IMAGINE I was writing Breeding Insights after the Irish Derby in 1964 (as a precocious six-year-old) and 1974 (as a gangly teenager), this would be some of what I would have said.

1964

The third running of the Irish Sweeps Derby, and the richest with a value to the winner of £53,725, confirmed for everyone the superiority of the Mick Rogers-trained Santa Claus (Chamossaire) over the rest of the three-year-old crop. He started at odds-on against 18 opponents from Ireland, England and France, and his four-length triumph was never in doubt. He had already annexed the Irish 2000 Guineas and the Derby at Epsom.

There was a bunched finish in the race for the second-place prize of £10,635, Lionhearted (Never Say Die) and Sunseeker (Aureole) separated by a short head. Santa Claus was a second Irish classic winner for his owner, John Ismay, the first being Spam (Coup De Lyon) who won the 1945 Irish St Leger when trained by Captain Darby Rogers, father of Santa Claus’s trainer. Santa Claus raced in the name of Ismay, but was jointly-owned by Mick Rogers’ mother. (Santa Claus raced twice after his Curragh win, finishing second in both the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe).

Santa Claus retired at the end of the season to stand at Captain Tim Rogers’s Ballyowen Stud in Lucan, being syndicated at £10,000 a share. He laid claim to being the highest stakes-winning three-year-old in European racing history (£132,103), while he also earned £2,584 at two, thanks largely to his eight-length annihilation of his opponents in the National Stakes at the Curragh. Santa Claus was champion at two and three, and came from one of the best families in the stud book.

His victory at Epsom provided Santa Claus’s veteran sire Chamossaire (Precipitation), standing at Snailwell Stud, with a welcome first win in that classic, but he was a third for the stallion at the Curragh, following Chamier and Your Highness.

Bred by Dr Frank Smorfitt from just two mares he owned, Santa Claus was sent to the sales at Newmarket as a foal and sold to the Irish breeder, Bertie Reynolds (father of Peter) for 800gns. He was resold the following September for 1.200gns to the BBA’s Irish branch, then under the management of Tim Vigors. It is worth noting that the shrewd Tim Rogers, brother to Mick, purchased the dam of Santa Claus, Aunt Clara (Arctic Prince), privately before her son won the Irish 2000 Guineas, and for whom she then foaled a colt by Aureole (Hyperion).

Santa Claus is the third produce of Aunt Clara who was acquired by Dr Smorfitt for 130gns as a two-year-old from Miss Dorothy Paget’s draft at the December Sale. Then unraced, she started three times for her new owner, with no success, and she retired to stud in Warwickshire. Santa Claus was her second winner. Aunt Clara’s grandam, the unraced Clarence (Diligence), was owned by the National Stud at Tully in the 1930s.

Clarence bred Aunt Clara’s dam Sister Clara (Scarlet Tiger), but the filly never raced thanks to having very bad forelegs, accounting for her sale price as a yearling in Ballsbridge for 20gns. Thankfully for Major E.C. Doyle who bought her, Sister Clara’s half-sister Sun Chariot (Hyperion) went on to win three classics in 1942, leading to Sister Clara’s sale two years later to Miss Paget for 11,000gns.

1974

The Irish Sweeps Derby was the first race ever run in Ireland with a value of more that £100,000, the winner taking home just shy of £75,000. The 13 runners comprised six home-trained colts, while there were four challengers from England and three from France. The Vincent O’Brien-trained Sir Penfro (Sir Ivor) fared best of the Irish in third, being promoted to that position after Freddy Head incurred the wrath of the stewards when drifting on Mississipian and causing interference.

Runner-up to Snow Knight at Epsom, Roger Hue-Williams’ Imperial Prince (Sir Ivor) started favourite, but he had to settle for the second spot again, this time to the Peter Walwyn-trained English Prince (Petingo) who carried the colours of Roger’s wife, Vera. She had the added distinction of breeding the first two home, the couple owning Rathasker Stud outside Naas, and Woolton House Stud near Newbury. Both colts are from the same family.

English Prince came to the Curragh having won the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot in record time. Prior to that he was victorious in the Predominate Stakes at Goodwood and the White Rose Stakes at Ascot. (He made just one start after his classic success, beaten by Bustino in the Great Voltigeur Stakes, before training troubles led to his retirement to Ballylinch Stud for a fee of 2,000gns).

By the leading sire Petingo (Petition), English Prince is out of the Bois Roussel (Vatout) mare English Miss. She won two of her 15 starts, over a mile at two and 10 furlongs at three, and she had four winners before English Prince emerged. Her dam Virelle (Casterari) failed to win and had just one more minor winner, Killaloe (Hugh Lupus). While the family appeared to languish until English Prince came along, it traces back well.

English Prince’s third dam Perfume (Badruddin) was a very successful broodmare, and her best offspring included a number of successful sires, The 2000 Guineas winner My Babu (Djebel) and the Cambridgeshire winner Sayani (Fair Copy), were among them, and they, along with Virelle, were her first three offspring. She is also the dam of Marco Polo (Le Pacha), the fourth of her 13 foals, and he was a successful sire down under.