Cherimoya (4 May 1908 – 1927) was a Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1911 Epsom Oaks in the only start of her racing career. Cherimoya was bred and owned by South African mining magnate William Broderick Cloete, who was killed in 1915 during the sinking of Lusitania. Her most notable offspring were the fillies Sunny Moya and Una Cameron. Cherimoya was euthanised in 1927.
| Cherimoya | |
|---|---|
 Cherimoya in a 1911 photograph by William Albert Rouch. | |
| Sire | Cherry Tree |
| Grandsire | Hampton |
| Dam | Svelte |
| Damsire | St. Simon |
| Sex | Mare |
| Foaled | 4 May 1908 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Colour | Bay |
| Breeder | William Broderick Cloete |
| Owner | 1) William Broderick Cloete 2) Sir Thomas Dewar |
| Trainer | Charles Marsh |
| Record | 1:1-0-0 |
| Earnings | £4950 ($24,750)[1] |
| Major wins | |
| Epsom Oaks (1911) | |
Background
editCherimoya was bred by W. Broderick Cloete and was foaled on 4 May 1908[2] at his Hare Park estate near London.[3] Cloete was a South African mining entrepreneur[4] who had campaigned the 1885 2000 Guineas winner Paradox.[3] Cherimoya's sire, Cherry Tree, was bred by Cloete[5] and was sold as a yearling in 1892 to American turfman Marcus Daly for 4,000 guineas;[6] Daly relocated him to his Bitterroot Stud in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. He was named Matt Byrnes (after a noted horse trainer) in the United States[7] and raced with some success. Cloete repurchased the horse from Daly for $25,000 in October 1897[8] and renamed him Cherry Tree. Cherimoya's dam, Svelte, was also bred by Cloete and was not a successful racehorse. She was exclusively bred to Cherry Tree whilst owned by Cloete, producing five full-siblings to Cherimoya.[9]
Cherimoya was a described by The Sydney Morning Herald as a "fine, substantial, big boned filly."[6]
Racing career
editRacing for Broderick Cloete, Cherimoya won The Oaks in the only official start of her racing career.[10] Cloete's racing colours were a crimson shirt with black and white sleeves and a black cap.[11] Cherimoya was trained by Charles Marsh at Newmarket[12] and was a promising racehorse in her two-year-old trials. A few days before her anticipated first start at Sandown in the National Breeders' Produce Stakes, Cherimoya cut one of her fetlock joints after an exercise session when she was startled by a bird and fell over "a heap of stones" used for mending a nearby road.[4] The injury prevented Cherimoya from competing the rest of the season and she was sidelined until her start in the Oaks.[4]
1911 Epsom Oaks
edit
On 2 June, Cherimoya started in the Oaks Stakes in a field of 21 horses. Cherimoya held a good position from the start of the race, taking the lead a quarter of a mile from the finish and winning easily by three lengths over the betting favourite Tootles.[6] Cherimoya was an unanticipated winner, factoring at 20 to 1 odds in the betting pools, and her win reportedly left "the spectators too dumbfounded to cheer."[6] She was ridden by a 16-year-old apprentice jockey named Fred Winter, later a successful horse trainer and the father of champion jockey and trainer Fred Winter.[13]
Cherimoya was entered in the St. James Stakes at Kempton Park held in August, but did not run in the race.[14] The Times speculated that her absence was "in consequence of the hard ground" at the racecourse.[15] The filly was withdrawn from further racing engagements in October 1911 due to trouble from "contracted feet."[16] Cherimoya returned to training as a four-year-old, but injury again prevented her from running in the Coronation Stakes and Cesarewich Stakes. Cherimoya never raced again and was retired to Cloete's stud at Hare Park in 1913.
Stud career
editCherimoya was retired in 1913 to Broderick Cloete's stud at Hare Park. Cloete was killed on 7 May 1915 while en route from Mexico to England during the attack and sinking of RMS Lusitania.[3] After the death of Cloete, Cherimoya was sold for $11,500 in 1915 to Sir Thomas Dewar. The proprietors of the Wickliffe Stud, American turfmen James C. Corrigan and Price McKinney, were interested in purchasing Cherimoya but their bid via cablegram for the mare was delayed.[17] By 1918, Cherimoya had been relocated to J.B. Joel's Childwickbury Stud[10] in St. Albans, Hertfordshire. Cherimoya was euthanised in October 1927.[18]
Cherimoya's most notable offspring were the fillies Sunny Moya (foaled in 1917 by Sunstar) and Una Cameron (foaled in 1922 by Gainsborough). Sunny Moya was a dam of the colts The Mac Nab and Sunny Trace. Una Cameron was the dam of the Epsom Derby winner Cameronian.[19]
Pedigree
edit| Sire Cherry Tree (GB) Bay, 1891 |
Hampton 1872 |
Lord Clifden | Newminster |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Slave | |||
| Lady Langden | Kettledrum | ||
| Haricot | |||
| Cherry 1881 |
Sterling | Oxford | |
| Whisper | |||
| Cherry Duchess | The Duke | ||
| Mirella | |||
| Dam Svelte (GB) Bay, 1899 |
St. Simon 1881 |
Galopin | Vedette |
| Flying Duchess | |||
| St. Angela | King Tom | ||
| Adeline | |||
| Fine Lady 1890 |
Isonomy | Sterling | |
| Isola Bella | |||
| Sonsie Queen | Musket | ||
| Highland Lassie |
References
edit- ^ Staff (26 November 1911). "Late flat racing in England". Daily Racing Form. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ Staff (12 March 1919). "Foaling dates of famous horses". Daily Racing Form. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ a b c Staff (29 May 1915). "Noted turfman a Lusitania victim". Daily Racing Form. Retrieved 14 April 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c Watson, Alfred E.T. (1911). "The colours". The Badminton Magazine of Sports and Pastimes. 33: 132. hdl:2027/njp.32101063608861.
- ^ Weatherby (1893). "Cherry". General Stud Book. 17: 110. hdl:2027/nyp.33433082331673.
- ^ a b c d Staff (12 July 1911). "The turf: English Oaks". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ Merry, Thomas B. (1905). The American Thoroughbred. Los Angeles: Commercial Printing House. p. 93.
- ^ Staff (29 October 1897). "Notes of the Turf". Daily Racing Form. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
- ^ Weatherby (1909). "Svelte". General Stud Book. 21: 795. hdl:2027/coo.31924066667258.
- ^ a b Phillippos (April 12, 1919). "Turf stud and stable". Country Life. 45: 418. hdl:2027/mdp.39015050566911.
- ^ Watson, Alfred E.T. (1911). "The colours". The Badminton Magazine of Sports and Pastimes. 33: 119. hdl:2027/njp.32101063608861.
- ^ Staff (28 December 1914). "Jumping prospects in England". Daily Racing Form. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ Wilson, Julian (5 April 2004). "Fred Winter". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
- ^ Watson, Alfred E.T. (1911). "The colours". The Badminton Magazine of Sports and Pastimes. 33: 133. hdl:2027/njp.32101063608861.
- ^ Staff (9 August 1911). "Racing. The Kempton Park Second Summer Meeting, Tuesday". The Times.
- ^ Staff (1 November 1911). "Supposed champion beaten by 100 to 1 shot in England". Daily Racing Form. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ Staff (26 April 1919). "Current notes of the turf". Daily Racing Form. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ Staff (30 April 1931). "The Two Thousand, Lord Dewar's success". Evening Post. CXI (100).
- ^ Erigero, Patricia. "Sterling". Thoroughbred Heritage. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
- ^ Staff. "Cherimoya 5x Pedigree". Equineline. Retrieved 13 April 2012.