Ethereal (foaled 16 November 1997) is a New Zealand

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

. The

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equidae, equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more th ...

is best known for winning the 2001 Melbourne Cup.

Background

Ethereal is a bay mare owned and bred by brothers Peter and Phillip Vela, who own Pencarrow Stud and New Zealand Bloodstock. Ethereal was sired by the 1989 U.S. Champion 2-Yr-Old Colt and

Breeders' Cup Juvenile The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually in late October or early November at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup W ...

winner,

Rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular r ...

(USA). Her grandsire was the very influential Champion sire Mr. Prospector. Her dam was Romanee Conti, a

Hong Kong Cup The Hong Kong Cup is a Conditions races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Hong Kong which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run over a distance of 2000 metres (about miles or 10 furlongs) at Sha Tin Ra ...

winner and a daughter of leading sire

Sir Tristram Sir Tristram (7 April 1971 – 21 May 1997) was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who stood at stud in New Zealand, where he sired an extraordinary 45 Group One winners, including three Melbourne Cup winners. His progeny earned him 17 off ...

(IRE). Ethereal was trained during her racing career by

Sheila Laxon Sheila Kathleen Laxon is a New Zealand/Australian racehorse trainer. Born in Wales, she became the first female Thoroughbred horse trainer to win the Australian cups double, the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup, with mare Ethereal in 2001. In 2 ...

Racing career

Ethereal won four

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

races, including three of the most important staying races in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, the Caulfield and

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the ...

s in 2001 and

The BMW Stakes H E Tancred Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older, run over 2,400 metres at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney, Australia. The prize money for the event is A$1,50 ...

in 2002. An international campaign was considered to possibly include the Arc de Triomphe, but was abandoned due to the tough racing she had endured the previous season. She was named Australian Champion Stayer, but was beaten to the title of New Zealand & Australian Horse of the Year by the champion mare

Sunline Sunline (29 September 1995 – 1 May 2009) was a champion New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the world's highest earning race mare of her time. She won 32 of her 48 races with earnings of NZ$14,200,000. She was named t ...

Stud record

Immediately following her win in the 2002 BMW Stakes, Ethereal was retired from racing to serve as a

broodmare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

for her owner's

Pencarrow Stud Pencarrow is a Grade II*-listed country house in the civil parish of Egloshayle, in north Cornwall, England. It is situated three miles (5 km) east-southeast of Wadebridge and three miles (5 km) north-northwest of Bodmin. History Sir ...

Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton (, ) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato, Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's List of c ...

. At stud, Ethereal has produced a

Giant's Causeway The Giant's Causeway () is an area of approximately 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcano, volcanic fissure eruption, part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province active in the region during the Paleogene period. ...

filly A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States ...

named Uberalles who was third in the Group 2 Great Northern Guineas and was third in the Group 1

New Zealand Derby The New Zealand Derby is a set-weights Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds, run over a distance of 2,400 metres (12 furlongs) at Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, New Zealand. It is held in March each year. History The New Zealand Derby i ...

. In 2007 Ethereal's colt by

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

, sold for NZ$1,300,000 at the Karaka Premier sale in 2007.Pencarrow Stud
Retrieved 28 May 2009

References

Ethereal's racing record

Pencarrow Stud website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070616081013/http://www.thoroughbrednet.co.nz/pencarrowstud04/default.asp , date=16 June 2007

External links

Ethereal's pedigree and partial racing stats
1997 racehorse births Caulfield Cup winners Racehorses bred in New Zealand Racehorses trained in New Zealand Melbourne Cup winners New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame horses Thoroughbred family 16

Background

Racing career

Stud record

See also

References

External links