Diminuendo (horse)

Diminuendo
Racing colours of Sheikh Mohammed
Sire	Diesis
Grandsire	Sharpen Up
Dam	Cacti
Damsire	Tom Rolfe
Sex	Mare
Foaled	9 Feb 1985
Country	United Kingdom
Colour	Chestnut
Breeder	Nancy S Dillman
Owner	Sheikh Mohammed
Trainer	Henry Cecil
Record	10:6-1-2
Earnings	£590,079
Major wins
Cherry Hinton Stakes (1987) Fillies' Mile (1987) Musidora Stakes (1988) Gold Seal Oaks (1988) Irish Oaks (1988) Yorkshire Oaks (1988)
Awards
Top-rated European three-year-old filly (1988) Timeform top-rated three-year-old filly (1988) Timeform rating 126

Diminuendo (9 February 1985 – 2010) was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare best known for winning the classic Epsom Oaks in 1988. She was one of the best two-year-old fillies of 1987, when she won all four of her races including the Cherry Hinton Stakes and Fillies' Mile. In 1988 she was beaten in her first two races, but won her next four, taking the Musidora Stakes, Epsom Oaks, Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks. She finished second when favourite for the St. Leger Stakes and ended her racing career by finishing unplaced in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, but was rated the best three-year-old filly of the season in Europe. She was then retired to stud, where she had some success as a broodmare.

Diminuendo was a chestnut filly with a white star and three white socks, bred in Kentucky by Nancy Dillman. She was from the first crop of foals sired by Diesis, a British-bred stallion who was the top-rated two-year-old in Europe in 1982. Diesis went on to become a successful breeding stallion, and though based at Mill Ridge Stud in Kentucky, he had his greatest successes in Europe: his best winners included Love Divine, Ramruma, Elmaamul and Halling. Diminuendo's dam, the American-bred mare Cacti, also produced Pricket, a filly who finished second in the 1996 Epsom Oaks.

Diminuendo was bought by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (always known as "Sheikh Mohammed" in racing circles) and was sent to be trained by Henry Cecil at his Warren Place Stables in Newmarket. The filly was ridden in all her major victories by the American jockey Steve Cauthen.