National Colour, running in the colours of Chris van Niekerk, is caught late by Borderlescott in the 2008 Gr 1 Nunthorpe Stakes
The Gr 1 Nunthorpe Stakes will be run on Friday over a flat five furlongs at York, a course and distance that would have been ideal for the lightning quick Sean Tarry-trained filly National Colour back in 2008, but, alas, heavy rain flooded the course that year and the race had to be diverted to the Newmarket July course, which has a tough uphill climb to the finish in the closing stages.
A South African-bred horse has never won a Gr 1 in Europe before and National Colour might have been the one who has had the best credentials to do so, but fortune did not favour the Advocate Altus Joubert-bred grey daughter of National Assembly.
National Colour ultimately finished second in the Nunthorpe, caught late by the outsider Borderlescott, leaving knowledgeable fans wondering what might have been had the race been staged at its traditional venue of York.
Some also wondered whether she was quite as a good as a six-year-old, following knee surgery and a year long layoff, as she had been as a younger horse in which she had tremendous gatespeed and would blitz through five or six furlongs in devastating style, never showing any sign of stopping.
More bad luck was to follow for National Colour, who had won three Gr 1s in succession in South Africa as a three-year-old before departing for overseas, in her career swansong in the Gr 1 Prix de l’Abbaye over an ideal flat five furlongs at Longchamp. The race turned into a farce due to a false start call which some jockeys heard and others didn’t.
Nevertheless, National Colour’s second in the 2008 Nunthorpe would become an important result for South African breeding because National Colour became an influential broodmare whose Ridgemont-based Australian-bred son Rafeef is today one of the top sires in the country.
At the same 2008 Newmarket Tote Ebor meeting Duke Of Marmalade won the Gr 1 Juddmonte International and stamped himself as the best horse in the world as it was his fifth European Gr 1 victory in succession in that famous season, the first on April 27 and the last on August 23, although he subsequently finished unplaced in both the Arc and the Breeders Cup Classic.
Duke Of Marmalade of course went on to stand at Drakenstein Stud, where he had plenty of success.
The below article was written a couple of days after National Colour’s gallant effort in the Nunthorpe under Kevin Shea:
Sean Tarry said after National Colour’s fine second in the Group I Nunthorpe Stakes over five furlongs (1000m) run at the Newmarket July course on Friday that he and jockey Kevin Shea had been quite confident beforehand when they saw the fast conditions and the tailwind.
The flying grey five-year-old mare was known for her excellent gate speed and blistering early pace in her days in South Africa where she won three Grade 1 races.
In Friday’s race the course record was broken by over a second and the first seven horses home finished inside the previous record time.
The winner was the 12-1 shot Borderlescott, a six-year-old gelding by Compton Place.
National Colour, who is by the very successful South African stallion National Assembly, came within 0,5 lengths of becoming the first South African-bred horse to win a Group I race in Europe.
In the stands Tarry et al thought that she would do it when she was clear with a furlong to go. However Borderlescott ran on very strongly and caught her coming up the steep climb towards the finish, giving both trainer Robin Bastiman and jockey Pat Cosgrave the first Grade I wins of their respective careers.
Kevin Shea quipped afterwards that it was the fastest he had ever been in his life.
National Colour was affectionately known in South Africa as the “flying grey filly”, a name she probably inherited from the original “flying filly”, a famous British-bred called Mumtaz Mahal, who appears seven times in her pedigree and whom she resembles quite closely.
Ironically Mumtaz Mahal won the Nunthorpe in 1924.
National Colour had knee surgery after a race in Dubai in March last year and this was her second run after a rest of over a year.
Tarry said yesterday, “She ran a great race and we have no excuses. We are a bit disappointed that she beat all the fancied horses but was caught by an outsider. The hill at Newmarket did find her out. We had planned the race for the flat track at York and had the race taken place there it might have been a different story. But it was a good field and she has now proven herself at the highest level so hopefully we can move forward from here. We will now go for the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp on Arc day. That is a flat course but obviously the going on the day might not be as fast. She is a filly who has her issues but she’s come out of the race as well as we could have expected.”
The Nunthorpe is traditionally run at York but after heavy rain virtually flooded the course during the week the Group 1 and Group 2 races were rescheduled to other racecourses around the country.
One of the premier events of the York meeting, the Group I Juddmonte International Stakes over one mile and two furlongs (2000m), was run yesterday on the Newmarket July course and saw the Aiden O’Brien-trained Duke Of Marmalade, a four-year-old colt by Danehill, stamp himself as the best turf racehorse in the world. It was his fifth Group I victory in succession and he easily repelled the challenge of 12-1 shot Phoenix Tower with Epsom Derby winner, New Approach, in third.
