On Monday of this week, 3 November, a feature article in the prestigious American racing journal, Daily Racing Form, was headed “Norman Bunker Hunt left indelible mark” and it described the permanent imprint left on US horse racing by Hunt, an astonishing Dallas oil millionaire, whose amazing larger-than-life story is the stuff of legend.
He died just two weeks ago, on 21 October, 2014, at the age of 88, after a battle with cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. At one time, he was reputed to be the world’s richest man, and his fame as a wealthy oilman and multi millionaire inspired a television company to base what became a world-famous TV series, on his family’s life story and wealth. Remember “Dallas”, stetson-wearing JR Ewing and his brother, Bobby?
Hard to imagine that such an amazing Texan and his younger brother William could have any possible connection with the midlands of Ireland – or the town of Mullingar – but truth is stranger than fiction. While the Hunts may have never heard of Westmeath, one of the most famous horses owned by the legendary Texas horse breeder, ‘Vaguely Noble’ came from Cleaboy Stud, just outside Mullingar. And the horse nurtured by Maureen and Maeve McKeever for the estate of Major Lionel B Holliday at Cleaboy had a success story of his own on a par with his American billionaire owner, the late Nelson Bunker Hunt.
Mullingar area near Lough Ennell has always been famed for its stud farms, and Cleaboy Stud, located at Kilpatrick, Ballinea, just two miles from the Westmeath capital, has produced more than its share of famous horses.
Like the other noted stud farms, Charlestown and Tallyho beside Lough Ennell, Cleaboy was considered ideal for rearing horses, because the fields are on good limestone land. Foals brought from England with weak legs and apparently poor prospects were regularly transformed into powerful animals with winning capabilities at Cleaboy as well as at other local stud farms.
CIARAN TELLS THE STORY
Well known Mullingar man Ciaran O’Donnell -who has an abiding interest in horses and the horse breeding industry – alerted Topic last week to the links between Cleaboy and the Texan millionaire who had died just a week or so earlier, and related the story of Cleaboy’s ‘Vaguely Noble’. And Ciaran told us an intriguing, little-known tale of major horse breeding and racing success for a Mullingar bred animal – and one legendary horse breeder’s incredible wealth.
Explained Ciaran: “A horse was foaled out at Cleaboy beside Lough Ennell in 1965, the same year that Major Holliday, millionaire English owner of Cleaboy, died. Major Holliday, one of the most highly regarded of studmasters, had shirt and textile interests in Birmingham and Huddersfield, and his firm actually made the shirts the Beatles wore on their first TV appearance. The stallion foal at Cleaboy was in poor health at first and didn’t look any prospect and was going to be disposed of, but he was kept on, and suddenly he developed as a yearling into a sturdy flier of a horse,” said Ciaran.
“In the late 1950s, Maureen Kiernan had joined her sister Maeve to work at Cleaboy Stud farm, owned by the millionaire Englishman. The two sisters were dedicated to their work, looking after foals up to yearling stage under the trainer, Major Hearn’s guidance. He had an expert eye for horses, acquiring them for training and then for disposal at Newmarket sales every October. Maureen was night nurse for the young horses, and she had great regard for local Mullingar vet, the late Mick Murphy, whom she described as “a wizard with sick horses.”
The Kiernan sisters’ list of notable horses included champions like Foxtrot, Silver Fox, Brown Sabre, Ida, and Valetta, but of all the horses that Maureen Kiernan and her sister looked after for Major Halliday and his son at Cleaboy, without any doubt it was the foal ‘Vaguely Noble’ that proved to be the greatest animal ever produced at the Mullingar stud farm!
NOTABLE PROGENY
The foal was the progeny of Winston Churchill’s famous sire ‘Vienna’ and Major Holliday’s foundation mare ‘Noble Lassie’ and thus was named ‘Vaguely Noble’ – the animal now considered one of the three greatest winners of the world’s premier horse race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
After Major Holliday’s death in December 1965, Walter Wharton took over the training of Holliday’s horses. The final consignment of the Holliday bloodstock wasn’t sold until December 1967, but that August, ‘Vaguely Noble’ had made his debut in Newcastle, losing by a neck. After one other loss, he blossomed in October, winning the Sandwich Stakes by 12 lengths, and then the Observer Gold Cup by 7 lengths, despite being badly boxed in. Having beaten fine horses in magnificent style, there was now huge interest.
Ciaran explained: “The press were alerted to a lot of activity at the December sales, with people trying to buy ‘Vaguely Noble’. There were Japanese, French, English, Arabs and American buyers fighting it out. The opening bid was a huge 80,000 guineas, and in three minutes, it went up to a record breaking 136,000 guineas – a world record price for a racehorse! It was bought by an American acting agent, Dr. Robert Franklyn.
‘Vaguely Noble’ initially came back to Ireland, to be trained by Paddy Prendergast, and then was taken to France to be trained by Etienne Pollet, and it was while there that he was purchased by Nelson Bunker Hunt. The American’s eye for top quality was borne out by the Mullingar-bred horse’s subsequent record.
Writing this week in Daily Racing Form, Mary Rampellini described how Norman B. Hunt’s breeding operation “led by Vaguely Noble, turned out classic-distance horses, preserving the centuries-old tradition of the thoroughbred.”
To return to 1968 and France, ‘Vaguely Noble’ first won the Prix de Guiche in April and the Prix de Lys in June. In September, ridden by Bill Williamson, who had ridden him to two wins in Britain the year before, the great colt won the Prix de Chantilly, beating a top class field easing up, including the French 2,000 Guineas winner Zedaan, by four lengths. In the 1968 Prix de lArc de Triomphe, he was the favourite, despite the presence of the famous Irish colt, Sir Ivor, winner of the English 2,000 Guineas and Derby. The other sixteen opponents included four St. Leger winners, three Derby winners (including Sir Ivor) and two Oaks winners.
Next week: We relate the story of Vaguely Noble’s victory in the 1968 race and how it came to be seen as one of the greatest performances of all time, and how he was considered the best middle-distance horse in the world at the time. Some racing experts still consider him on a par with Shergar and Dancing Brave, with only Sea Bird and Mill Reef ahead of him, and even Nijinsky trailing him. We also talk about his astonishing US billionaire owner, Norman Bunker Hunt, his exploits, his huge fortune and misfortunes.
