Indian Ridge
SireAhonoora
GrandsireLorenzaccio
DamHillbrow
DamsireSwing Easy
SexStallion
Foaled22 March 1985[1]
CountryIreland
ColourChestnut
BreederBill and Averil Whitehead
OwnerAnne Coughlan
TrainerDavid Elsworth
Record11: 5-2-0
Major wins
Jersey Stakes (1988)
Duke of York Stakes (1989)
King's Stand Stakes (1989)

Indian Ridge (22 March 1985 – 17 October 2006) was an Irish-bred British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He showed promising but unexceptional form as a two-year-old in 1987 when he won twice from four starts in minor races. He established himself as a high-class performer by winning the Jersey Stakes on his three-year-old debut but was well beaten in his three remaining race that year. He reached his peak when dropped to sprint distances in the spring and early summer of 1989, winning the Duke of York Stakes before taking the King's Stand Stakes on his penultimate appearance.

After his retirement from racing he was retired to stud and became a very successful breeding stallion. Indian Ridge and his male offspring have been described as having probably the best chance of maintaining the Byerley Turk sire-line.[2][3]

Background

Indian Ridge was a chestnut horse with a narrow white blaze[4] bred at the Broadfield Stud in County Kildare, Ireland by Bill and Averil Whitehead.[5] As a yearling he was put up for auction and sold for 12,000 Irish guineas, entering the ownership of Anne Coughlan. He was sent into training with David Elsworth at Whitsbury in Hampshire.[6]

He was sired by Ahonoora a sprinter, whose other offspring included Dr Devious, Park Appeal, Don't Forget Me and Park Express. Ahonoora was a representative of the Byerley Turk sire line,[7] unlike more than 95% of modern thoroughbreds, who descend directly from the Darley Arabian.[8] By the time of Indian Ridge's racing career the Byerley Turk line, once one of the most important in the Thoroughbred breed, had dwindled in significance, with Ahonoora and his male descendants being regarded as by far its best chance of survival.[3]

Indian Ridge's dam Hillbrow showed good form as a two-year-old in 1977 when she won twice from six starts and was rated 100 by Timeform.[9] She was disappointing in the following season and was sold at auction for 3,300 guineas in December 1978.[10] She was descended from the broodmare Irish Candy, a half-sister to the Irish Derby winner Fraise du Bois.[11]

Racing career

1987: two-year-old season

Indian Ridge finished second in a five furlong maiden race and then finished second in a similar event over six furlongs. He recorded his first success in a minor six-furlong race at Goodwood Racecourse on 29 September and followed up with another win at Leicester three weeks later. In both of his wins he took the lead early and led for most of the way. At the end of the season the independent Timeform organisation gave him a rating of 93, 34 pounds behind their best two-year-old Warning[6]

1988: three-year-old season

After missing the early part of 1988, Indian Ridge made his debut as a three-year-old in the Group Three Jersey Stakes over seven furlongs at Royal Ascot on 15 June. The Henry Cecil-trained Salse (winner of the Somerville Tattersall Stakes) started favourite ahead of Rawnak (King Charles II Stakes) and Intimidate (third in the Irish 2,000 Guineas) with Indian Ridge the 10/1 fourth choice in a twelve-runner field. Ridden by Cash Asmussen, he took the lead from the start and was never headed, staying on well in the closing stages to win by one and a half lengths from Salse, with three lengths back to Hibernian Gold in third.[12]

Indian Ridge failed to reproduce his Royal Ascot form in three subsequent races that year. He started second favourite for the July Cup at Newmarket Racecourse on 7 July but after briefly taking the lead he faded to finish eighth of the nine runners behind Soviet Star. He finished sixth to Salse in the Hungerford Stakes at Newbury in August and ended his season in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on 24 September. Starting a 66/1 outsider in his first and only run over one mile he led in the early stages but weakened in the straight and finished sixth of the eight runners behind Warning.[13]

1989: four-year-old season

Indian Ridge returned as a four-year-old in the Duke of York Stakes (then a Group Three Race) over six furlongs at York Racecourse on 18 May 1989 in which he was ridden by Steve Cauthen. He was made the 7/2 favourite, with the best fancied of his nine opponents being Point of Light (Abernant Stakes), Gallic League and Handsome Sailor. After racing in second place he took the lead a furlong from the finish and won by one and a half lengths from Gallic League despite hanging to the left in the closing stages.[14]

