Reine de Saba (7 May 1975 – 1988) was a French

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 ...

. Bred and owned by

Jacques Wertheimer Jacques Guy Wertheimer (18 August 1911 – 6 February 1996) was a prominent French businessman who inherited and ran the renowned House of Chanel perfume company. Wertheimer was born at Les Forgettes villa in Deauville, to a Jewish family,

and trained by

Alec Head Alec Head (31 July 1924 – 22 June 2022) was a French horse trainer and breeder. Head was the owner of Haras du Quesnay, located near Deauville. A descendant of the trainers who founded the English Racing Colony in Chantilly, Oise, Head's gran ...

she raced for three seasons and won five of her twelve races. After showing promise as a juvenile, she emerged as one of the leading three-year-old fillies in Europe in the spring and early summer of 1978, winning all three of her races including the

Prix Saint-Alary The Prix Saint-Alary is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Longchamp in Paris over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1 miles), and take ...

and the

Prix de Diane The Prix de Diane, sometimes referred to as the French Oaks, is one of the most important and prestigious Group 1 horse races in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at C ...

. Her season was ended by injury in June and when she returned as a four-year-old she was less effective, winning only one of her six races. As a broodmare she produced two foals that raced and were both good winners.

Background

Reine de Saba was an attractive, strongly-built bay mare with a white blaze and white

socks A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the Calf (leg), calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. ...

on her own legs bred in France by her owner

. She was from the second crop of foals sired by

Lyphard Lyphard (10 May 1969 – 10 June 2005) was an American-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse and an important Horse breeding#Terminology, sire. Background American bred in Pennsylvania, Lyphard was a son of Northern Dancer ...

, an American-bred stallion who raced in France, winning the

Prix Jacques Le Marois The Prix Jacques Le Marois is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred colts and fillies aged three years or older. It is run in August each year at Deauville over a distance of ...

and

Prix de la Forêt The Prix de la Forêt is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,400 metres (about 7 furlongs), and ...

in 1972. Lyphard went on to become a very successful breeding stallion in both Europe and North America, siring Three Troikas,

Dancing Brave Dancing Brave (11 May 1983 – 2 August 1999) was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a racing career which lasted from the autumn of 1985 until October 1986, he ran ten times and won eight races. Dancing Brave ...

and

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

. Reine de Saba's dam Sirya was a half-sister of several good winners including Homely (winner of the

Prix Yacowlef The Prix Yacowlef is a Conditions races, Listed Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbreds. Since 2016, it is run each November at Chantilly Racecourse over a ...

) and Trictrac, who won the

Prix Eugène Adam The Prix Eugène Adam is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Maisons-Laffitte over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1 miles), and it is scheduled to ta ...

and sired

Balmerino Balmerino is a small village and former monastic centre in Fife, Scotland. It is the home of Balmerino Abbey and the former Abbot of Balmerino, abbots of Balmerino who were great regional landlords. It became a secular lordship in 1605 when th ...

. Wertheimer sent the filly into training with

at Chantilly. She was ridden in all of her major races by her trainer's son

Freddy Head Frédéric Head (born 19 June 1947) is a retired horse trainer and champion jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. His grandfather, William Head, and father, Alec Head, who also competed as prominent jockeys and trainers, raised “Freddy,” at th ...

. Reine de Saba shared a breeder, owner, trainer and sire with another leading French filly of the same generation, Dancing Maid.

Racing career

1977: two-year-old season

In her first two appearances, Reine de Saba was campaigned over sprint distances, finishing third over 1100 metres and 1300 metres. In her final run as a juvenile she recorded her first win in a

maiden race In horse racing, a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won a race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the s ...

over 1600 metres.

1978: three-year-old season

Reine de Saba began her second season in the Prix de la Seine over 2000 metres at

Longchamp Racecourse The Longchamp Racecourse (, ) is a 57 hectare horse-racing facility located on the Route des Tribunes at the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is used for flat racing and is noted for ...

and won by two lengths from Shelina. On 21 May the filly was moved up in class and started 11/10 favourite for the

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 ...

