Top Ten Turf Females Twentieth Century
#5
Estrapade
(1983 - 1986)
Estrapade. With Fernando Toro riding, won the 1986 G1 Oak Tree Invitational over future (1987) Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Theatrical. In her next start she finished third to Manila and Theatrical in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
Photo: Four Footed Fotos.
PEDIGREE
Ch F
OWNER
A.E. Paulson
TRAINER
C. Whittingham
BREEDER
N.B. Hunt
Some Facts
- Estrapade was born in 1980 in Kentucky and was bred by Texas oil executive Nelson Bunker Hunt, who won the Eclipse Award for outstanding breeder in 1976, 1985, and 1987. She was sired by Chef de Race Vaguely Noble (1965 by Vienna), who won six of nine starts, including the 1968 Arc de la Triomphe over Sir Ivor and Carmarthen. Vaguely Noble retired with a Timeform Rating of 140 and was the leading sire in Britain in 1973 and 1974 and leading broodmare sire in 1982. In his career at stud, he sired seventy graded stake winners, including Dahlia, Exceller, and the 1976 Epsom Derby winner Empery. He is also the broodmare sire of 165 stake winners.
- Estrapade was out of the No Robbery mare, Klepto, which in 1974 won the Correction and Bed o’ Roses Handicaps. Klepto is considered a Reine-de-Course mare, having also foaled six-time Italian stakes winner Isopach (1977 by Reviewer) and the 1990 American Horse of the Year, Criminal Type (1985 by Alydar).
- Estrapade was leased from Nelson Bunker Hunt by Bruce McNall while still a yearling and raced under the colors of his Summa Stable. Trained by Maurice Zilber, she made her first nine career starts in 1983 and 1984 in France, where her most important win was in the group three La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte over Palace Music and Bob Back. Her final start in France was in the 1984 Arc de la Triomphe, in which she finished fifteenth to Sagace.
- Estrapade was shipped to America to complete her four-year-old campaign and finished third in her first start in the G1 Yellow Ribbon Invitational to Sabine. Charlie Whittingham then took over her training duties.
- In 1985, Estrapade made eleven starts and finished with a 5-2-1 record and earnings of $601,800. Among her victories were the G1 Santa Ana Handicap over Fact Finder, the G1 Gamely Handicap over Johnica, and the G1 Yellow Ribbon Handicap over Alydar’s Best. She also won the G2 Las Palmas Handicap over Attrayante and finished second in both the G1 San Juan Capistrano Handicap to Prince True and the G1 Beverly Hills Handicap by a nose to Johnica, a filly that she defeated twice that year.
- After her final start in 1985, a fourth-place finish to Fact Finder in the G1 Matriarch Invitational, Estrapade was sold to Allen Paulson, who operated breeding farms in Kentucky, Florida, and California. Mr. Paulson gained fame in American horse racing as the owner of the great Cigar. His racing stable would eventually win a record eight Breeders’ Cup races and set a record for Breeders’ Cup earnings. He also won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Owner in 1995 and 1996, and in 1993 was the Outstanding Breeder.
- Estrapade’s final year of racing was in 1986. The then six-year-old mare made nine starts and had a 3-2-2 record with earnings of $1,184,800. Her wins were in the G2 Beverly Hills Handicap over Treizieme, the G1 Arlington Million by five lengths over Indulge, and the Oak Tree Invitational over Theatrical, which would finish second to Manila in the Breeders’ Cup Turf and would win that race in 1987.
- Estrapade finished a close third in the 1986 Breeders’ Cup Turf behind Manila and Theatrical. When she finished sixth to Theatrical in the G1 Hollywood Turf Cup Invitational a month later, she was retired.
- Estrapade was a disappointment as a broodmare. She had six foals, with her only stakes winner being Rice, a gelded son of Blushing John, which won the 1998 Meadowlands Endurance Stakes.
- Estrapade was voted Female Turf Champion in 1986. She is the only filly or mare to have won the Arlington Million. She died on February 25, 2005, of a heart attack and was buried at Hurstland Farm in Midway, Kentucky.
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