Pinza

Pinza (1950–1977) was a Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career which

Pinza
lasted just over a year– from July 1952 until July 1953– he ran seven times and
won five races. He was the best British colt of his generation in 1953, when he Sire Chanteur
won The Derby and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. He was Grandsire Chateau Bouscaut
then retired to stud, where he had little success. Dam Pasqua
Damsire Donatello
Sex Stallion
Contents Foaled 1950
Background Country Great Britain
Racing career
Colour Bay
1952: two-year-old season
1953: three-year-old season Breeder Fred Darling
Stud record Owner Victor Sassoon
Assessment and Honours Trainer Norman Bertie
Pedigree Record 7:5-1-0
References
Earnings ₤47,401[1]
External links
Major wins
Dewhurst Stakes (1952)
Background Newmarket Stakes (1953)
Epsom Derby (1953)
Pinza a massive bay colt standing over 16 hands was sired by Chanteur out of K. George VI & Q. Elizabeth Stakes
the mare Pasqua. He was officially bred by the notable trainer Fred Darling, but (1953)
the mating which produced Pinza was actually arranged by Pasqua's previous
Honours
owner, Mrs H. E. Morriss, who sent the mare in foal to the Newmarket sales in
December 1949. Darling was impressed by Pasqua's pedigree and bought her for Deltic locomotive 55007 was named
2,000 guineas, acting through a representative as he was out of the country at the Pinza
time. When Darling saw Pasqua, he was not impressed and sold her at a loss,[2] Last updated on April 7, 2008
but not before she had produced the colt foal who was later named Pinza. As a
yearling, the colt was sent to the Newmarket Sales where he was bought for 1,500 guineas by the businessman and hotelier Sir
Victor Sassoon. Sassoon named the colt after the Ezio Pinza after seeing the singer performing in South Pacific on Broadway.[3]

Chanteur (also known as Chanteur II) was a high class stayer who won the Coronation Cup and ran third in the Prix de l'Arc de
Triomphe. He was a success at stud, siring the classic winners Cantelo (St Leger) and Only for Life (2000 Guineas). Apart from
Pinza, Pasqua produced only one minor winner.

Pinza was sent into training with Norman Bertie at Newmarket, Suffolk.

Racing career

1952: two-year-old season

Pinza made his debut in a maiden race at Hurst Park in July, in which he showed some promise but finished unplaced. He
reappeared two months later in a race at the Doncaster St Leger meeting which was restricted to horses sold at the Newmarket
Sales, and he won by six lengths. Two weeks later, he was sent to Ascot for the Royal Lodge Stakes and started 2/5 favourite
against three opponents. He finished second to the filly Neemah, having been apparently unsuited by the slow pace.[2]

On his final start of the season at Newmarket in October, Pinza won the Dewhurst Stakes by seven lengths. He was given a rating
of 128 pounds in the Free Handicap, a ranking of the year's best two-year-olds, five pounds below the top-weight Nearula.[2]

1953: three-year-old season

In early 1953, Pinza fell on a gravel path in training. Although the initial injuries sustained were minor, he picked up a leg
infection which took a long time to heal so that it was not possible to train him for the 2000 Guineas.[4]

The colt made his first appearance of the year in the Newmarket Stakes in May. He looked to be very big (lacking fitness) before
the race but recorded a four length win. As a result of his performance, the bookmakers cut his odds for the Derby from 33/1 to
8/1.[2]

At Epsom, Pinza started 5/1 joint favourite with Premonition in a field of twenty-seven, with the Queen's colt Aureole also
strongly fancied.[5] The race attracted a huge crowd, including the Queen (in her coronation year) and the Queen Mother. Ridden
by the twenty-five times Champion Jockey Gordon Richards, Pinza took the lead early in the straight and went clear inside the
last two furlongs to win by four lengths from the Queen's runner, Aureole.[3] Pinza was a popular Derby winner, not only because
he was one of the most fancied contenders, but also because he enabled the recently knighted Richards[1] to win the race after 27
previous failures.[6] Richards had already announced that he would retire at the end of the season and that the 1953 Derby would
be his final one.[7]

In his next race, Pinza ran against older horses in the third running of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot,
starting the 2/1 favourite in a field of thirteen which included the winners of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Nuccio) and the
Washington, D.C. International Stakes (Worden). He produced what was described as a "brilliant burst of speed"[8] to win by
three lengths, again beating Aureole, with Worden third. Pinza was being prepared for a run in the St Leger when he sustained a
tendon injury in training.[9] He was unable to race again and was retired to stud at a valuation on £220,000.[10]

Stud record
Pinza was not a particularly successful stallion, but he did sire the winners of 218 races, worth ₤173,844,[1] including Pindari,[11]
winner of the King Edward VII Stakes and ₤18,456.[1] He died in 1977.

