Background
Apalachee was a tall, long-striding bay horse with a white star and one white foot,[2] bred by Claiborne Farm in Kentucky. He was the product of a mating between two American Horses of the Year: Round Table and Moccasin. Round Table was one of the most successful grass specialists in American racing
history, winning forty-three races and being named Horse of the Year in 1958.[3] He became a highly successful breeding stallion, being the Leading sire in North America in 1972.[4]
Moccasin was named Horse of the Year as a two-year-old filly in 1965,
when she was unbeaten in eight races. She came from the same branch of
Thoroughbred family 5-h which produced Ridan, Thatch, Nureyev, Fairy King and Sadler's Wells.[5]Apalachee entered into the ownership of John Mulcahy and was sent to race in Europe. He was trained by Vincent O'Brien at his Ballydoyle stable in County Tipperary, Ireland.
Racing career
1973: two-year-old season
Apalachee made his first appearance in the Lee Stakes at the Curragh in August. Racing against moderate opposition he won by six lengths without being placed under any pressure. A month later at the same course he won the Moy Maiden Stakes in similar fashion.[6]In October Apalachee was moved up markedly in class when he was sent to England to contest the Group One Observer Gold Cup over one mile at Doncaster Racecourse. With prize money of £43,000, the race was the most valuable two-year-old race ever run in Britain.[7] The opposition was headed by Nelson Bunker Hunt's Mississipian [sic], an American-bred, French-trained colt who had won the Grand Criterium at Longchamp Racecourse. Ridden by Lester Piggott, Apalachee moved to the front two furlongs from the finish with Mississipian emerging as his only challenger. In the closing stages he pulled clear to win easily by two lengths from the French colt, with a gap of ten lengths back to Alpine Nephew in third.[7] The unplaced horses included the future Group One winners Snow Knight, Busiris (Prix Royal Oak) and Mount Hagen (Prix du Moulin).[8]
In the Free Handicap, a ranking of the year's best two-year-olds, Apalachee was given top weight of 133 pounds, five pounds clear of Mississipian. He was made a strong favourite for the following year's 2000 Guineas and Epsom Derby.[8]
1974: three-year-old season
Apalachee began his three-year-old season by winning the Group Three Gladness Stakes over seven furlongs at the Curragh in April. He was then sent to England for the 2000 Guineas over the Rowley Mile course at Newmarket Racecourse on 4 May. With Piggott in the saddle, he started at odds of 4/9 against eleven opponents, making him the shortest-priced favourite since Colombo in 1934. His support in the betting market was despite rumours that he had developed respiratory problems and his unimpressive appearance before the start. In the race he briefly led two furlongs from the finish but finished third behind Nonoalco and Giacometti.[6] Apalachee was withdrawn from the Derby after performing poorly in a training gallop and Ballydoyle.[9] He never raced again and was retired to stud with a valuation of $2 million.[6]Assessment
As noted above, Apalachee was officially rated the best two-year-old in Britain in 1973 by a margin of five pounds. The independent Timeform organisation were even more impressed with the colt, giving him a rating of 137 which made him not only the season's best two-year-old, but the joint-best horse of any age to race in Europe in 1973 (equal with Rheingold.[10] The Timeform annual Racehorses of 1973 commented "we have not seen a two-year-old as promising as this for many years".[8] Vincent O'Brien called him "a horse apart".[9]In their book A Century of Champions, based on a modified version of the Timeform system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Apalachee the twenty-first best British or Irish two-year-old of the 20th Century.[11]
