Udaipur (horse)

Udaipur
SireBlandford
GrandsireSwynford
DamUganda
DamsireBridaine
SexMare
Foaled1929[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
ColourBrown
BreederAga Khan III
OwnerAga Khan III
TrainerFrank Butters
Record8: 4-1-0
Earnings£15,047[2]
Major wins
Epsom Oaks (1932)
Coronation Stakes (1932)
Richemont Stakes (1932)
Newmarket Oaks (1932)

Udaipur (1929 – 1949) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. Her racing career consisted of eight races between April and October 1932. Having finished second on her debut and seventh in the 1000 Guineas she was still a maiden when she recorded her biggest win in the Epsom Oaks in June. She went on to win the Coronation Stakes, Richemont Stakes and Newmarket Oaks as well as finishing fourth in a strong edition of the St Leger. As a broodmare she produced several good winners and was the female-line ancestor of Wild Again.

Background

Udaipur was a good looking[3] brown mare with no white markings[4] bred in England by her owner Aga Khan III. She entered training with Frank Butters at the Fitzroy House stable in Newmarket, Suffolk.[5]

She was sired by Blandford an Irish-bred stallion who won three of his four races including the Princess of Wales's Stakes. He went to become an outstanding breeding stallion who was a three-time Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland and whose other offspring included Bahram, Blenheim, Brantome and Windsor Lad. Udaipur's dam Uganda was a top-class racehorse who won the Prix de Diane and Prix Royal-Oak in 1924. After being bought by the Aga Khan at the end of her racing career she became a very successful broodmare whose other foals included Ukrania (Prix de Diane), Umidwar (Champion Stakes), Ut Majeur (Cesarewitch) and Una (dam of Palestine).[6]

Racing career

1932: three-year-old season

Having been unraced as a juvenile, Udaipur made her racecourse debut in April, when she finished second in a maiden race at Newmarket Racecourse.[5] She was stepped up in class for the 1000 Guineas at the same track at the end of the month and came home seventh of the nineteen runners behind Kandy, a French-trained outsider who had been left in the race by mistake.[7]

On 3 of June, ridden by the Irish jockey Michael Beary, Udaipur stated at odds of 10/1 for the 154th running of the Oaks Stakes over one and a half miles at Epsom Racecourse. Lord Woolavington's Will o' the Wisp and Lord Glanely's Ada Dear started joint favourites, while the other nine runners included the 1000 Guineas runner-up Thorndean and the Cheveley Park Stakes winner Concordia. After racing just behind the leaders, Udaipur made a forward move early in the straight and overtook the leader Will o' the Wisp a furlong out.[3] She won the race by two lengths from Will o' the Wisp with the same distance back to Giudecca in third place.[8] Later in June Udaipur was dropped back in distance for the Coronation Stakes over one mile at Royal Ascot. She was not expected to be suited by the shorter trip and started at odds of 6/1,[9] but with Beary in the saddle she won "in a canter" by three lengths from Pennycross (later to win the Falmouth Stakes) and Ada Dear. Her performance led to her being described as "the best three-year-old filly in the country".[10]

After a two month break Udaipur returned to win the Richemont Stakes at Hurst Park and was then matched against male opposition in the St Leger at Doncaster Racecourse on 7 September. With Beary opting to ride the Epsom Derby runner-up Dastur, she was partnered by Harry Wraggg.[11] The filly ran creditably to finish fourth of the nineteen runners behind her unfancied stablemate Firdaussi after being denied a clear run in the straight.[12] The unplaced runners included April the Fifth and Orwell. Udaipur returned to winning form to take the Newmarket Oaks over fourteen furlongs, but on her final appearance she ran poorly to finish fourth in the Atalanta Stakes at Sandown Park.[5]

Assessment and honours

Udaipur's earnings of £15,047 in 1932 made her the second biggest money winner in England behind Firdaussi, with Miracle, Myrobella, Orwell and April the Fifth filling the next four places on the list.[2]

In their book, A Century of Champions, based on the Timeform rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Udaipur an "inferior" winner of the Oaks.[7]

Breeding record

At the end of her racing career Udaipur was retired to become a broodmare for the Aga Khan's stud. Her offspring included the top-classperformers Umiddad, Naishapur and Dust Devil as well as the influential broodmares Clovelly and Sonibai. In total, she produced at least nine foals between 1934 and 1949.

Udaipur died in 1949 after producing her last foal.

Pedigree

Pedigree of Udaipur (GB), brown mare, 1929[1]
Sire
Blandford (IRE)
1919
Swynford (GB)
1907 
John O’Gaunt Isinglass
La Fleche
Canterbury Pilgrim Tristan
Pilgrimage
Blanche (IRE)
1912 
White Eagle (GB) Gallinule
Merry Gal
Black Cherry (GB) Bendigo
Black Duchess
Dam
Uganda (FR)
1921
Bridaine (FR)
1914
Gorgos (GB) Ladas
The Gorgon
Bitter Orange (GB) William the Third
Tragedy Queen (IRE)
Hush (GB)
1911
St Serf St Simon
Feronia
Silent Lady Cyllene
Miss Gunning (Family 3-e)[6]

References

  1. ^ a b "Udaipur pedigree". Equineline.
  2. ^ a b "England's Leading Sires". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Auckland Star. 13 January 1933.
  3. ^ a b "Change of Fortune". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Evening Post (New Zealand). 16 July 1932.
  4. ^ "Udaipur after winning the Oaks". Getty Images.
  5. ^ a b c d Mortimer, Roger; Onslow, Richard; Willett, Peter (1978). Biographical Encyclopedia of British Flat Racing. Macdonald and Jane’s. ISBN 0-354-08536-0.
  6. ^ a b c d "Quiver - Family 3-e". Thoroughbred Bloodlines.
  7. ^ a b c Morris, Tony; Randall, John (1999). A Century of Champions. Portway Press. ISBN 1-901570-15-0.
  8. ^ "English Racing". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Auckland Star. 4 June 1932.
  9. ^ a b Abelson, Edward; Tyrrel, John (1993). The Breedon Book of Horse Racing Records. Breedon Books Publishing. ISBN 978-1-873626-15-3.
  10. ^ "Aga Khan's Udaipur". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Evening Post. 26 July 1932.
  11. ^ "Racing News". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Evening Post. 12 October 1932.
  12. ^ "Aga Khan's Triumph". Evening Post. 1932-10-19. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  13. ^ "Dharampur pedigree". Equineline.