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Sir Percy (GB)

Mark Of Esteem - Percy's Lass, by Blakeney
Bay, foaled 2003.
Breeder: The Old Suffolk Stud.
Other sons of Mark Of Esteem at stud.

Unbeaten as a juvenile; Derby winner at three

It seems a long time since Sir Percy won the Derby in 2006, with his late thrust on the rail grabbing the spoils from Dragon Dancer and Dylan Thomas, and that makes it easy to forget how good he was as a juvenile, remaining unbeaten in four starts, including the Group Two Vintage Stakes at Goodwood and the Group One Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket, where he accounted for Horatio Nelson by a neck.

From a family that is not short of stamina, Sir Percy ran a remarkable race on his debut at three when he was second to that thrilling miler George Washington in the 2000 Guineas. Despite that, he was sent off at 6-1 for the Derby, which was ultimately to prove his last win.

Absent from the track due to injury until the Champion Stakes in October, Sir Percy never showed his best form again, well-beaten in four starts in Group One company. A glimmer of hope came when fourth to Hong Kong’s Vengeance Of Rain in the Dubai Sheema Classic after a troubled passage, but back in England trainer Marcus Tregoning drew stumps after the colt was last in Manduro’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

Sir Percy is by Mark Of Esteem, Sheikh Mohammed’s 2000 Guineas and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner (whose undeclared knee injury sustained as a juvenile had prompted the Sheikh’s split from trainer Henry Cecil). Mark Of Esteem retired at a fee of £20,000 but that had fallen to £7,000 until Sir Percy’s success justified an increase to £12,000 before fertility problems forced his retirement from covering duties prior to the 2007 season.

The dam, Percy’s Lass won the Group Three September Stakes as a four-year-old, having won an Oaks trial and been a leading hope for Epsom in her Classic year. She disappointed her owner as a broodmare, leading to her sale, in foal to Mark Of Esteem, to The Old Suffolk Stud for 28,000 gns in 1998. That foal was sufficiently imposing to see her returned to Mark Of Esteem each year until 2002, which mating produced Sir Percy, her final foal.

By a Derby winner out of an Oaks fourth, Percy’s Lass has some serious speed further back in her pedigree, with sprinters Urshalim and Horama as her fourth and fifth dams. This exceptional family has produced a host of top-class winners including Teenoso, Most Welcome, Ashaya, Old Country, Kirtling and Lucky Sovereign as well as recent winners Imperial Dancer, Rule Of Law and Harayir.

Race record

At 2
1st Dewhurst Stakes, G1, 7f, Newmarket
1st Vintage Stakes, G2, 7f, Goodwood

At 3
1st Derby Stakes, G1, 12f, Epsom
2nd 2000 Guineas, G1, 8f, Newmarket

Pedigree of SIR PERCY (GB), 2003

Stud details

Stands: Lanwades Stud.

Fee: £8,000.

Amadeus Wolf | Arcadio | Authorized | Baltic King | Cockney Rebel | Common World | Dark Angel | Dutch Art | Dylan Thomas | Echo Of Light | Excellent Art | Heliostatic | Jeremy | Lawman | Manduro | Milk It Mick | Misu Bond | Moss Vale | Notnowcato | Orientor | Primary | Rail Link | Red Clubs | Scorpion | Sir Percy | Strategic Prince | Teofilo | Three Valleys | Vital Equine | Windsor Knot |