Assessment and Honours

In their book A Century of Champions, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Pinza a “great” Derby winner and the fifteenth best
British racehorse of the 20th Century.[12]

Timeform assessed Pinza at 137, making him the highest-rated European horse of 1953.[13][14]

Following the London & North Eastern Railway tradition of naming locomotives after winning racehorses,[15] the English
Electric 'Deltic' diesel locomotive, no. D9007 (55007) was named after the horse on 22 June 1961 and remained in service until
31 December 1981.[16]

Pedigree
 Pedigree of Pinza (GB), bay stallion, 1950[17]
Captivation
Kircubbin
Chateau Bouscaut Avon Hack
1927 Neil Gow
Ramondie
Sire La Rille
Chanteur (FRA)
1942 Blandford*
Blue Skies
La Diva Blue Pill
1937 Alcantara
La Traviata
Tregaron
Blandford*
Blenheim
Donatello Malva
1934 Clarissimus
Delleana
Dam Duccia di Buoninsegna
Pasqua (GB)
1939 Phalaris
Manna
Pasca Waffles
1928 Lemberg
Soubriquet
Silver Fowl (Family: 3)

Pinza was inbred 4 × 4 to Blandford. This means that the stallion appears twice in the fourth generation of his
pedigree.

References
1. Ahnert, Rainer L. (editor in chief), Thoroughbred Breeding of the World, Pozdun Publishing, Germany, 1970
2. Mortimer, Roger; Onslow, Richard; Willett, Peter (1978). Biographical Encyclopedia of British Flat Racing.
Macdonald and Jane’s. ISBN 0-354-08536-0.
3. "Record crowd cheers Pinza" (https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19530608&id=GX8tAAAAIB
AJ&sjid=DpkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7320,1488358). Montreal Gazette. 1953-06-08. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
4. Other Sports (3 June 2003). "1953: A golden year for sport" (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/24052
84/1953-A-golden-year-for-sport.html). London: Telegraph. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
5. "Pinza preferred to Aureole" (https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bEZAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=woQMAAAAIBAJ&
pg=5336,2718483&dq=pinza&hl=en). Glasgow Herald. 6 June 1953. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
6. Byles, Alex. "The Will to Win: Sir Gordon Richards" (http://www.oakengates.com/history/gordonrichards.htm).
Oakengates History. Wellington: Partnership Publishing. Retrieved 8 January 2008.
7. "Two popular Derby choices" (https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aEZAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=woQMAAAAIBAJ
&pg=1831,3116494&dq=pinza&hl=en). Glasgow Herald. 3 June 1953. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
8. "Pinza captures big English race" (https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9yYjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NE8DAAAAIB
AJ&pg=6218,1391999&dq=pinza+ascot&hl=en). St. Petersburg Times. 19 July 1953. Retrieved 16 December
2011.
9. "Queen's horse favourite" (https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=u1g5AAAAIBAJ&sjid=UCkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=
2536,171127&dq=pinza+tendon&hl=en). Daily Mirror. 3 September 1953. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
10. "Pinza the Great" (https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0IdhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=p0oMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5411,395
5391&dq=pinza+ascot&hl=en). Evening Times. 29 May 1965. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
11. "Pindari Thoroughbred" (http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/pindari). Pedigree Online All Breed Database.
Carlsbad, CA: AllBreedPedigrees.com. Retrieved 8 January 2008.
12. Morris, Tony; Randall, John (1999). A Century of Champions. Portway Press. ISBN 1-901570-15-0.
13. Morris, Tony; Randall, John (1990). Horse Racing: Records, Facts, Champions(Third Edition). Guinness
Publishing. ISBN 0-85112-902-1.
14. "Dosage" (https://web.archive.org/web/20120522080411/http://www.chef-de-race.com/articles/timeform_highweig
hts.htm). Chef-de-race.com. Archived from the original (http://www.chef-de-race.com/articles/timeform_highweigh
ts.htm) on 2012-05-22. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
15. 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.
16. "Names" (http://www.thedps.co.uk/staticpages/index.php?page=names). The Deltic Preservation Society Online.
Chesterfield: The Deltic Preservation Society Limited. 20 January 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2010. "The horse
itself was the winner of the 1953 Derby"
17. "English Derby Winner: Pinza" (http://www.chef-de-race.com/classic_winners/english_derby/pinza.htm). Chef-de-
race.com. Retrieved 2011-12-16.

The Complete Encyclopedia of Horse Racing Bill Mooney and George Ennor 2006 ISBN 978-1-84442-117-6

External links
Footage of Pinza winning the 1953 Derby (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODp1cf4RdCA)
Pinza's pedigree and racing stats (http://pedigreequery.com/pinza)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pinza&oldid=900051742"

This page was last edited on 3 June 2019, at 03:20 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using
this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.