Petite Etoile
| Petite Etoile | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Petition |
| Grandsire | Fair Trial |
| Dam | Star Of Iran |
| Damsire | Bois Roussel |
| Sex | Filly |
| Foaled | 1956 |
| Country | Great Britain |
| Colour | Grey |
| Breeder | Aga Khan III & Prince Aly Khan |
| Owner | Prince Aly Khan Aga Khan IV |
| Trainer | Noel Murless |
| Record | 19: 14-5-0 |
| Earnings | £72,626 |
| Major wins | |
|
1000 Guineas (1959) Epsom Oaks (1959) Sussex Stakes (1959) Yorkshire Oaks (1959) Champion Stakes (1959) Victor Wild Stakes (1960) Coronation Cup (1960, 1961) Coronation Stakes (1961) Rous Memorial Stakes (1961) |
|
| Awards | |
| British Horse of the Year (1959) | |
| Honours | |
| Timeform Top-rated three-year-old filly (1959) Timeform Top-rated Older Female (1960, 1961) |
|
Petite Etoile (foaled 1956) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. In a career which lasted from June 1958 until September 1961 she won fourteen of her nineteen races and finished second in the other five. After showing promising, but unexceptional form in 1958, she improved to be the British Horse of the Year in 1959, winning all six of her races including the Classic 1000 Guineas and Epsom Oaks. She remained in training for two further seasons, winning major races including consecutive runnings of the Coronation Cup.
Petite Etoile, whose name was French for "Little Star", was a grey filly bred by HH Aga Khan III and his son Prince Aly Khan. She was sired by Petition, whose wins included the Eclipse Stakes. Petite Etoile's dam, Star of Iran, from whom she inherited her grey coat was a full sister to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Migoli. As a descendant of Mumtaz Mahal, Petite Etoile was a member of the same branch of Thoroughbred family 9-c which produced Shergar, Oh So Sharp and Risen Star. The filly was sent into training with Noel Murless at his Warren Place stables in Newmarket, Suffolk. During her racing career, Petite Etoile was a Dapple grey although, like most grey horses, her coat lightened with age.
On her first race as a two-year-old Petite Etoile was beaten by eight lengths by a colt named Chris in a two-horse race at Manchester Racecourse. Chris went on to become a top class sprinter, winning the King's Stand Stakes in 1959. In July she won the Star Stakes at Sandown and finished second to Krakenwake in the Molecomb Stakes at Goodwood. In August Petite Etoile won the Rose Stakes at Sandown very easily at odds of 1/6. At the end of the season, she was rated fourteen pounds below the top-rated colt Tudor Melody and nine pounds behind the top-rated fillies Rosalba and Lindsay. She was considered a fast filly who would be unlikely to make an impression beyond sprint distances.
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