Prix Saint-Alary on soft ground over 2100 metres the same course. Her opponents nine opponents were headed by Fruhlingstag, A Thousand Stars and Tempus Fugit who had finished second, third and fourth behind Dancing Maid in the

Poule d'Essai des Pouliches The Poule d'Essai des Pouliches is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile) ...

three weeks earlier. Reine de Saba raced behind her

pacemaker A pacemaker, also known as an artificial cardiac pacemaker, is an implanted medical device that generates electrical pulses delivered by electrodes to one or more of the chambers of the heart. Each pulse causes the targeted chamber(s) to co ...

before Freddy Head sent her into the lead entering the straight. She was never seriously challenged, winning by two and a half lengths from the outsider Lys River, with A Thousand Stars taking third ahead of Tempus Fugit and Gayka. With Dancing Maid being sent to England for The Oaks, Reine de Saba started 3/10 favourite for the Prix de Diane at over 2100 metres

Chantilly Racecourse Chantilly Racecourse (In French: "Hippodrome de Chantilly") is a Thoroughbred grass, turf race track, racecourse for flat racing in Chantilly, Oise, France, about north of the centre of the city of Paris. Chantilly Racecourse is located in the ...

on 11 June, being coupled in the betting with her stablemates Madge and the Prix de Royaumont winner La Dorga. Lys River, Fruhlingstag, A Thousand Stars, Gayka and Tempus Fugit were again in opposition along with Calderina (winner of the

Prix de Sandringham The Prix de Sandringham is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile), and it is scheduled to take ...

) and the British-trained Cistus (winner of the Waterford Candelabra Stakes and the

Lupe Stakes Lupe is a given name, short for ''Guadalupe'', and may refer to: People * Lupe Aquino (born 1963), Mexican boxer * Lupe Fiasco (born 1982), American hip hop artist * Lupe Ontiveros (1942–2012), Mexican-American film and television actress * Lup ...

). Reine de Saba raced just behind the leaders until the straight when she moved up into second place behind Cistus. 300 metres from the finish she accelerated past the British filly to win by two lengths with Calderina in third ahead of the outsider Paddle. Reine de Saba sustained a chipped bone in her knee during the race and did not race again in 1978.

1979: four-year-old season

Returning from a break of fourteen months, Reine de Saba returned to run third in a race over 1800 metres and then finished second, beaten half a length by Look Fast in the Prix Ridgway at Deauville Racecourse in August. She finished fourth behind Rusticaro,

Trillion ''Trillion'' is a number with two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000,000, i.e. one million 1,000,000, million, or (ten to the twelfth Exponentiation, power), as defined on the long and short scales, short scale. This is now the meaning in bot ...

and

Northern Baby Northern Baby (1 April 1976 – 21 February 2007) was a Canadian-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse and sire (horse), sire. In a racing career which lasted from October 1978 until September 1980 he won five of his seven ...

the

Prix du Prince d'Orange The Prix du Prince d'Orange is a group-3 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles), and it is scheduled ...

but then ran unplaced behind Producer when second favourite for the

Prix de l'Opéra The Prix de l'Opéra is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles) each ...

in October. Later that month she recorded her only success of the year when beating A Thousand Stars by two and a half lengths in the Prix du Point de Jour over 2000 metres at Longchamp. On her final appearance Reine de Saba was sent to California to contest the

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Yellow Ribbon Stakes over a mile and a quarter at

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious race ...

and was a fast-finishing fourth behind Country Queen.

Assessment

In the International Classification of three-year-old for 1978, Reine de Saba was rated the second-best filly in Europe, three pounds behind the British filly Swiss Maid and a pound superior to Dancing Maid. The independent Timeform organisation gave her a rating of 125, four pounds inferior to Swiss Maid and a pound behind Dancing Maid. A year later, Timeform rated her on 115, nine pounds behind their top-rated older female Trillon. Reine de Saba did not receive a rating in the 1979 International Classification, and was rated twelve pounds inferior to Trillion in the official French handicap.

Breeding record

Reine de Saba was retired from racing at the end of 1979 and became a broodmare for the Wertheimer stud. She died in 1988 after delivering a stillborn foal. Reine de Saba produced only three live foals: *Reine d'Egypte, a bay filly, foaled in 1981, sired by Val de l'Orne. Won three races and finished third in the Prix de Minerve. As a broodmare, she produced several winners Egyptown, who in turn produced the Prix de Diane winner Egyptband. *Unnamed bay filly sired by Val de l'Orne, foaled in 1986. *Never Black, a dark bay or brown colt, foaled in 1987, sired by

Riverman Riverman (22 March 1969 – 31 July 1999) was a French Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse and highly successful sire. Background Foaled in Kentucky, Riverman was bred by Harry F. Guggenheim of the prominent American Guggenheim family. He w ...

. Won two races in France and five in the United States including the Grade III All American Handicap.

Pedigree

References

{{reflist 1975 racehorse births 1988 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in France Racehorses trained in France Thoroughbred family 2-h