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Is there a definitive top rated filly/mares list for flat runners? I’m keen to see where my favourite horse, Ouija Board, ranks in the all time ratings, I’ve seen lists involving Arkle/Kauto Star etc but not seen any for flat racing filly/mares, can someone help me out?
Thanks..
Timeform’s all time list is at:
http://www.chef-de-race.com/articles/ti … eights.htm
Taking just the fillies & mares:
138 Star Of India
136 Allez France, Habibti, Texana, All Along
135 Coronation, Dahlia, La Tendresse, PebblesOuija Board was given 125 in Racehorses of 2006.
I’ve never heard of Star of India..what a lovely name! as someone that was never too interested in the flat it was always the fillies that caught my attention, starting with the time I found myself with a tear in my eye watching Bosra Sham…loved seeing Ouija Board with her foal on telly the other day!
Timeform’s all time list is at:
http://www.chef-de-race.com/articles/ti … eights.htm
Taking just the fillies & mares:
138 Star Of India
136 Allez France, Habibti, Texana, All Along
135 Coronation, Dahlia, La Tendresse, PebblesOuija Board was given 125 in Racehorses of 2006.
Also, I saw a film recently concerning Ruffian, a supposed great American filly who won the Fillies triple crown but lost her life in a match race.
SHL
I’ve never heard of Star of India..what a lovely name! as someone that was never too interested in the flat it was always the fillies that caught my attention, starting with the time I found myself with a tear in my eye watching Bosra Sham…loved seeing Ouija Board with her foal on telly the other day!
Thanks for the link Gareth.
I’m going to visit Ouija Board next week
I will be posting photos of her and her new foal
That Star Of India rating is generally considered to be an aberration by Timeform. She was probably about the same as her Nunthorpe Stakes-winning brother, High Treason (won it as a 2-y-o).
Of UK-based fillies over the last 100 years or so, it’s hard to get past Pretty Polly and Mumtaz Mahal.
Petite Etoile was a great favourite of mine, beautifully ridden by Piggott.
That Star Of India rating is generally considered to be an aberration by Timeform. She was probably about the same as her Nunthorpe Stakes-winning brother, High Treason (won it as a 2-y-o).
Of UK-based fillies over the last 100 years or so, it’s hard to get past Pretty Polly and Mumtaz Mahal.
Petite Etoile was a great favourite of mine, beautifully ridden by Piggott.
Good article on Pretty Polly here from The Independant in August 2006.
I can’t believe some of the odds she started at!!!
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/gene … 12155.html
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the death of a paragon of the turf, an individual whose magnificent exploits captured the imagination of the public like few before or since and without whose legacy this sport would be the poorer. Pretty Polly, the greatest filly or mare ever to look through a bridle in the stable yard or a headcollar in the paddocks, was put down on 17 August, 1931.
The cleverly named dark chestnut, by Gallinule out of Admiration, won 22 of her 24 starts over four seasons, including the filly Triple Crown in 1904 and Coronation Cups the following two years. Bred by Eustace Loder at Eyrefield Lodge on the Curragh, she was trained in Newmarket by Peter Gilpin.
Both her style and substance as a runner pass the closest scrutiny. On her debut in a five-furlong contest at Sandown in late June, she was so far in front of her nine rivals before a furlong had been covered that most watchers expected the flag to go up for a false start. She won by an eased-down 100 yards, estimated as 10 lengths.
Her nine victories from as many runs that year included, uniquely, both the Cheveley Park and Middle Park Stakes, with one day between. In the latter race she was chased home by the subsequent 2,000 Guineas and Derby winner St Amant, who never beat her in five meetings.
Her debut was the only time in her career she failed to start favourite. She once started at 55-1 on, twice at 33-1 on, twice at 25-1 on and her Oaks price of 100-8 on is the shortest recorded in any Classic.
Her winning range was from five furlongs to two and a quarter miles and she achieved the extremely rare feat of being the champion, of either sex, at two, three and four. But on her best rating of 137, which puts her ahead of the likes of Sun Chariot, Allez France, Sceptre, Dahlia and Pebbles, there would still be 50 colts better on the all-time list. Pretty Polly’s reputation suffered not one jot for her two defeats, for both of which there were valid reasons. At three, she was sent to Longchamp for the Prix du Conseil Municipal (the Arc had not yet been invented) in October, an ill-starred venture from the off.
