery's Cicero, making Heroic inbred 4X3 to Illuminata through the half sisters Gas, dam of Cicero, and Chelandry. Between 1923 and 1927, Heroic was literally a hero to Australian racegoers, amassing nineteen stakes wins all over Australia. His victories included the Breeders' Plate, the Champagne Stakes, the Caulfield Guineas, the Australian Jockey Club Derby, the Autumn Stakes, the King's Plate, and the Cox Plate. At stud, Heroic was no less dominating, leading the Australian sire list continuously from the 1932/1933 season through the 1938/1939 season.
Chelandry came up barren for the first time in 1916. Despite her advanced age--she was at the time 22, Lord Rosebery had her bred again. Her mate was a stakes-winning stallion named Junior, a son of Symington from the family of Concussion. It was hoped the old daughter of Goldfinch would conceive a foal one more time. She did, but with tragic consequences.
In early March of 1917, Chelandry foaled a big colt. The size of the foal made the birth difficult. The result was the foal died during the birth, and Chelandry died soon after from exhaustion. It was a sad end to the life of a mare who in time became one of the most influential in the Stud Book.
The Earl of Rosebery had Chelandry buried in a cemetery on his property, where the likes of Illuminata, Ladas, Velasquez, and Sir Visto had been laid to rest before her.
-- Liz Martiniak |
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