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Top Ten Turf Females Twentieth Century

#1

Miesque

(1986 - 1988)

Miesque, at Hollywood Park, winning her first of two consecutive Breeders’ Cup Turf Miles with Freddie Head riding. Those were the Kentucky-bred filly’s only two starts in North America.

Photo: Hollywood Park

PEDIGREE

Bay F

OWNER

Stavros Niarchos

TRAINER

Frabcois Boutin

BREEDER

Flaxman Holdings

Some Facts

Miesque was born on March 14, 1984. She was bred by Flaxman Holdings Ltd., which was near Lexington, Kentucky, and was part of the international racing operation of Greek shipping billionaire Stavros Niarchos. A daughter of the great Northern Dancer Chef de Race sire Nureyev, she represented France with twelve of her sixteen starts run in that country, followed by two in England and two, the 1987 and 1988 Breeders’ Cup Turf Miles, in the United States.
Miesque’s sire was American-bred Nureyev, who was by the great Northern Dancer and out of the Forli mare, Special. Nureyev was a half bother to the mare Fairy Bridge (by Bold Reason), the dam of multiple stakes winner and Chef de Race Saddler’s Wells. One of the greatest sires of all time, Saddler’s Wells sired 323 stakes winners, including twelve English champions, one of which was Galileo, the sire of Frankel.
Nureyev was bred at Clairborne Farm and was purchased for 1.3 million by Stavros Niarchos, at the time the second-highest price ever paid for a yearling. On the race track, he won two of his three races in France and England with his lone loss coming in the 2000 Guineas, a race in which he finished first by a neck only to be disqualified and placed last. After that, Nureyev contracted a virus and was eventually retired to stud. A brilliant Chef de Race who sired 137 stakes winners and over twenty champions, his progeny included Theatrical, Skimming, Spinning World, Good Journey, Zilzal, etc.
Miesque’s dam was American-bred, but French raced Pasadoble, a daughter of dirt specialist Prove Out (by Graustark), who defeated Secretariat and Cougar II in the 1973 Woodward Stakes and followed that up with a victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Bred in Kentucky by Mr. and Mrs. Don Manning, Pasadoble was foaled by the unraced French-bred mare Santa Quilla, a daughter of French stakes winner Sanctus. Pasadoble was a half-to-stakes winning Silver Supreme (by Al Hattab), which in 1982 won the G1 Brooklyn Handicap and the G3 Massachusetts Handicap, as well as finishing second in the G1 Marlboro Cup to Lemhi Gold and the G1 Woodward Stakes to Highland Fling.
In her racing career, Pasadoble won three stakes in France, all at one mile and all against fillies: the Prix de Lieurey, Prix de Liancourt, and the Prix de la Colonne.
Miesque won nine of the thirteen grade one/group one races she contested in her three-year career with three seconds and one third-place finish. She faced males eleven times, including in her final eight races, and had an 8-2-1 record with seven of those victories in grade one/group one races.
Miesque raced in fillies only races five times during her career and lost only once to them when she finished second in the group one Prix de Diane (French Oaks) to champion Indian Skimmer, a route specialist who won the 1 5/16-mile race, a distance that was simply too far for Miesque.
Miesque raced twice in England, winning the 1987 1000 Guineas by 1 ½ lengths over major group one winner Milligram, her second victory over this three-year-old filly as she had previously won the French Prix Marcel Boussac when they were two. Milligram turned the tables on Miesque in their second meeting in England that year when the daughter of Mill Reef won the group one eight-furlong Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, which was open to colts, over a boggy course in a time of 1:40. Steve Cauthen rode the magnificent filly that day, the only time in her sixteen-race career that Freddy Head did not have the mount.
Miesque was only the second filly to win both the Group One 1000 Guineas (first run in 1813) and the Group One 1000 French Guineas (first run in 1883).
Miesque’s two races in America were in the 1987 and 1988 Breeders’ Cup Turf Mile, and in each race, she displayed her tremendous ability and showed why she was considered one of the greatest milers in the world with a Timeform rating of 133. In her first Breeders’ Cup race, she stalked the early pace while sitting comfortably in third place, then swooped past 31-1 shot Show Dancer on her way to a 3 ½ length victory in 1:32 4/5 as the 7-2 second favorite. The 5-2 favorite, Sheikh Mohammad’s Sonic Lady, another American-bred daughter of Nureyev, who, like Miesque, was also imported to France and was the three-year-old champion in both France and Ireland in 1983, came from well back to finish third. Miesque’s time over the revamped Hollywood Park turf course was a record even though it was one-fifth of a second slower than Royal Heroine’s Hollywood Park time of 1:32 3/5 set on the old Hollywood Park turf course in the inaugural Breeders’ Cup mile in 1984.
Miesque returned to the Breeders’ Cup Turf in 1988 at Churchill Downs. In a race run on a course rated good, she was an easy four-length winner over another good miler, English-bred, but American raced multiple grade one winner and future champion Steinlen, in 1:38 3/5. This was her final career race.
Miesque was voted multiple titles: American Champion Female Turf Horse in 1987 and 1988, French Champion Two-Year-Old Filly in 1986, French and English Champion Three-Year-Old Filly in 1987, French and English Champion Miler in 1987, and French Champion Older Female Horse in 1988. She was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1999.
Shortly after her retirement in 1988, Miesque entered Mr. Niarchos’ stud farm in Kentucky and produced fifteen foals. She is considered a Reine-de-Course mare with her most famous offspring the highly successful racehorse and stallion King Mambo (1990 by Mr. Prospector), who won several group one races in Europe and produced many millionaire winners in both Japan and the United States, chief among them American horses Lemon Drop Kid and Student Council, etc. Miesque also produced King Mambo’s full brother, Miesque’s Son, which won the French group three Prix de Ris-Organis and sired Miesque’s Approval, which won the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Turf Mile and was voted the 2006 Eclipse Award for outstanding Male Turf Horse.
Miesque died on January 20, 2011, at Lane’s End Farm at twenty-seven.