Her journey to Paris, across a rough Channel and by slow train, was a nightmare, and the ground had turned into a bog. Ridden by Danny Maher for the first time (her regular rider Billy Lane had been hurt in a fall), she still beat all bar trailblazing mudlark Presto.
Her second defeat came on what proved to be her final run, the 1906 Ascot Gold Cup. Sweating and out of sorts after having had a boil lanced on her belly in the racecourse stables, she was beaten by the dour stayer Bachelor’s Button who, aided and abetted by a pacemaker, set a new record time.
During her career, Pretty Polly achieved celebrity far beyond the track. Her talent was immense, but so was her charisma. She was a big, handsome horse with a sweet, generous nature and a laid-back, intelligent outlook. She was accompanied everywhere in public by her comfort blanket, a cob named Little Missus, and the affection of the pair was obvious and touching.
She raced in an era when horses were part of everyone’s everyday life and racing, which featured the élite of the species, was a majority interest sport.
Before the St Leger, some 15,000 Pretty Polly postcards were sold, as well as button badges and sticks of rock. Women wore rosettes and men ties in the yellow and dark blue Loder colours. PP was the MUFC of her day.
Her worth at stud was not immediately apparent; she started with two barren years and then slipped twins. But through her four daughters Molly Desmond, Polly Flinders, Dutch Mary and Baby Polly she has wielded huge, still flourishing, influence.
The list of top horses who are direct descendants is legion; the names Donatello, Nearctic, Brigadier Gerard, St Paddy, Psidium, Supreme Court, Great Nephew, Northern Taste, Vienna, Unite, Sigy, Swain, Fantastic Light, Marwell, Park Appeal, Vintage Tipple, Russian Rhythm and Cape Cross only scrape the surface.
A contemporary writer called Pretty Polly not the mare of the century, but the mare of all the centuries. One hundred years after she retired, the verdict is unchanged.
Venusian, every time I read something about Sceptre, I am amazed. How good might she have been in different ownership? One of the toughest fillies to have raced.
I am a Ruffian fan. I believe she broke every record whenever she ran. That took some doing.Read the book!
Bosra Sham (a bit obvious, really!!)
Henry Cecil called her ‘the greatest he has ever trained’ after her Royal Ascot romp in the Prince Of Wales.
She literally won the 1000 Guineas on three legs due to her well documented foot problem and who can forget her Champion Stakes demolition of Halling, who was unbeaten on grass in over two overs.
Her most underrated effort came in the QEII Stakes, where she only found 2000 Guineas winner Mark Of Esteem just over a length too good after a 146 day absence.
I seriously doubt we ever saw the best of her due to her foot problem. She was without question the most beautiful filly I’ve ever seen, too. A wonderfully feminine head and a power-packed body that most colts could only dream of.
Ouija Board was also something very special and if you haven’t seen the film ‘Ruffian’ then I’d highly recommend it. A great filly.
Bosra Sham vs Ouija Board over 10 furlongs? Bosra Sham by about 4 – 5 lengths.
It Must Be Love could also be mentioned in a few years time…
… every time I read something about Sceptre, I am amazed. How good might she have been in different ownership? One of the toughest fillies to have raced.
Does somebody know Robert Siever’s Autobiography from 1906 or John Welcome’s book on Mr. Siever from 1970: "Neck or Nothing"?
Pretty Polly was considered a superstar in her day. Meld, who raced during the 50s, was also very good filly, as was Petite Etoile, whom Lester Piggott regarded as the best filly he ever rode.
In the 60s, Park Top ( another filly Piggott rode ) was a very good race mare.
Dahlia, Allez France and Miesque were three of France’s finest. Zarkava has the potential to be up there with them, in my opinion.
More recently ( well, the 80s
), as far as English trained fillies are concerned, Henry Cecil’s Oh So Sharp, and Clive Brittain’s Pebbles are probably the two best fillies I have seen.Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Agree on Bosra Sham. One of my favs was Lochsong. Loved to watch her spring from the gates and leave the rest of the field trailing.
Bosranic – it was mystifying the day Bosra Sham pollaxed Halling. I’ve seen the replay a few times and I always believed Halling was a serious champion.
Personal Ensign was some filly. One of the greatest highlights of the entire Breeders’ Cup history was the 1988 Distaff.
Three horses locally who I admire as greats include Makybe Diva, Sunline and Wakeful.
Sunline’s 2000 Cox Plate demolition job of 6 lengths from barrier to box caused a ruckus in Casa de Deering for the entire day. I wanted to be a horse that day – I wanted to be Sunline. She’s framed on my wall.
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