Blushing 

by Nigel Pullen ©

One of the most successful nicks in recent years has been the combination of Blushing Groom and Nijinsky II. Both were top class racehorses and sires in their own right, but when they were combined in a pedigree, then things really started to happen.

Nijinsky II was one of the truly great racehorses of the Twentieth Century. Unbeaten in his opening eleven races, and the first English Triple Crown winner for 35 years, he met his initial defeat when just failing to hold Sassafras in the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe after a long season. Foaled seven years after Nijinsky II, Blushing Groom was not quite in that league, but nevertheless was top class miler, and winner of seven races including the French 2000 Guineas. When asked to tackle twelve furlongs in the Epsom Derby he failed to stay, but his class carried him through to third place, the race ironically being won by Nijinsky II's three-quarter brother, The Minstrel.

The potency of the Blushing Groom/Nijinsky II nick comes from two separate sets of genetic relatives, namely Owen Tudor/Nearctic and Spring Run/Flaming Page, who as we shall see, actually complement each other.

Let us begin with the first pair, Owen Tudor and Nearctic. Owen Tudor won a war-time English Derby, and as a four-year-old took the Ascot Gold Cup, although, on the whole, he had a rather inconsistent racing record. This was reflected in his career as a stallion, for although he sired some very good horses, they were few and far between. His offspring tended to take after their dams as far as stamina was concerned, with winners as diverse as the brilliant sprinter Abernant, an equally brilliant miler in Tudor Minstrel, and an Ascot Gold Cup winner in Elpenor. Owen Tudor's appearance in Blushing Groom's pedigree came via his son Tudor Minstrel, whose daughter Aimee was the granddam of Blushing Groom.

Nearctic did his racing in Canada, where he won 21 of his 42 starts over four seasons. At the end of his juvenile season, Nearctic had won seven races, four of them stakes events, and was declared Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old. The following season was less successful with just four wins from thirteen starts, but as a four-year-old, he recaptured his form winning nine times, including the Michigan Mile. He retired to stud in 1960, and few could have realised the significance when he entered the breeding shed on the 28th June of that year, to cover the recently retired racemare Natalma. The result of the union would be Northern Dancer, a stallion that would change the face of the thoroughbred breeding industry forever. It was through Northern Dancer that Nearctic is found in Nijinsky's pedigree.

Let us now compare the pedigree backgrounds of Owen Tudor and Nearctic. Owen Tudor was by Hyperion out of Mary Tudor by Pharos out of Anna Bolena; a background which bears a striking similarity to that of Nearctic, who was by Nearco (by Pharos - Nogara) out of Lady Angela by Hyperion. However, the relationship went a lot deeper than simply having opposite sex strains of Pharos and Hyperion. Owen Tudor's granddam, the French 1000 Guineas winner Anna Bolena, was a granddaughter of Ajax, and her dam Queen Elizabeth II was a three quarter sister to Spearmint, being by Wargrave (by Carbine - Warble) out of New Guinea by Minting. [Spearmint was by Carbine out of Maid of The Mint by Minting out of Warble.]  This closely matched the pedigree of Nogara, who was by Havresac II (maternal grandsire Ajax) out of a mare by Spearmint. This effectively made Owen Tudor and Nearctic three-quarter genetic relatives, thanks to the combination of Hyperion, Pharos with either Anna Bolena or Nogara.

The second pair of close genetic relatives behind the Blushing Groom/Nijinsky II nick was Spring Run and Flaming Page. Their racing records were quite contrasting, Spring Run being unraced, while Flaming Page proved a top class filly in Canada, where she won the Queen's Plate and Canadian Oaks, before coming to America to finish second in the Kentucky Oaks. Spring Run enters Blushing Groom's pedigree as the dam of Blushing Groom's sire Red God. The latter raced in England at two where he won the Richmond Stakes, and then crossed the Atlantic to continue his career in America, winning four more races there. He was a typical chip off the Nasrullah block, exhibiting a fair share of temperament, and passing it on to many of his offspring. Nevertheless, he was certainly a better sire than a racehorse, and apart from Blushing Groom, sired the likes of Green God, Greenland Park, Jacinth, Red Alert, Red Lord, St. Alphage, and Yellow God.

At stud, Flaming Page had a very mixed record. She produced just three foals, but they were each to enhance her reputation. Her first, Fleur, won three times, but more importantly became dam of both the Epsom Derby winner The Minstrel (by Northern Dancer) and the useful sire Far North. Flaming Page's other two foals were both colts by Northern Dancer. The second of these, named Minsky, won races in Ireland and America, before ending up at stud in Japan; and the other was the peerless Nijinsky II.

What were the factors that linked the pedigrees of Spring Run and Flaming Page? Spring Run was by Menow out of a mare by Bull Dog, making her a three quarter genetic relative to Flaming Page, who was 3x5 to the full brothers Bull Dog and Sir Gallahad III, and was also out of a mare by Menow. However, the real clincher was how well the pedigrees of Spring Run and Flaming Page complemented the other two close genetic relatives in the Blushing Groom/Nijinsky II nick, namely Nearctic and Owen Tudor.

The best way to illustrate this is whole inter-relationship is in tabular form, highlighting the common strains found in Nearctic, Owen Tudor, Spring Run and Flaming Page. The figures in brackets indicating the generation that horse appeared.

Note that Hyperion and Pharamond II were half brothers, while Nogara, Anna Bolena and Bull Dog/Sir Gallahad IIIwere themselves closely related as the following table illustrates; Spearmint and Queen Elizabeth II being three quarter genetic relatives.

Just to show how successful this nick has been we only have to look at some the top class performers combining both Blushing Groom and Nijinsky II within the first four generations of their pedigrees. There are three Epsom Derby winners in Kahyasi, Quest For Fame and Lammtarra, together with this year's English 2000 Guineas hero and Epsom Derby runner-up Golan. Other G1 winners include last year's Emirates World Series winner Fantastic Light, together with Auriette, Blushing K D, Free My Heart, Louis Cyphre, Nadia, Peaks And Valleys, Sky Beauty, Spook Express, Tie The Knot and Wandesta. These are just the G1 winners, and the G2 and G3 scorers are too numerous to mention. It would be wrong to give all the credit for these very good racehorses to the Blushing Groom/Nijinsky nick, but it certainly helped!

Although this article has concentrated on the nick between Blushing Groom and Nijinsky II, there are plenty of other ways this information can be utilised by breeders. Simply concentrate on accumulating strains containing Bull Dog/Sir Gallahad III, Menow, Owen Tudor, Nogara and Nearctic. One stallion who was particularly strong in these strains was Known Fact, and as an added bonus, his sire In Reality traced back to a mare sired by Wax Bullet, the latter being a three quarter brother to the aforementioned Spearmint and Queen Elizabeth II's sire Wargrave. Other sources of the cross of Menow with either Bull Dog or his full brother Sir Gallahad III include Tom Fool, First Rose (the ancestress of Royal Academy and Storm Cat) and Vienna (granddam of Baldric II).