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In full bloom
Sally Wright of Timeform remembers Dahlia 50 years after the talented daughter of Vaguely Noble won the first of her two King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and was later honoured as that year’s Timeform top-rated three-year-old filly
THE SAYING that “A racehorse is the only animal that can take several thousand people for a ride at the same time” could certainly have applied to one trans-Atlantic leading lady, the US-bred racehorse and producer Dahlia.
A finely built chestnut mare with a white blaze, Dahlia was born in the spring of 1970 from the union between the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Vaguely Noble and the stakes winner Charming Alibi (Honeys Alibi), who won 16 times.
Dahlia was inbred 4x5x4 to the great British champion Hyperion (Gainsborough), who excelled as a two-year-old in 1932 before going on to win the Epsom Derby and St Leger, and who later became a superior sire.
Dahlia’s tail-female line traced back to Family 13-c through Stray Shot, who was born in 1872 and was by Toxophilite. From her descended such racing notables as Tourbillon, Seattle Slew, Lomond, Mr Prospector, Darshaan and Sinndar.
Dahlia was a full-sister to the stakes winners Very Charming and Captain General and one of her half-sisters Golden Alibi (Empery) joined the Juddmonte broodmare band and eventually became the third dam of multiple French Group 1 winner and 2006 champion Rail Link.
A hardy sort with a great turn of foot Dahlia, who was also said to have been blessed with an amicable temperament, was bred by Nelson Bunker Hunt.
The owner had a colourful history. Born in 1926 to an Arkansas oil family, he grew fabulously wealthy from his oil and mining ventures. His attempts, alongside his brothers Lamar and William, to annex the silver market in the 1970s resulted in heavy fines, bans and eventual bankruptcy.
Hunt also dabbled in racehorses. His picks included Dahlia’s sire Vaguely Noble, the 1976 Epsom Derby winner Empery and the tragically ill-fated US Racing Hall of Fame inductee Exceller.
Hunt won numerous ownership accolades in both Britain and the US.
Lester Piggott rode his 3001st winner in Dahlia
Dahlia was shipped from the US to France to begin her career with the Egyptian-born trainer Maurice Zilber, also recognised for fielding Exceller, Empery and the subsequent US Eclipse champions – Youth, the male Turf horse of 1976, and Trillion, who was the female Turf horse of 1979.
Dahlia first set foot on a racecourse as a juvenile at two in 1972 giving no real hint of what was to come. She won the 5f Prix Yacowlef at Deauville on debut, but then finished unplaced in her next two starts before taking the runner-up spot in the Prix des Réservoirs (G3) over a mile at Longchamp.
Against females she won the Prix de la Grotte (G3), a trial for the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (G1), the Prix Saint-Alary (G1) by a length-and-a-half from the previously unbeaten Virunga, and the Irish Oaks (G1) by 3l from 1,000 Guineas and Oaks winner Mysterious.
She then faced the males for the first time in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1), and after weaving through from behind, she lowered the colours of the future Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Rheingold, “striding away in tremendous style” to win by 6l.
Only Mill Reef two years before had won the same race by such a margin.
A thorough grass specialist, who excelled on firm ground, Dahlia would meet her nemesis, the great Allez France, twice in 1973. She suffered the first two of several defeats to her in the Pouliches and in the Prix de Diane and, between her globetrotting wins in the Prix Niel (G3) and Washington D.C. International (G1), when down the field in the Arc, Allez France then second to Rheingold.
Unfortunately Dahlia did not get the chance to take on Secretariat when she won the Washington D.C., the US champion was retired after the Canadian International. Zilber had been convinced that his filly could mix it with him on the fast ground.
Dahlia kicked off her 1974 campaign with two defeats to Allez France in the Prix d’Harcourt (G2) and Prix Ganay (G1) before shipping to England for the Coronation Cup (G1).
Timeform reported that Dahlia’s jockey gave her a “preposterous task” as she toiled down the field early on before eventually finishing third. She bounced back to win the 1m4f Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (G1) in France under more prominent tactics by a neck from On My Way and three weeks later she tackled the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes for the second time, partnered by Lester Piggott.
AFTER BEING SENT OFF as favourite against the Queen’s filly Highclere (Allez France having been withdrawn), Dahlia cruised along stands’ side, hitting the front before the last furlong, and went away from Highclere by two-and-a-half lengths.
Timeform remarked that Dahlia had “cantered home on the bit, without Piggott having to move a muscle.”
