Plack (1921–1940) was a British
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 and
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 ...
. As a juvenile in 1923 when she won three races and finished second to
Diophon in the
Middle Park Stakes
The Middle Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it i ...
. In the following year she recorded her biggest victory when taking a very strong renewal of the
1000 Guineas
The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile ...
and then finished second in the
Epsom Oaks
The Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 ya ...
. Later that year she added wins in the Newmarket Oaks and the
Jockey Club Cup
A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...
. She failed to win in 1925 but was placed in the
Coronation Cup,
Hardwicke Stakes,
Doncaster Cup and Jockey Club Cup. Despite producing few foals she had some influence as a broodmare.
Background
Plack was a chestnut mare bred and owned by
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of h ...
. During her racing career he was trained by
Jack Jarvis at the Park Lodge at
Newmarket, Suffolk
Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk (district), West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, 14 miles west of Bury St Edmunds and 14 miles northeast of Cambridge. In 2021, it had a population of 16,772. It is a global ...
.
Physically, she was described as being built on a "generous scale with a look of speed in the easy play of her limbs".
She was from the third crop of foals sired by the unbeaten champion,
Hurry On
Hurry On (7 May 1913 – 1936) was an undefeated British Thoroughbred Horse racing, racehorse and sire that revived the Matchem sire line.Leicester, Sir Charles, "Bloodstock Breeding", J.A. Allen & Co, London, 1969 English trainer Fred Darling c ...
, making her a representative of the
Godolphin Arabian
The Godolphin Arabian (–1753), also known as the Godolphin Barb, was an Arabian horse
The Arabian or Arab horse ( , DIN 31635, DMG ''al-ḥiṣān al-ʿarabī'') is a horse breed, breed of horse with historic roots on the Arabian Peninsul ...
sire line. Hurry On sired numerous other major winners including
Captain Cuttle,
Coronach,
Call Boy,
Pennycomequick,
Cresta Run
The Cresta Run is a natural ice track in eastern-Switzerland used for skeleton-toboggan racing. Located in the winter sports town of St. Moritz, the run is one of the few in the world dedicated entirely to skeleton. It was built in 1884 nea ...
and
Precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...
. Plack's dam Groat was a granddaughter of Montem, a broodmare whose other descendants included
Sweet Solera,
Aunt Edith,
Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
,
Ellangowan and
Blind Luck.
Racing career
1923: two-year-old season
She recorded her first victory in the Lennox Maiden Plate at
Hurst Park and followed up by taking the Rous Plate at
Doncaster Racecourse
Doncaster Racecourse (also known as the Town Moor course) is a racecourse in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It hosts two of Great Britain's List of British flat horse races#Group 1, 36 annual Group One, Group 1 flat races, the St Leger ...
in September. Later that month she was sent to Scotland and won the Land o' Burns Nursery Handicap at
Ayr, conceding at least fourteen pounds to her opponents.
On 19 October at Newmarket Plack contested the
Middle Park Stakes
The Middle Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it i ...
over six furlongs and finished second, beaten one and a half
lengths by the
Aga Khan III
Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah (2 November 187711 July 1957), known as Aga Khan III, was the 48th Imamate in Nizari doctrine, imam of the Nizari Isma'ili, Ism'aili branch of Shia Islam. He was one of the founders and the first permanent president of ...
's
colt Diophon, after pursuing the winner "gamely to the end". In her two other starts she finished third in the Kingston Plate and unplaced in one race.
1924: three-year-old season

Plack made her second season debut in the Brandon Handicap over nine furlongs at Newmarket in April for which she carried top weight of 132 pounds and finished third behind Brig o' Doon and MacCarthy More.
