Page 96 - April2022

SPEEDLINES
Speedhorse Archives
Nasrullah’s sire Nearco, who was undefeated from 14 starts.
the Premio Parioli (Italian Two Thousand Guineas), the Gran Primio Del Re (the Italian Derby) and the Grand Prix de Paris.
When we look at the race record of Nearco, we see that he was raced at some pretty long distances. For example, he won the Grand Primio di Milano at 1 and 7/8 miles and came back six days later to win the Grand Prix de Paris, a race that was 15 furlongs or 1.875 miles.
Tesio sold Nearco to stand at stud in England, because of the pending war that became World War II. He was not only
a successful sire, but an influential one as well. He is the sire of $1,262,132, with
482 foals, 391 starters, 275 winners and 87 stakes winners. The Nearco runners include: Dante, winner of the 1945 Epsom Derby; Royal Charger, winner of the 1946 Queen Anne Stakes; Sayajirao, winner of the 1947 St Leger Stakes; Masaka, winner of the 1948 Epsom Oaks; Nimbus, winner of the 1949 Epsom Derby; and Neasham Belle, winner of the 1951 Epsom Oaks.
Nearco was sired by Pharos by Phalaris, who was out of Bromus by Sainfoin and Bromus was out of Cheery by St Simon. The dam of Pharos was Scapa Flow by Chaucer by St Simon and Scapa Flow
was out of Anchora by Love Wisely. The dam of Nearco was Nogara by Havresac by Rabelais by St Simon. Havresac was out of Hors Concours by Ajax, and Hors Concours was out of Simona by St Simon. Nogara was out of Catnip by Spearmint and out of Sibola by The Sailor Prince. You will note that Nearco has a breeding pattern of 5x4x4x5 to St Simon. St Simon has proven to be a major influence on racing, and he is found in the pedigree of many runners today.
We noted earlier that Nearco ran at some very long distances compared to today’s classic races. Abram S. Hewitt reported in his book SIRE LINES that Nearco, as he put it, “must have imparted a high degree of energy to his stock and some of the highly strung ones such as Nasrullah and Masaka were by no means easy to train.” So, with this in mind and the distances that Nearco raced, let’s examine
became the famous Irish National Stud.
He became very successful, breeding seven English Classic winners including Minoru, winner of the 1909 Epsom Derby. Aga Khan was very successful as well when it came to breeding Thoroughbreds. His horses won
16 English Classics with five Epsom Derby winners. His Derby winners were Blenheim, Bahram, Mahmoud, My Love and Tulyar.
Aga Khan sent Nasrullah to the track where he started 10 times with five wins, one second and one third. He won two stakes races at two in the Coventry Stakes and the Great Bradley Stakes, and he was second in the Middle Park Stakes and third in the Wilburton Stakes. He showed his speed with three of these races being run
at six furlongs. His success on the track at two made him the English Champion Two Year Old for the year. He came back at three to win three more stakes: the Champion Stakes, the Chatteris Stakes, and the Cavenham Stakes, and he was third in the Derby Stakes. An unruly temperament went with him and had a definite impact on his racing career.
Aga Khan started the breeding career of Nasrullah in 1944. He was then sold to Joe McGrath to stand in Ireland in 1945. He was purchased by A. P. “Bull” Hancock in 1950 when he came to the United States to stand at Hancock’s Claiborne Farms in Kentucky until his death in 1959.
Nasrullah became a significant
and successful sire despite his unruly temperament. He was the leading sire in England in 1951 and the leading sire of North America in 1955, 1956, 1959 and 1960. He was the leading juvenile sire
in 1954, 1956 and 1962. He sired 425 foals, 379 starters, 290 winners, 84 stakes winners, and earners of $13,203,058. His foals include Bold Ruler and Nashua, both earning the title Horse of the Year.
The sire of Nasrullah was the undefeated Nearco, an Italian bred from the Frederico Tesio breeding program. Tesio is considered one of the great breeders of all time based on the racing success of his home bred runners. Nearco started in and won 14 races, including the Premio Colico San
Siro, Premio Menaggio San Siro at two and
Abram S. Hewitt in his book Sire Lines reports that Nearco “...must have imparted a high degree of energy to his stock and some of the highly strung
ones such as Nasrullah and Masaka were by no means easy to train.”
94 SPEEDHORSE April 2022