Nijinsky II
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The racehorse Nijinsky II (named after the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky) was a son of Northern Dancer and Flaming Page and a grandson of Nearco. He was born in 1967 and died in 1992.
One of the greatest in thoroughbred horse-racing history, this imposing, muscular horse with anything but a gentle nature was bred at E. P. Taylor's famous Windfields Farm in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. He was then bought at the Windfields Farm's annual yearling auction for $84,000 by American minerals industrialist Charles W. Engelhard, Jr. (1917-1971) on whom the James Bond character "Goldfinger"—from the film of the same name—was based, and his wife Jane Engelhard (1917-2004).
Shipped to Ireland, where he was trained by Vincent O'Brien in Ballydoyle, County Tipperary, Nijinsky II became champion two-year-old of both England and Ireland in 1969. The next year, after winning the Two Thousand Guineas Stakes, the Epsom Derby and the Irish Derby, Nijinsky II then defeated an illustrious field of older horses at Ascot in the mile and a-half King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes. These victories revealed Nijinsky II and regular jockey Lester Piggott as perhaps the most formidable horse and jockey combination ever seen on a racecourse.
Despite a subsequent attack of ringworm, he then went on to win the Doncaster St. Leger over one mile and six furlongs, thereby becoming the first horse since Bahram 35 years earlier to complete the English Triple Crown. In his next race, Nijinsky II ran in the world-famous Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, in Paris, France, where he was sensationally beaten a short head by Sassafrás. Many attribute his defeat to an unusually sloppy performance from Piggott, who gave the horse far too much ground to make up in a race not long after his exertions in the St Leger over a longer distance. In his final race, the Champion Stakes, he again finished second, this time to Lorenzaccio. This defeat, while partly attributable to the horse becoming too excited and sweating in the warm-up, confirmed that Nijinsky was past his brilliant peak, and he was immediately retired to stud in Kentucky where he became a successful stallion.
In the course of his brilliant racing career, he smashed the European earnings record. He was subsequently syndicated for a world record sum. His unfortunate Longchamp defeat took the gloss off a career that many still regard as the greatest ever in terms of brilliance. He also travelled widely, something that can be overlooked when comparing him to other great horses. The staff at O'Brien's stable regarded Nijinsky II as they greatest of all the champions they had looked after.
The much-loved Nijinsky II team also managed to collect the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award in this year. In a poll in 2000, readers of the UK newspaper The Sun newspaper voted Nijinsky II their horse of the millennium.
His brilliance lives on in his descendants, who include 1995 Epsom Derby winner Lammtarra.
| Pedigree of Nijinsky II | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sire Northern Dancer | Nearctic | Nearco | Pharos |
| Nogara | |||
| Lady Angela | Hyperion | ||
| Sister Sarah | |||
| Natalma | Native Dancer | Polynesian | |
| Geisha | |||
| Almahmoud | Mahmoud | ||
| Arbitrator | |||
| Dam Flaming Page | Bull Page | Bull Lea | Bull Dog |
| Rose Leaves | |||
| Our Page | Blue Larkspur | ||
| Occult | |||
| Flaring Top | Menow | Pharamoud | |
| Alcibiades | |||
| Flaming Top | Omaha | ||
| Firetop | |||
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