On 9 May 1924 Plack, ridden by Charlie Elliott, started at odds of
8/1 for the 111th running of the 1000 Guineas over the
Rowley Mile course. The favourite
Mumtaz Mahal
Mumtaz Mahal (; ; born Arjumand Banu Begum; 27 April 1593 – 17 June 1631) was the empress consort of Mughal Empire from 1628 to 1631 as the chief consort of the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan. The Taj Mahal in Agra, often cited as one of t ...
set off in front and opened up a clear lead before tiring in the closing stages. Plack, with her tail "revolving like a windmill"
overtook the favourite inside the final
furlong
A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to any of 660 foot (unit), feet, 220 yards, 40 rod (unit), rods, 10 chain (unit), chains, or a ...
and won by one and a half lengths, with half a length back to
Straitlace in third place.
Lord Rosebery was in poor health and was represented at Newmarket by his son
Lord Dalmeny but recovered to celebrate his 77th birthday on 21 May with a number of ceremonies, one of which included a "firework effigy" of Plack.
Plack was moved up in distance and started favourite for the
Oaks Stakes
The Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 y ...
over one and a half miles at
Epsom Racecourse
Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse in a hilly area near Epsom in Surrey, England which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. The "Downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs.
The course has a crowd capacity of 130,000 includin ...
on 6 June. She took the lead from the start but looked uncomfortable coming down the hill and was overtaken by traitlace entering the straight. She looked completely beaten at that point but rallied well in the last quarter mile and at the finishing line she was only a length and a half behind her rival.
The filly was then stepped up in distance and matched against older horses in the
Ascot Gold Cup
The Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 2 miles 3 furlongs and 210 yards (4 ...
over two and a half miles but after being badly hampered by
Papyrus
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...
she finished unplaced behind the French four-year-old
Massine.
In autumn Plack returned to winning form when she took the Newmarket Oaks over fourteen furlongs.
She faced older stayers for the second time on 30 October when she contested the two and a quarter mile Jockey Club Cup at Newmarket. Ridden by
Charlie Smirke she started odds-on favourite and won by one and a half lengths from the
Prince of Wales's Stakes winner Eastern Monarch.
1925: four-year-old season
Plack remained in training as a four-year-old and ran consistently well in top class
weight-for-age
{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022
Weight for Age (WFA) is a term in thoroughbred horse racing which is one of the conditions for a race.
History
The principle of WFA was developed by Admiral Rous, a handicapper with the English Jockey Club. Rou ...
races without winning. At Epsom on 28 May she finished third of seven behind St Germans and
Sansovino in the
Coronation Cup at Epsom,
and in the
Hardwicke Stakes at
Royal Ascot
Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, about 25 miles west of London. Ascot is used for thoroughbred horse racing, and it hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 races and three Gra ...
in June she again came home third, beaten by Hurstwood and Tournesol. Plack returned to her favoured extended distance in the
Goodwood Cup
The Goodwood Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 2 miles (3 ...
and appeared to be going very easily when she clipped the heels of the horse in front, stumbled badly and unseated Charlie Elliott. In September Plack contested the
Doncaster Cup and finished third behind St Germans and Hurstwood. In the following month she was beaten into third behind Bucellas and
Foxlaw when attempting to repeat her 1924 success in the Jockey Club Cup.
Assessment and honours
In their book, ''A Century of Champions'', based on the Timeform rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Plack an "average" winner of the 1000 Guineas.
Breeding record
Plack was retired from racing to become a broodmare but proved difficult to get in foal and produced few foals before she died in 1940.
Her offspring included:
*Coin of the Realm, a brown filly, foaled in 1930, sired by
Phalaris. Winner; second in the
Falmouth Stakes
The Falmouth Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile ( ...
; dam of the Derby runner-up and
Newmarket Stakes winner Midas.
*Carlino, colt, 1933,
Sansovino
*Afterthought, bay filly, 1939, by Obliterate. Won Jockey Clup Cup; second in the Oaks Stakes; granddam of
Aunt Edith.
Pedigree
References
{{1000 Guineas Winners
1921 racehorse births
1940 racehorse deaths
Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom
Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom
Thoroughbred family 11-f
1000 Guineas winners
Godolphin Arabian sire line