Quintessence (1900–1917) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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 who won 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 ...

of 1903 and was unbeaten in her six races. She was owned and bred by Evelyn Edward Thomas Boscawen, 7th Viscount Falmouth. After retiring from racing, she became a successful

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 ...

, with her son Clarissimus winning the

2000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1.6 km) and scheduled to take place each yea ...

Background

Quintessence was

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

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 ...

foaled in 1900 and bred by Evelyn Edward Thomas Boscawen, 7th Viscount Falmouth. She was a daughter of St. Frusquin, who won the

and

Eclipse Stakes The Eclipse Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown ...

in 1896. St Frusquin was also a successful sire and was Champion sire in Britain. His other progeny included St. Amant,

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 ...

winners Rhodora and Flair and

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 ...

winners

Rosedrop Rosedrop (1907–1930) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She won one minor race as a two-year-old in 1909 before emerging as a top-class performer in the following year. She won the Epsom Oaks, Atalanta Stakes and Great Yorksh ...

and

Mirska Mirska (1909 – after 1913) was a Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1909 Epsom Oaks. Raced only three times in her lifetime, her only win occurred in the Oaks. Despite being a daughter of two English Classic winners, Mirska was not favour ...

. Quintessence's

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

, Margarine, was a daughter of 2000 Guineas winner

Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...

Racing career

1902: Two-year-old season

As a two-year-old Quintessence won the Biennial Stakes at

Ascot Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to: Places Australia * Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane * Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality * Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide * Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victoria ...

. At Newmarket she won the six-

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 ...

Exeter Stakes, with Sermon finishing second. On 1 August at Goodwood Quintessence won the

Molecomb Stakes The Molecomb Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 5 furlongs (1,006 metres), and it is scheduled to take plac ...

. She finished her two-year-old season unbeaten, with three wins from three starts.

1903: Three-year-old season

On 1 May 1903, she faced 12 rivals in 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 ...

at Newmarket and was ridden by Herbert Randall. Baroness La Fleche started the race as the 15/8 favourite. Also near the front of the betting was Skyscraper at 9/4, Quintessence at 4/1 and Hammerkop at 100/7. At the start three fillies - Sun Rose, Guigne and Hammerkop - got tangled in the webbing. In the early stages Skyscraper, Quintessence and Baroness La Fleche led the race on the left of the track, with another group of three just behind them racing down the centre of the track. With about two

s left to run Quintessence just headed Skyscraper. Sun Rose made progress through the field in the latter stages of the race, recovering from her poor start, but was unable to catch Quintessence. Quintessence won by one and a half lengths from Sun Rose, with Skyscraper in third place. Dazzling finished fourth, with favourite Baroness La Fleche finishing back in sixth place. After the race a protest was put in against the poor start, by Prince Soltykoff, the owner of Sun Rose. However, the protest was lodged a minute after the 15 minutes allowed for objections so could not be entered. She was not entered for most of the major summer and early autumn stakes races due to her chronic problems with

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including a ...

. The cause of this malady was thought to be due to her habit of "tearing all the

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

off in her box." In September she won the

Park Hill Stakes The Park Hill Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 115 yards ...

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

(with 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 ...

winner

Our Lassie Our Lassie (1900 – 1916) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She was a very good performer as a juvenile in 1902 when she won the Sandown Produce Stakes and was placed in her other three starts. In the following year she fa ...

unplaced) and the following month she beat three rivals to easily win the Newmarket Oaks, which was worth £450. She was retired to stud at the end of the 1903 season, finishing her career unbeaten in her six races.

Stud career

Quintessence was retired to stud, where she became a successful broodmare. Her only

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

winner was

Clarissimus The constitution of the late Roman Empire was an unwritten set of guidelines and principles passed down, mainly through precedent, which defined the manner in which the late Roman Empire was governed. As a matter of historical convention, the lat ...

, by Radium, who was foaled in 1913 and won the

in 1916. Her 1914 foal was Nonperail, a full sister to Clarissimus. She finished third in 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 ...

. Her 1916 foal was Mountaineer, a bay horse by

Polymelus Polymelus (1902–1924) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who was the leading sire of racehorses in Great Britain and Ireland for five years (1914, 1915, 1916, 1920, 1921). Among his most famous descendants are Secretariat and Northern Dancer ...

. She died in 1917, ten days after foaling Paragon, another son of Radium. Paragon was successfully reared by a foster-mare that Lord Falmouth bought for £60 and he went on to win the City and Suburban Handicap at

Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

in 1922.

Pedigree

''Note: b. =

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

, blk. =

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, br. =

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

, ch. =

Chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

References

{{1000 Guineas winners 1900 racehorse births 1917 racehorse deaths Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Undefeated racehorses Thoroughbred family 2-s 1000 Guineas winners

Background

Racing career

1902: Two-year-old season

1903: Three-year-old season

Stud career

Pedigree

See also

References