Dahlia returned to England later in the summer as favourite to win the 1m2f Benson and Hedges Gold Cup (G1) at York, and she duly complied, with Highclere once again left in her wake. Partnered by Piggott, Dahlia met some difficulty in the straight before grabbing the lead over a furlong from home to win by two-and-a-half lengths from Imperial Prince. She ended a fine year by swerving the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) to aim at a trio of high-profile
Piggott rode his 3001st winner on Dahlia when the pair won the 1974 renewal of the King George Vl and Queen Elizabeth Stakes
First came the Man O’ War Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park over 1m1f in October. Zilber felt that Dahlia was lacking condition due to her US quarantine, and jockey Ron Turcotte took over from Piggott, who had been felled by an ear infection.
Despite those disadvantages, Dahlia won by 2l coming from well off the pace with Crafty Khale second.
Turcotte said: “She did what she was supposed to do all by herself... I never touched her.”
Piggott reported that despite being boxed in “I felt I had no cause for concern. I knew Dahlia had lots to give...”
Finally, starting as favourite for a replay of her Washington D.C. International success Dahlia was forced to the outside on the last turn and trailed the leaders by 6l. Unable to sustain her challenge she could only finish third behind Admetus and Desert Vixen.
Later Piggott batted away US media critics: “They can’t win all the time, they’re not machines, you know!”
In 1975, Dahlia again worked up to better things as the season progressed. A thorough drubbing to Allez France in the Ganay preceded more unplaced efforts in France and Italy.
She was somewhat worked up before her third tilt at the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, but still finished a creditable third behind that legendary dual between Grundy and Bustino.
She got her own back on Grundy in the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup at York in producing her seasonal best with Piggott aboard. She made all and led home a French-trained one-two, holding Card King off with Grundy in fourth.
Dahlia finished third in one of the epic races of the 20th century, the 1975 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes won by Grundy with Bustino in second
Back in France, she placed in the Grand Prix de Deauville (G2) and Prix du Prince d’Orange (G3) prior to her final European race in the Arc in which she
Owner-breeder Nelson Bunker Hunt squared up against Allez France for the last time. Sadly, she finishing well down the field after stumbling.
Dahlia’s rivalry with Allez France is especially noteworthy.
Hunt had rejected the latter US-bred filly as a yearling as he did not care for her sire Sea Bird.
She was instead bought by French art dealer Daniel Wildenstein, who would in time name his American racing operations after her.
Dahlia competed against and lost to her greatest rival all six starts in her career from the Pouliches in 1973 to the 1975 renewal of the Ganay when Dahlia came home last of the six runners, before meeting Allez France for the sixth and final time in the Arc.
A silver-gilt plate, designed by John Skeaping, of Dahlia presented to Bunker Hunt at Ascot in 1974. The presentation was made in the unsaddling enclosure by racehorse owner Mr. Jim Joel
Dahlia’s last year to race in 1976 saw her confined to California in the care of the Hall of Fame trainer experts as among their top highweights, and she was later inducted into the US National Museum of Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2016.
In Britain, Timeform gave her a maximum rating of 135, and she was the company’s top-rated three-year-old filly of 1973, as well as being named British Horse of the Year in 1973 and 1974.
Additionally, she was voted Irish champion three-year-old filly of 1973.
In comparing Dahlia with Allez France, it could be argued that, as exceptional as the latter was, the vast bulk of her racing was within France, while Dahlia excelled in regularly bouncing back and forth between Europe and North America, including in between defeats to her rival, and clearly enduring far more gruelling travel.
It has also been surmised that the softer racing ground in France was a mitigating factor in Allez France’s victories over Dahlia.
Dahlia achieved several firsts.
She was the first horse to win Group/Grade 1 races in five countries.
Sports Illustrated magazine and the National Museum of Racing both credited her with being the first female thoroughbred to reach a million dollars in US earnings, and she was also the first filly to win the Washington D. C. International Stakes.
In 1988, Hunt sold his racing operations and Dahlia was purchased for $1.1 million by American owner/breeder Allen E. Paulson.
She was undeniably a better broodmare than her rival getting eight winners from 13 named foals, including the Group/Grade 1 winners Dahar and Rivlia, who repeated the feat of their dam with victories in Europe and the US.
She also produced the Grade 1 winner Delegant and the Grand Prix d’Evry (G2) winner Wajd, dam of 1998 St. Leger winner Nedawi.
For these and others, Dahlia was awarded a Reign de Course accolade by respected pedigree analyst Ellen Parker. She had numerous races named in her honour, including the 1m1f Dahlia Stakes (G2) at Newmarket and the 1m2f Prix Dahlia at Saint-Cloud (L), for fillies and mares.
Her remarkable lifetime record stood at 15 wins, three seconds and seven thirds from a total of 48 starts, and with $1,543,139 in US earnings (including foreign conversions). She died in Kentucky at the grand old age of 31 and she is still remembered as one of the greatest female thoroughbreds to have ever lived.
