Death Of Famous Sire, Hyperion

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29385, 12 December 1960, Page 4

Death Of Famous Sire, Hyperion

Hyperion, the famous sire, is dead, says a cable from London. He was put down at Newmarket on Friday at the age of 30. He won the Derby and St. Leger in 1933' and his offspring have won more than 700 races.

Hyperion was by Gainsborough out of Selene. He headed the list of winning sires six times between 1940 and 1954, and in Britain alone his produce won races worth £564.854. Lord Derby, for whose family Hyperion collected something like 400.000gns in fees while he was at stud, has promised eventually to preserve his body at the headquarters of the Equine Research Trust at Newmarket. Hyperion ran 13 times, winning twice and dead-heating once in five starts as a two-year-old: being unbeaten in four races as a three-year-old, including the Derby and St. Leger, and winning two of his four races at four years. He was placed three times including the Ascot Gold Cup, was unplaced. only once. He won £29,509 in stake money. Hyperion looked unpromising at birth. The stable lads acidly dubbed him “The Donkey” because of his squat legs. Trainer' George Lambton never dreamed he would win. a Derby, and jockey Tommy Weston, who rode Hyperion in all his work and races, grew fond of him, but called him “the laziest little rasz cal imaginable.” But in spite of those short legs and detached attitude to racing, Hyperion, unplaced in his first race, eventually beat the field in two two-year-old events.

The shock that pitch-forked Hyperion to horse stardom was a whack on his rump during his first race as a three-year-old at Chester. He was ambling amiably along, enjoying the outing and taking no interest whatsoever in the race when the exasperated Tommy Weston hit him. Left Rivals Standing Hyperion, roused from his daze, tore through the field into the lead, left his rivals standing, and won the race comfortably. Tommy Weston was as astonished as anyone. He had “found” Hyperion and made up his mind to win the Derby with him the same year—which he did, by such a magnificent margin that experts still argued whether it was four or six lengths. Two years later, Hyperion was retired from racing and went to the famous Stanley House stud farm. His stud fee was 400gn«, but there was no shortage of breeders willing to pay that price. The best mares in the land were sent to him. One was flown from the United States. Right from his first crop, he sired numerous winners and now his influence has stretched to all the corners of the racing worldThree of his sons, Ruthless, Red Mars, and Neptune, have had a marked influence on thorough-

bred breeding in New Zealand, and he had spectacular success in the United States through his sons, Alibhai, Heliopolis, and Khaled. Well Clear Hyperion topped the list of winning sires in 1940 when 17 sons and daughters won 21 races amongst them and netted almost twice as much as the offspring of the next sire in the stable. The One Thousand Guineas that year gave him his first classic winner by the success of Godiva from another Hyperion filly. Golden Penny. Godiva went on to win the Oaks. The next season gave Hyperion more classic successes when Owen Tudor won the substitute Derby at Newmarket, and Sun Castle the St. Leger at Manchester. Hyperion was again champion sire that year, which was the season when Sun Chariot was introduced as a two-year-old to racing. She ran four times and was unbeaten that season. As a three-year-old this daughter of Hyperion was to earn undying fame as the winner of the war-time Guineas, Oaks, and St. Leger. In the next five seasons the Hyperion classic story continued, with Hycilla and Sun Streahi winning the Oaks and Hypericum and Sun Stream the One Thousand Guineas. Hyperion had eight horses, placed in the classics in those years. From 1949 to 1955. 17 horses with Hyperion in their pedigree were placed in 20 classics in England, but the only winner was Alycidon’s daughter. Meld, which won the One Thousand Guineas, Oaks, and St. Leger in 1955. Probably Hyperion's best son was Aureole. As a four-year-old he won the semi-classic, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, after having been placed in both the Derby and St. Leger Aureole is the sire of St. Paddy the Derby and St. Leger winner this year. Little Hyperion also sired hurdle race and steeplechase winners. One of his grandsons, Sundew, won the Grand National, this jumper being sired by Sun King, which was at the Inglewood Stud at Kaiapoi for some years before he was sold to Australia. Hyperion, the erstwhile “donkey.” passed on his looks to many of his foals. These included “four white socks.” said to be unlucky until Hyperion romped away from his Derby rivals. When fully grown he stood only 15 hands one inch high, just one vital inch above the pony-racing class. No-one knows how he found the stride to win those desaics.