| Abernant | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Sire | Owen Tudor |
| Grandsire | Hyperion |
| Dam | Rustom Mahal (FR) |
| Damsire | Rustom Pasha |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1946 |
| Country | Great Britain |
| Colour | Grey |
| Breeder | Catherine Macdonald-Buchanan |
| Owner | Reginald Macdonald-Buchanan |
| Trainer | Noel Murless |
| Record | 17: 14-2-0 |
| Earnings | £26,394[1] |
| Major wins | |
| Chesham Stakes (1948) Middle Park Stakes (1948) Champagne Stakes (1948) National Breeders' Produce Stakes (1948) King's Stand Stakes (1949) July Cup (1949, 1950) Nunthorpe Stakes (1949, 1950) King George Stakes (1949, 1950) | |
| Awards | |
| Timeform top-rated two-year-old colt (1948) Timeform top-rated three-year-old colt (1949) Timeform top-rated older male (1950) Timeform top-rated horse (1949, 1950)[2] Timeform rating: 142 | |
| Honours | |
| Abernant Stakes atNewmarket Racecourse | |
| Last updated on 5 March 2025 | |
Abernant (1946–1970) was a BritishThoroughbredracehorse and sire. In a career which lasted from May 1948 until 1950, he ran 17 times and won 14 races. He was the best British two-year-old of 1948 and returned from a narrow defeat in the 2000 Guineas to become the dominant sprinter in Britain in 1949 and 1950. Abernant's Timeform rating is the highest for a sprinter in Europe since World War II. He sired the winners of over 1,000 races.
Abernant was a dark-grey horse bred by Catherine Macdonald-Buchanan and raced in the colours of her husband Reginald Macdonald-Buchanan. He was sired by theEpsom Derby winner Owen Tudor, byHyperion, a son of theEnglish Triple Crown winner,Gainsborough. Abernant's dam, Rustam Mahal, was a non-winning daughter of Rustom Pasha and the very important broodmareMumtaz Mahal who in turn was sired byThe Tetrarch.[1] Abernant was a half brother to Kurdistan (by Tehran) who was a successful sire inNew Zealand, siring among others, Baghdad Note, a winner of theMelbourne Cup.[3][4] horse during his racing career although like all grey horses, his coat lightened as he aged. Abernant was sent into training withNoel Murless atBeckhampton in Wiltshire.
Abernant was beaten on his debut in a race atLingfield, but won his remaining five races in 1948. He won theChesham Stakes atRoyal Ascot, theNational Breeders' Produce Stakes atSandown, theChampagne Stakes atDoncaster (beatingNimbus by six lengths)[5] and theMiddle Park Stakes atNewmarket. His only serious challenge came in the National Stakes in which he had to be ridden out by Richards to beatStar King.
At the end of the year, he was rated the best British two-year-old in the Free Handicap.[2] Timeform Annual of 1948 Stated “has terrific speed: runs very freely and although in each of his last 2 races he did not appear to have anything left in him at the finish: top class racehorse.” Timeform rated Abernant at 133 as a two-year-old.[6]
On his first appearance as a three-year-old, Abernant won over seven furlongs atBath and was then moved up to one mile to contest the one mile2000 Guineas atNewmarket. He started favourite[7] at odds of5/9 and led from the start under Gordon Richards. In the closing stages his stamina failed and he was caught and beaten a short head byNimbus in the closest finish in the race's history.[8] Following his defeat at Newmarket, Abernant reverted to sprint distances and went through the rest of the season unbeaten.[9] His wins included theKing's Stand Stakes, theJuly Cup, theKing George Stakes and theNunthorpe Stakes. In the Nunthorpe he won by five lengths despite only taking the lead inside the final furlong.[10]
At age four in 1950, he was beaten in the King's Stand Stakes, when he failed to concede twenty-three pounds to the three-year-old Tangle. He won the Lubbock Sprint Stakes atSandown Park Racecourse, to give Richards his 4000th winner.[3] He repeated as the easy winner of the July Cup, the Nunthorpe Stakes and the King George Stakes. He ended his career that year with fourteen wins from the seventeen races he entered.[9] On Abernant's retirement, Murless said that "there is nothing left for him to win".[11]
Abernant'sTimeform rating of 142 equals that ofRibot as the fourth-best ever awarded. In the years that followed his retirement, among the many accolades,The Independent newspaper wrote that Abernant "was the best sprinter ever to grace a racecourse."[12] Timeform rated Abernant the best horse of his generation in Europe at ages two, three and four. He was the joint-highest rated horse of 1949 (with the stayerAlycidon) and the highest-rated horse of 1950.[2]
In their bookA Century of Champions, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Abernant the best British sprinter of the century and the no. 20 horse in their global ranking.[13]
Gordon Richards described Abernant as the fastest horse he ever rode.[11]
Abernant sired the winners of over 1,000 races, includingAbermaid (19621,000 Guineas Stakes), Even Star (Irish 1,000 Guineas), Welsh Rake (1963Queen Anne Stakes), Zahedan (1965 National Stakes) and Thin Ice (Sanford Stakes).[14]
He died in 1970 at age twenty-four and is buried at Egerton Stud inNewmarket. In an interview with trainer Mark Tompkins, Julie Murless, the daughter of Abernant's trainer, recalled that the gentle horse loved children and as a child of five she would sit on his back.[15]
| Sire Owen Tudor 1938 | Hyperion Ch. 1930 | Gainsborough | Bayardo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rosedrop | |||
| Selene | Chaucer | ||
| Serenissima | |||
| Mary Tudor 1931 | Pharos | Phalaris | |
| Scapa Flow | |||
| Anna Bolena | Teddy | ||
| Queen Elizabeth | |||
| Dam Rustom Mahal 1934 | Rustom Pasha 1927 | Son-in-Law | Dark Ronald |
| Mother in Law | |||
| Cos | Flying Orb | ||
| Renaissance | |||
| Mumtaz Mahal Gr. 1921 | The Tetrarch | Roi Herode | |
| Vahren | |||
| Lady Josephine | Sundridge | ||
| Americus Girl (Family: 9-c)[16] |
