Solario

Solario
SireGainsborough
GrandsireBayardo
DamSun Worship
DamsireSundridge
SexStallion
Foaled1922
Died1945 (aged 22–23)
CountryIreland
ColourBay
Breeder4th Earl of Dunraven
OwnerSir John Rutherford
TrainerReginald Day
Record12: 6–1–2
Earnings£20,935
Major wins
Exeter Stakes (1924)
Ascot Derby (1925)
Princess of Wales's Stakes (1925)
St Leger Stakes (1925)
Ascot Gold Cup (1926)
Coronation Cup (1926)
Awards
Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland (1937)
Leading broodmare sire in Britain & Ireland
(1943, 1949 & 1950)
Honours
Solario Stakes at Sandown Park Racecourse
LNER Class A1 locomotive no. 4473

Solario (1922–1945) was a successful British Thoroughbred racehorse and influential sire.

Background

Bred in Ireland by the 4th Earl of Dunraven, he was by the 1918 English Triple Crown champion, Gainsborough. His dam Sun Worship, was a daughter of the outstanding sire Sundridge who was the Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland in 1911.[1]

Solario was sold as a yearling for the huge sum of 47,000 guineas to a British syndicate.[2] Sir John Rutherford employed Reginald Day to condition the colt for racing.

Racing career

At age two, Solario won the 1924 Exeter Stakes and was second to Picaroon in the Middle Park Stakes. As a three-year-old, he finished fourth in the first two British Classic Races then won the third, the St Leger Stakes. At Ascot Racecourse he won the 1925 Ascot Derby. At age four, Solario ran away from the field while winning the 1926 Coronation Cup by fifteen lengths then won the Ascot Gold Cup.

Stud career

Solario commenced stud duties at Newmarket at a fee of 500 guineas a mare.[2] In 1932 he was sold following the death of his owner, Sir John Rutherford. In his will, Rutherford left two pictures of Solario and the Coronation Cup he won to the Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery. Solario was sent to stand at Terrace House Stud (now Tattersalls' Park Paddocks in Newmarket, Suffolk). In 1937, he was the Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland when his son Mid-day Sun won The Derby and his daughter Exhibitionnist won the 1,000 Guineas Stakes and Epsom Oaks. Solario sired his second Epsom Derby winner when another son, Straight Deal, won the 1943 running.

Solario died at the age of 23 in 1945, having sired the winners of £270,000 in stakes.[2] He is buried at Tattersalls' Park Paddocks in Newmarket.

Selected notable offspring

Solario was the Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland in 1943, 1949 and 1950. Through his daughters, he was the damsire of:

Honours

In 1925 the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) began a tradition of naming locomotives after winning racehorses;[3][4] LNER Class A1 locomotive no. 4473 (later no. 104, British Railways no. 60104) was named Solario after this horse, and remained in service until December 1959.[5] Sandown Park Racecourse have a hospitality area known as the Solario Suite.[citation needed]

Pedigree

Pedigree of Solario (IRE), bay stallion, 1922
Sire
Gainsborough
1915
Bayardo
1906
Bay Ronald Hampton
Black Duchess
Galicia Galopin
Isoletta
Rosedrop
1907
St Frusquin St Simon
Isabel
Rosaline Trenton (NZ)
Rosalys
Dam
Sun Worship
1912
Sundridge
1898
Amphion Rosebery
Suicide
Sierra Springfield
Sanda
Doctrine
1899
Ayrshire Hampton
Atalanta
Axiom Peter
Electric Light (Family No. 26)

References

  1. ^ "Sundridge".
  2. ^ a b c Leicester, Sir Charles (1969). Bloodstock Breeding. London: J. A. Allen & Co. ISBN 9780851313498.
  3. ^ Boddy, M.G.; Fry, E.V.; Hennigan, W.; Proud, P.; Yeadon, W.B. (July 1963). Fry, E.V. (ed.). Locomotives of the L.N.E.R., part 1: Preliminary Survey. Potters Bar: Railway Correspondence & Travel Society. p. 50.
  4. ^ Nock, O.S. (1985). British Locomotives of the 20th Century: Volume 3 1960-the present day. London: Guild Publishing/Book Club Associates. pp. 70–71. CN9613.
  5. ^ Boddy, M.G.; Neve, E.; Yeadon, W.B. (April 1973). Fry, E.V. (ed.). Locomotives of the L.N.E.R., part 2A: Tender Engines - Classes A1 to A10. Kenilworth: Railway Correspondence & Travel Society. pp. 72–73, 218, fold-out sheet inside rear cover. ISBN 0-901115-25-8.