Cauthen was again in the saddle when Indian Ridge appeared for the second time at Royal Ascot and started the 9/4 favourite in a fourteen-runner field for the Group Two King's Stand Stakes over five furlongs on 23 June. Gallic League and Handsome Sailor were again in opposition while the other runners included Cadeaux Genereux, Kerrera (runner-up in the 1000 Guineas), Carols Treasure (Windsor Castle Stakes), Astronef (Premio Melton), Shuttlecock Corner (Flying Childers Stakes) and Perion (Palace House Stakes). Indian Ridge was among the leaders from the start, went to the front two furlongs from the finish and held on in the final strides to win by a neck and a head from Tigani and Gallic League.[15] On 6 August the colt was sent to France and moved back up in distance for the Prix Maurice de Gheest over 1300 metres at Deauville Racecourse but made little impact and finished fifth of the nine runners, beaten five lengths by the winner Cricket Ball.

Stud record

Indian Ridge was retired from racing at the end of the 1989 season and became a breeding stallion. He was initially based at the Campbell Stud in Suffolk but later moved to the Irish National Stud.[3] He was a very successful sire of winners, with his progeny winning at the highest level in Ireland, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the United States and Canada. He died at the Irish National Stud on 17 October 2006 after apparently suffering a heart attack.[16]

Major winners

c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding

Foaled Name Sex Major wins
1992 Ridgewood Pearl f Irish 1,000 Guineas, Coronation Stakes, Prix du Moulin, Breeders' Cup Mile
1992 Definite Article c National Stakes
1994 Compton Place c July Cup
1996 Namid c Prix de l'Abbaye
1998 Domedriver c Breeders' Cup Mile
2000 Indian Haven c Irish 2,000 Guineas
2001 Relaxed Gesture c Canadian International Stakes
2002 Linngari c Bayerisches Zuchtrennen Premio Vittorio di Capua
2004 Daytona g Shoemaker Mile Stakes
2004 Indian Ink f Cheveley Park Stakes, Coronation Stakes

Broodmare sire

Indian Ridge was a very successful sire of broodmares. Major winners produced by his daughters have included Airwave, Dancing Rain, Nightime, Kingsgate Native, Excelebration, Wilko, Jwala, Nahoodh, Reel Buddy and Halfway to Heaven

Pedigree

Pedigree of Indian Ridge (IRE), chestnut stallion, 1985[1]
Sire
Ahonoora (GB)
1975		 Lorenzaccio (GB)
1965		 Klairon Clarion
Kalmia
Phoenissa The Phoenix
Erica Fragrans
Helen Nichols (GB)
1966		 Martial Hill Gail
Discipliner
Quaker Girl Whistler
Mayflower
Dam
Hillbrow (GB)
1975		 Swing Easy (USA)
1968		 Delta Judge Traffic Judge
Beautillion
Free Flowing Polynesian
Rytina
Golden City (GB)
1970		 Skymaster Golden Cloud
Discipliner
West Shaw Grey Sovereign
Irish Candy (Family: 3-e)[11]
  • Indian Ridge was inbred 4 × 4 to Discipliner, meaning that this mare appears twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.

References

  1. 1 2 "Indian Ridge pedigree". Equineline.
  2. ↑ Sally Wright (21 January 2016). "Thoroughbred Pedigrees: The male bloodline of the Byerley Turk". Timeform.
  3. 1 2 3 Martin Stevens (23 September 2015). "What now for the Byerley Turk sire line". Racing Post. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "Indian Ridge image".
  5. ↑ George Kimberley (18 February 2010). "Death of Indian Ridge's breeder Averil Whitehead". Racing Post.
  6. 1 2 Timeform staff (1988). Racehorses of 1987. Timeform. ISBN 0-900599-46-4.
  7. ↑ "Byerley Turk Line". Tbheritage.com. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  8. ↑ "95% of thoroughbreds linked to one superstud". New Scientist. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  9. ↑ Timeform staff (1978). Racehorses of 1977. Timeform. ISBN 0-900599-25-1.
  10. ↑ Timeform staff (1979). Racehorses of 1978. Timeform. ISBN 0-900599-27-8.
  11. 1 2 "Quiver – Family 3-e". Thoroughbred Bloodlines.
  12. ↑ "Jersey Stakes result". Racing Post. 15 June 1988.
  13. ↑ "Queen Elizabeth II Stakes result". Racing Post. 24 September 1988.
  14. ↑ "Duke of York Stakes result". Racing Post. 18 May 1989.
  15. ↑ "King's Stand Stakes result". Racing Post. 23 June 1989.
  16. ↑ "Prominent Irish Stallion Indian Ridge Dead". The Blood-Horse. 18 October 2006.
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