Flawlessly (1988–2002) was an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

race horse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, 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 basic ...

bred by

Harbor View Farm Louis Elwood Wolfson (January 28, 1912 – December 30, 2007) was an American financier, a convicted felon, and one of the first modern corporate raiders, labeled by ''Time'' as such in a 1956 article.Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, often shortened to Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for Thoroughbreds, often restricted to three-year-olds. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accompli ...

champion

Affirmed Affirmed (February 21, 1975 – January 12, 2001) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the eleventh winner of the American Triple Crown. Affirmed was well known for his famous rivalry with Alydar, whom he met ten times, inclu ...

and La Confidence by

Nijinsky II Nijinsky (21 February 1967 – 15 April 1992) was a Canadian-bred, Irish-trained champion Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was the outstanding two-year-old in Europe in 1969 when he was unbeaten in five races. In the following season, he be ...

. At two, she trained under Dick Dutrow, winning her first stakes victories, the Tempted Stakes and the Gardenia Stakes, both Grade III events. She came third in the Grade I

Frizette Stakes The Frizette Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old fillies raced annually at Belmont Park in October. It is currently a Grade I stakes race at a distance of one mile. The Frizette is the female counterpart of the Champagn ...

. At three, she was sent to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

to be trained by

Charlie Whittingham Charles Edward Whittingham (April 13, 1913 – April 20, 1999) was an American Thoroughbred race horse trainer who is one of the most acclaimed trainers in U.S. racing history. Early career Born in Chula Vista, California, Whittingham began ...

. With Wittingham, who chose her few races carefully, she won four

turf Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricultu ...

stakes in a row. By the end of her third year, she had won five stakes, including the Grade I Matriarch Stakes, the first of her three Matriarch victories. She also finished second in the Grade I

Yellow Ribbon Stakes The Rodeo Drive Stakes is a Grade I race for thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three-years-old and upwards. It is run at Santa Anita Park with a current purse of $300,000 and is contested over a distance of . Originally named the Yellow Ribbon ...

. Flawlessly raced for five years, from age two to six. In each season except her first, she won at least one Grade I race. Her campaigns earned her the North American distaff grass course championships of both 1992 and 1993. At age five, she earned her largest purses, but even at six, she took her third

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Ramona Handicap. Throughout her career, she won three runnings of the Grade I Matriarch, three runnings of the Ramona Handicap, and two of the Grade 1

Beverly Hills Handicap The Red Carpet Handicap (known until 2013 as the Beverly Hills Handicap) is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually (as of 2014) during Del Mar racetrack's fall meet which has been created to accommodate the overflow of established race ...

, in the process defeating the best of her generation: among them champion Hollywood Wildcat and the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

-bred star Let’s Elope. Flawlessly retired having earned nearly $2.6 million, a winning campaigner on both coasts as well as the Midwest. Her 16 victories included 15 stakes races, eleven of them in graded company, and nine of them Grade 1.

Retirement

Flawlessly died of kidney problems on September 26, 2002, at the age of 14. She was buried at Elmond Farm near

Versailles, Kentucky Versailles () is a home rule-class city in Woodford County, Kentucky, United States. It lies by road west of Lexington and is part of the Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. Versailles has a population of 9,316 according to 2017 cen ...

. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.

References

* "''Champions, The Lives, Times, and Past Performances of America's Greatest Thoroughbreds, Champions from 1893-2004''," Revised Edition (2005), by the Editors and Writers from the Daily Racing Form DRF Press {{ISBN, 1-932910-02-6
Flawlessly’s pedigree, racing stats, and photo

Flawlessly in the Hall of Fame
1988 racehorse births 2002 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Thoroughbred family 2-d