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Miesque by Carey Warner Photos by John Crofts 
Sometimes greatness is measured in neither dollar amounts, nor minutes and seconds.
Sometimes it’s measured in good old-fashioned heart and class, virtues which can be only
be estimated by circumstance and, often, sheer luck. Other times, greatness can be
measured in an athlete’s ability to perform at his or her best consistently. But
whatever method you measure greatness by, a bay mare named Miesque is a cut-above the
rest.
With purse earnings exceeding $2 million, she is among the leading money-earning fillies and mares in the world. Winner of the Breeders' Cup Mile in both 1987 and 1988 with winning times rivaling some of the fastest in the history of the race, this mare held multiple Championships in France, England, and America, and in 1987, she was voted for Championships in all three countries in a single season. Making her even more extraordinary is that, unlike many other great race mares before her, Miesque did something quite unexpected when she retired: she became every bit as awesome a broodmare as she’d been on the track. Miesque’s first foal is G1 Stakes winner and formidable sire Kingmambo who, with an Average Earnings Index of 3.42 (which is very high when one considers that Native Dancer’s AEI was only 3.15), is the sire of such great horses as Lemon Drop Kid (Winner of the Belmont, Travers, and Futurity Stakes, among many others, and who is a leading contender for the Breeders’ Cup this year), Champion (Japan) El Condor Pasa, and other stakes winners. After Kingmambo, Miesque continued to produce quality foals; she is also the dam of G1 Champion 3-year-old Miler and stakes producer East of the Moon (dam of G3 Moon Driver), G3 Stakes winner and sire Miesque’s Son, and Stakes winner Moon Is Up, and with the exception of 1995, she has produced a foal every year since she retired; she is currently believed to be in foal by Storm Cat. Most recently, a weanling colt sired by A.P. Indy was born this past spring who will surely to be another great representation of Miesque’s unique ability to reproduce the steadfastness which made her a legend in her own time. Owned by the late Stavros S. Niarchos and bred by Flaxman Holdings, Ltd., Miesque was born of the truest, bluest blood on March 14, 1984. Her sire is the immortal European Champion 3-year-old Colt (France) and leading sire of grass horses, Nureyev; Nureyev, a stallion of great presence and a son of champion Northern Dancer, would come to sire the likes of Horse of the Year and Champion 3-year-old Colt (England) Zilzal, Champion Grass/Older Male Theatrical, Champion 3-year-old Colt in Ireland and Champion Older Male in Ireland Spinning World, and countless other Champions. As of June 12, 2000, Nureyev’s progeny has earned over $50 million on both European and American lawn. Miesque’s dam, Pasadoble, was a multiple French stakes winner of both the Prix de la Calonne and the Prix de Liancourt, and she was by the winner of the G1 Woodward and the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, a stallion named Prove Out. Of ten foals Pasadoble would produce in her lifetime, seven would race. Of those seven, five were winners and two of them stakes winners: Miesque and her 1988 full sister Massaraat, winner of the Prix Amandine. Under the careful eye of trainer Francois Boutin, Miesque would only be raced four times at two; perhaps even then he suspected Nureyev’s tendency to get late-maturing progeny who would be best at age three and beyond. But Boutin did not have low expectations for the rather plain-looking bay filly who had a fondness for the simpler things in life, particularly sugar and honey; what she lacked in flashiness she made up for in talent, toughness and character. Miesque’s first lifetime start would be in the Prix de Lisieux at Deauville in France on August 9, 1986. She won handily by two lengths, then galloped off a couple of weeks later to compete in the Group 1 Prix Morny, also at Deauville, where she finished third. Boutin continued to aim high with his prodigy after her admirable effort in the Prix Morny. With unwavering faith in the bay filly’s ability, Boutin entered Miesque in the Group 1 Prix de la Salamandre and she did not disappoint. After winning the Prix de la Salamandre, she won the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac and was named France’s Champion Juvenile Filly.  At three, it would seem that Miesque and her trainer, Francois Boutin, were stricken with
a bit of wanderlust; they won the Prix Imprudence in France in early April, then went to
England to dominate the British racing scene with a win in the Group 1 General Accident
One Thousand Guineas. Back in France, Miesque won the Dubai Poule d’Essai de Pouliches
(the French One Thousand Guineas).
In her first and only attempt at a distance of 1 ¼ mile, Miesque would taste defeat for the first time in seven starts in the French Oaks (Prix de Diane-Hermes), handed to her by Sheikh Mohammed’s talented filly, Indian Skimmer. In an interesting twist of fate, Miesque’s daughter, East of the Moon, would come back seven years later to vindicate her mother’s loss in the Prix de Diane. Miesque, like the true professional she was, took her loss in stride and came back, none worse for the wear, in August to win the Prix de Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques Le Marois, reaffirming herself as the best miler in Europe. After the Prix Jacques le Marois, she won the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, beating Group 1 winner Soviet Star by two and a half lengths. As if she had nothing left to prove in France, she returned to England for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at the Royal Ascot. But Miesque just wasn’t herself that day; she failed to close in her usual fashion, finishing second to Milligram (GB), whom Miesque had defeated twice before in both the Prix Marcel Boussac and in the One Thousand Guineas. Even in light of Miesque’s less-than-expected performance in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, neither Boutin nor Niarchos lost faith in Miesque. Boutin had not lowered his sights at all for the Queen of the Turf, either. He set about preparing Miesque for a trip to America for one of the most prestigious one-mile races in the world: the fourth running of the Breeders' Cup Mile. At the Breeders' Cup Mile, Miesque would face the world’s greatest milers, mostly males and many of them over the age of three, which had proven themselves to be the best of their individual geographical regions. Because of the common belief that fillies are the "weaker" sex, the idea of a filly winning the Breeders' Cup Mile was almost unimaginable and the notion that a three-year-old filly could win was laughable. But as history would have it, Miesque would have the last laugh. It was a beautiful day at Hollywood Park - sunny and 73° - and the course was firm. The field for the Breeders' Cup was packed with fourteen of the world’s finest milers which included English Champion miler Sonic Lady (a four-year-old filly whose sire was also Nureyev) and Miesque’s rival, Milligram (GB). Tucked neatly in the fourth post position and carrying 120 lbs., Miesque broke midpack as Show Dancer, equaling top weight of 126 lbs., went right to the lead just out from the rail. Champion Sonic Lady was a bit rank early on before being steadied along the rail to save ground. Then, like a cat stalking a mouse, Miesque began to creep up on the leader, Show Dancer. By the ½, she was third by a head without much effort. Approaching the top of the stretch, Miesque began making her move along the rail to explode into a final mad dash for the wire. Jockey Freddy Head never even went for the whip; Miesque drew away easily under a hand ride to win by 3 ½ over Show Dancer, who was closely followed by Sonic Lady. Her performance in the Breeders' Cup was so brilliant that Miesque was voted the Eclipse Award for Female Turf Champion off that lone North American start; she was also named Champion Three-Year-Old Filly and Champion Miler in both England and France that same year. Miesque’s career slowly began to wind down in 1988, but it would not be reflected in the quality of her performances, but instead in the number of starts she would make. By the conclusion of the ’88 racing season, Miesque would make only four starts, each no less brilliant than the others that had colored the canvas of her career. She began the season with a win in the Prix d’Ispahan in late May and wasn’t raced again until August, when she won the Prix Jacques Le Marois for the second year in a row. Miesque’s next stop was in the Prix de Moulin, which would be her seventh lifetime start against males; after being blocked by traffic nearly throughout, she broke free to explode into the final yards, missing the win by a mere head to Soviet Star. After her narrow loss in the Prix de Moulin, Miesque was returned to North America to defend her Championship title as she attempted to become the first horse to win two Breeders' Cup Championship races back-to-back. It was a killer field of twelve super-horses which included European star Warning (whom Miesque defeated in the Prix Jacques Le Marois earlier that year), Belmont Stakes winner Bet Twice, Arlington Million hero Mill Native, and champion Blushing John. The weather on that November 5 at Churchill Downs in Kentucky wasn’t nearly as amiable as it’d been the year before at Hollywood Park. Cool autumn air chilled the bones with brisk 50° temperatures as it drizzled rain throughout much of the day. The turf was rated as "good," but the grass was wet and tough for the horses’ hooves to grab. Breaking from the outside in the tenth post position, Miesque relaxed out of the gate and settled well back. The soft turf was familiar to this filly, reminiscent of the usual conditions of the lawn in Europe. She raced contentedly until she approached the half, then she began making her move. At the top of the stretch, she pulled wide to catch the leaders with just a furlong to go. Niccolo Polo, Simply Majestic and Steinlen were no match for this great filly, though, and she swiftly drew past them into daylight under left-handed urging by Freddy Head to win by 4 lengths; Steinlen finished second with Simply Majestic in for show. Miesque’s decisive win in that fifth running of the Breeders' Cup Mile etched her name in history as the first horse to win two consecutive Breeders' Cup races, a feat later repeated by only two other horses since: Bayakoa (Arg) in 1989 and 1990 in the Breeders' Cup Distaff and Lure in 1992 and 1993 in the Breeders' Cup Mile. Miesque set another New Course Record in the 1988 Breeders' Cup, and once again, she was voted the Eclipse Award as Champion Turf Female based on that single North American start. She was retired after her Breeders' Cup win and bred to Mr. Prospector for a 1990 foal. Her first foal, a colt who was later named Kingmambo, would go on to Win the Dubai Poule d’Essai des Poulains (FR-1), the Emirates Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (FR-1), and the St. James Palace S. (Eng-1). Kingmambo would retire and become successful at stud, siring the likes of Champion (Japan) El Condor Pasa, Belmont Winner Lemon Drop Kid (you’ll be able to catch him in this year’s Breeders' Cup), and several other graded and group stakes winners. In just three crops of foals, his success at stud has amounted to over $12 million in earnings by his progeny. Miesque was bred to Private Account for her second foal, a filly who would be named East of the Moon. This awesome filly went on to win the Dubai Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (FR-1) and would be named Champion 3-year-old Filly in France. She was later retired and has since produced G3 Moon Driver, winner of the Prix d’Arenberg in France. After the birth of her 1991 foal, Miesque was bred back to Mr. Prospector again, a mating which produced another colt, later named Miesque’s Son, a Group winner in France who was also retired to stud. In his first crop of 2-year-olds racing in 2000, Miesque’s Son has already sired two stakes horses: Croom, a filly out of Sociable Duck (by Quack), who placed second in the Junior Champion Stakes at Monmouth Park on August 27, and Mr. Miesque, a colt out of Klassy Briefcase (by Medieval Man), who placed second in the El Joven Stakes at Retama on September 2. Following Miesque’s Son, she was bred to Woodman, producing a filly who was named Moon Is Up. She went on to win the Prix de Lieury in France at age three. Her first foal is a filly by Sunday Silence who is currently training in France. The next daughter of Miesque was Monevassia, another filly by Mr. Prospector; she was placed at two in France and has since been retired. Miesque’s legacy continues with her two-year-old daughter, Inventing Paradise (by Mr. Prospector) who comfortably won the Prix Zariba at Maisons-Laffitte in France by two full lengths on October 10, 2000. Miesque was inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1999 to celebrate her back-to-back Breeders' Cup wins and other lifetime accomplishments. Born: 1984 Current: broodmare Trainer: Francois Boutin Owner: Stavros S. Niarchos Jockey: Freddie Head Breeder: Flaxman Holdings, Ltd. (Ky) Pedigree:
Racing Record:
Career Highlights: at 2: at 3: at 4: Produce Record: Miesque is the dam of 9 foals, 5 runners, 4 winners, 4 SWs: |