Sea Bird


Sea-Bird was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career which lasted from 1964 until October 1965 he ran eight times and won seven races. Sea Bird is most famous for his victories in two of Europe's most prestigious races: the Derby and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. His Timeform rating of 145 remains the second highest flat figure behind Frankel's rating of 147 awarded by that publication.

Background

Sea-Bird was a chestnut horse with a narrow white blaze and white socks on his hind legs bred at the stables of his owner, the Lille textile manufacturer Jean Ternynck. Described by Timeform as "a tall, well-made horse," Sea-Bird was sired by the French Derby runner-up Dan Cupid, and trained, like his sire, in France by Etienne Pollet at Chantilly. None of his five immediate dams ever won a flat race, although his great-grandam Couleur did produce Camaree, who won the 1000 Guineas in 1950, and Sea Bird was more distantly related to the Belmont Stakes winner High Echelon.
On the racetrack, Sea-Bird's dam, Sicalade, dead-heated once for second place as a two-year-old in what was her only season to race. His second dam, Marmelade, was unplaced on her only start and third dam, Couleur, was unplaced on the flat but won once over hurdles. The next dam, Colour Bar, could manage no more than third in a selling race before winning under Pony Turf Club rules and fifth dam, Lady Disdain, was unsuccessful in both her starts. So for five generations the female line proved all but worthless in terms of racing ability. The sixth generation produced one of the finest racehorses the world has ever seen. Sea-Bird was the only one of Sicalade's three foals to see a racecourse. She had serious circulatory problems, and after another difficult foaling in 1963 when Sea-Bird was a yearling, Ternynck decided to cut his losses and sold her to a local butcher in Les Andelys for £100 when she was just seven years of age.

Name

In France, the horse was known as Sea-Bird, a spelling followed by many modern writers. When racing abroad and standing at stud he was usually referred to as "Sea Bird II". He was referred to as "Sea-Bird II" by Timeform.

Racing career

1964: two-year-old season

Sea-Bird started in three races as a two-year-old, winning his first two, the Prix de Blaison at Chantilly by a short neck and the Critérium de Maisons-Laffitte by a neck from Blabla. He met with the only defeat of his career in the Grand Critérium when second to his stablemate Grey Dawn, who was the favourite after winning the Prix Morny and the Prix de la Salamandre. Sea-Bird started slowly, as he had done in his two wins, but made up a great deal of ground in the straight to finish second, two lengths behind Grey Dawn. Maurice Larraun, Sea-Bird's jockey, appeared to have given the horse too much to do and never rode Sea-Bird again. At the end of the season, Sea-Bird was rated three pounds inferior to Grey Dawn by the official French handicapper.

1965: three-year-old season

As a three-year-old, Sea-Bird won all five starts, starting with a three-length win in the Prix Greffulhe. He next appeared in the Prix Lupin, which he won by six lengths from Diatome.
In The Derby, Sea-Bird started at the 7/4 favourite in a field of twenty two. There was an incident the night before the race in which police and security staff repelled a gang which had attempted to enter the stable of the 2000 Guineas winner Niksar. Before the race, Sea-Bird was described as looking "plain and high". He raced on the outside behind the leaders until the turn into the straight and then moved up to take the lead on the bridle with Glennon sitting "still as a statue". Sea-Bird won effortlessly by two lengths from Meadow Court, who went on to win the Irish Derby and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, with I Say in third. Timeform said of his victory: "Sea-Bird's performance at Epsom had to be seen to believed. He beat his twenty-one opponents without coming off the bit."
In July, Sea-Bird ran in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, which he won, easing down, by two and a half lengths from Couroucou. He was then rested until the autumn.
In the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Sea-Bird faced a very strong field, including Irish Derby winner Meadow Court, Preakness winner Tom Rolfe, French Derby winner Reliance, Prix de Diane winner Blabla and Russian Derby winner Anilin. Starting at odds of 6/5, Sea Bird won easily despite veering across the track, with jockey Pat Glennon patting him down the neck in the final 100 yards, by six lengths from Reliance. Five lengths further back in third place was Diatome, who went on to win the Washington, D.C. International. Fourth place went to Free Ride, fifth was Anilin and sixth was Tom Rolfe.

Assessment and honors

Sea-Bird was given an annual rating of 145 by Timeform in 1965. This remained the highest rating awarded by the organisation until Frankel's performance in the 2012 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot was rated 147.
Despite having run only once in the United Kingdom, Sea-Bird was voted British Horse of the Year by the Racegoers' club in 1965, taking 228 of the 240 votes.
In their book A Century of Champions, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Sea-Bird the greatest racehorse of the 20th century, one pound ahead of Secretariat and two pounds ahead of Ribot and Brigadier Gerard.
A summary of Sea-Bird's racing career is listed below:
DateRacecourseDistanceRaceJockeyWeightGoingOddsFieldResultMargin
02 Sep 64Chantilly7 furlongsPrix de BlaisonT P Glennon8-10Good7/4f81stNeck
18 Sep 64Maisons-Laffitte7 furlongsCriterium de Maisons-Laffitte G3T P Glennon8-7Good6/4f71stNeck
11 Oct 64Longchamp1 mileGrand Criterium G1M Larraun8-11Heavy3/1112nd2 lengths
04 Apr 65Longchamp1 mile 2½fPrix Greffulhe G2T P Glennon9-2Good7/10f91st3 lengths
16 May 65Longchamp1 mile 2½fPrix Lupin G1T P Glennon9-2Good4/5f71st6 lengths
02 Jun 65Epsom1½ milesEpsom Derby G1T P Glennon9-0Good7/4f221st2 lengths
04 Jul 65Saint-Cloud1 mile 4½fGrand Prix de Saint-Cloud G1T P Glennon8-7Good1/5f91st2½ lengths
03 Oct 65Longchamp1½ milesPrix de l'Arc de Triomphe G1T P Glennon8-10Soft6/5f201st6 lengths

Stud career

Prior to the running of his final race, the American breeder John W. Galbreath paid owner Jean Ternynck a reported $1,350,000 to lease Sea-Bird for five years' stud duty at his Darby Dan Farm in Kentucky. Among Sea Bird II's progeny were the dual French classic and 1974 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winning mare Allez France ; the 1974 Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Little Current; the Champion Hurdle winner Sea Pigeon; and Gyr, second in the 1970 Epsom Derby behind the English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky II. Sea-Bird sired Reine Enchanteur, who sold for a then-world-record $405,000 at the 1968 Keeneland Sales, as well as the dams of King's Swan, who was known as the "King of Aqueduct", Miss Oceana, a millionaire in racing who sold as a broodmare for a world record US$7 million, and the half brothers Assert, the French Derby and Irish Derby winner, and Bikala, who won the French Derby. Sea Bird was also the grandsire of the French Derby winner Bering.

Pedigree