Balanchine (horse)

Balanchine ran twice as a juvenile in September 1993. Her reputation obviously preceded her, as she was made 1/2 favourite for a fifteen-runner maiden race at Salisbury which she "easily" won by three lengths.[3] Two weeks later at Newbury she led all the way to win a minor stakes event by seven lengths at odds of 2/11 in "impressive" style.[4]

Although she had not contested a Group race, she had established herself as a promising filly and attracted the attention of Maktoum Al Maktoum, who bought her privately and sent her to join his family's then experimental Godolphin team.[5]

As a Godolphin horse, she was sent to spend the winter in Dubai under the care of Hilal Ibrahim. The idea was that the warmer conditions would allow horses to develop more quickly, giving them an advantage in the early part of the European Flat-racing season.[6]

On her return to England, Balanchine was sent straight for the 1000 Guineas without a "prep" race. She started as a 20/1 outsider despite the belief that her winter preparation had given her an advantage in terms of physical maturity.[7] She finished strongly but failed by a short head to catch the Irish-trained filly Las Meninas who set a race record of 1:36.71.[8] The winner was the property of Balanchine's original owner Robert Sangster.

Balanchine was then sent to Epsom for the Oaks Stakes, for which she was made 6/1 third favourite.[9] The filly coped well with the soft ground and "driving rain", staying on strongly to win by two and a half lengths and become the first Classic winner for Godolphin. Sheikh Mohammed pointed out the significance of the Balanchine's performance: 'This experiment has obviously worked. We will now have to think about campaigning horses from Dubai all over the world.'[1]

The decision was then taken to bypass the usual fillies' targets, and instead take on the colts in the Irish Derby at the Curragh. Balanchine justified her owners' belief, taking up the lead half a mile out and staying on strongly to win by four and a half lengths from The Derby runner-up King's Theatre. Her rider, Frankie Dettori, described her as "unbelievable".[10] It was intended that she would be rested and then aimed at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe but less than three weeks later she contracted colic and became gravely ill. An emergency operation and intensive veterinary treatment saved her life, but there was no prospect of her racing again that season.[11]

Almost a year after her last start, Balanchine re-appeared as the odds-on favourite for the Prince of Wales's Stakes (then a Group Two race) at Royal Ascot but finish fifth of the six runners behind Muhtarram, being eased down in the closing stages.[12]

In a slowly run Prix Foy at Longchamp her performance suggested that she might have been coming back to her best,[13] as she finished a short-head second to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Carnegie, after leading for most of the race.[14] On her final start she made no impression in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, finishing down the field behind Lammtarra.[15] Her rider, Walter Swinburn, said that he was "always fighting a losing battle on Balanchine."[16] She was then retired to stud.