Bireme was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare best known for winning the classicEpsom Oaks in 1980. After winning one of her two starts in 1979, she won the Musidora Stakes on her three-year-old debut before winning the Oaks in record time. Later that summer she broke loose during a training session and sustained career-ending injuries. She was retired to stud with a record of three wins in four races and has had some influence as a broodmare.
Background
Bireme was a chestnut mare with a white blaze bred by her owner Richard Dunbavin "Dick" Hollingsworth at his Arches Hall Stud in Hertfordshire. She was one of the first crop of foals sired by Grundy, an outstanding racehorse who won The Derby and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 1975. Grundy went on to sire several other good winners, but his stock tended to be slow-maturing stayers and he was sold and exported to Japan in 1983. Bireme's dam Ripeck was a highly successful broodmare whose other offspring included the Queen Alexandra Stakes winner Balinger and the Coronation Cup winner Buoy. Ripeck was a granddaughter of the Hollingsworth family's influential broodmare Felucca, whose other descendants included Cut Above, Sharp Edge, Longboat, Bolas, Dash for Cash and Daffodil. The filly was sent into training with Dick Hern at West Ilsley in Berkshire, and was ridden by the Scottish jockey Willie Carson.
Racing career
1979: two-year-old season
Bireme did run as a two-year-old, when she won a thirty-runner maiden race over seven furlongs at Newmarket Racecourse in October. She was then matched against colts in the Houghton Stakes over the same course and distance later that month and finished third behind Night Alert and Posse. The first and second both developed into top class milers in 1980: Night Alert won the Prix Jean Prat while Posse won the St. James's Palace Stakes and the Sussex Stakes.
1980: three-year-old season
On her first appearance as a three-year-old, Bireme was moved up in class and distance for the Group Three Musidora Stakes over ten and a half furlongs at York Racecourse in May. Ridden by Carson, she started at odds of 4/1 and won from the Lingfield Oaks Trial winner Gift Wrapped and the 1000 Guineas runner-up Our Home. On 7 June, Bireme was again moved up in distance to contest the 202nd running of the Oaks Stakes over one and a half miles at Epsom Downs Racecourse. She started at odds of 9/2 in a field of eleven fillies which included the 1000 Guineas winner Quick As Lightning who was made 3/1 favourite. Willie Carson had the choice of three Hern-trained runners and selected Bireme ahead of the partially sighted May Hill Stakes winner The Dancer and the Cheshire Oaks winner Shoot a Line. Carson settled Bireme in second place behind The Dancer, before moving into the lead two furlongs from the finish and winning by two lengths from Vielle, with The Dancer in third and Quick as Lightning fourth. The win gave Hern and Carson a classic double, having won the Derby with Henbit three days earlier. After the race Carson said: "She gave me a super ride. I was never in any doubt with her, she is a lovely filly with a long stride who just keeps finding it for me." Her winning time of 2:34.33 broke the race record which had stood since 1927. Dick Hern intended to aim the filly at the St Leger Stakesin September, but her training was disrupted by tendon trouble. While still recuperating, and undergoing gentle exercise on the Berkshire Downs, she sustained a career-ending injury. Recalling the incident, Hern explained that after throwing her rider, Bireme "took off with her tail in the air and went for home as hard as she could leg it, right across the West Ilsley-East Ilsley road before she crashed in the lane. She cut and bruised herself so badly that she never ran again." Her stablemate Shoot a Line went on to be unbeaten after her Oaks defeat winning the Ribblesdale Stakes, Irish Oaks, Yorkshire Oaks and Park Hill Stakes.
Assessment and honours
In 1980, Bireme was given a rating of 127 by the independent Timeform organisation, four pounds below the top-rated three-year-old filly Detroit, the winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. In their book, A Century of Champions, based on the Timeform rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Bireme an "average" winner of the Oaks. Dick Hern called her "a very, very good filly who never reached her potential because of injury ... nobody knows quite how good she could have been."
Stud record
Bireme was retired from racing to become a broodmare at her owners stud. She produced at least six winners, the best of whom was the filly Yawl, who won at Listed and Group Three level. Yawl's daughter Prowess produced the 2013 Oaks winner Talent. Bireme's winning progeny included:
