Sickle (horse)

Sickle
Sire	Phalaris
Grandsire	Polymelus
Dam	Selene
Damsire	Chaucer
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1924
Country	England
Colour	Brown
Breeder	Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby
Owner	1) 17th Earl of Derby 2) Joseph E. Widener (at stud)
Trainer	George Lambton
Record	10: 3-4-2
Earnings	US$24,122
Major wins
Mersey Stakes (1926) Goodwood Prince of Wales's Stakes (1926) Boscawen Post Stakes (1926)
Awards
Leading sire in North America (1936, 1938)

Sickle (8 February 1924 – 26 December 1943) was an English Thoroughbred racehorse who was later exported to the US where he was twice the Leading sire in North America. Sickle was bred by Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby.

He was a full brother to Pharamond, who also was a successful sire in the United States,^[1] Their sire Phalaris, was twice the Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland and a three-time Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland. His dam Selene produced 11 named foals including the leading Argentine and Brazilian sire Hunter's Moon and Hyperion, the 1933 Epsom Derby and St. Leger Stakes winner and a six-time Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland as well as a four-time Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain and Ireland.^[2] Pharamond and Sickle were inbred to Cyllene in the third and fourth generation (3m x 4f) and St. Simon in the third and fourth generation (3f x 4m).^[3]

Sickle was raced by Lord Derby and trained by George Lambton. The colt met with some success in racing, winning three of his ten starts and notably finishing third in the 2,000 Guineas Stakes.

Stud record

Retired to Lord Derby's stud for the 1929 breeding season, in a three-year lease agreement with American Joseph E. Widener that included a $100,000 option to purchase, Sickle was sent to the United States in time for the 1930 breeding season at Widener's Elmendorf Farm. In England, Sickle's first crop produced three stakes winners and in 1932 Widener exercised his option and purchased the horse. His first offspring in the U.S. also met with racing success and Sickle went on to become a two-time leading sire in the United States. During his stud career, Sickle was the leading sire in North America in 1936 and again in 1938. He was the sire of 297 foals, including 45 stakes winners of which two were Champions. His progeny includes:

• Cravat won the Brooklyn Handicap, Suburban Handicap, Jockey Club Gold Cup, and set a new Santa Anita Park track record of 2:30 2/5 in winning the mile and a half San Juan Capistrano Handicap.
• Gossip (FR), won FR Grand Criterium
• Silver Spear, won Durban July Handicap
• Stagehand was the American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse of 1938 and had wins in the Santa Anita Handicap, Santa Anita Derby, and Narragansett Special, among others.
• Star Pilot, was the 1945 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt whose wins that year included the Hopeful Stakes and both the Pimlico and Belmont Futurity Stakes.

Among Sickle's other progeny were numerous multiple stakes winners including Advocator, Brevity, Brownian, Chief Barker, Concordian, Director J E, Hindu Queen, Jabot, Misty Isle, Price Level, Reaping Reward and Sickle T.

Sickle's bloodline legacy came through his son Unbreakable who would sire the 1945 Preakness Stakes winner and 1947 American Champion Sprint Horse, Polynesian. Polynesian in turn sired the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Native Dancer who was rated No. 7 in the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century. Native Dancer sired Raise a Native, and was the damsire of Northern Dancer. Polynesian also sired 1956 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, Barbizon, plus Imbros, a multiple stakes winner who set or equaled five track records including a world record for 7 furlongs, and the very good runner and important broodmare, Alanesian. Because of Polynesian, Sickle's sire line includes Sea Bird II, the 1965 Epsom Derby and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner whose Timeform rating is the highest ever awarded in flat racing, and the very influential Mr. Prospector, a two-time Leading sire in North America and nine-time Leading broodmare sire in North America.^[4]

Sickle was the damsire of Kersala, the 1958 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year, as well as the damsire of these four Champions:

• Bornastar, the 1958 American Champion Older Female Horse^[5]
• But Why Not, the American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly and American Champion Older Female Horse of 1947^[6]
• Counterpoint, won the 1951 Belmont Stakes and was voted the American Horse of the Year and American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse of 1951^[7]
• Oedipus, a three-time American Champion Steeplechase Horse (1950, 1951,1952) and winner of the 1951 American Grand National^[8]

At age nineteen, Sickle died unexpectedly on 26 December 1943 and was buried in the Elmendorf equine cemetery on acreage that was later subdivided and is now known as Normandy Farm.^[9]

Tabulated pedigree

Pedigree of Sickle (GB), brown stallion, 1924

Sire Phalaris (GB) 1913	Polymelus (GB) 1902	Cyllene	Bona Vista
			Arcadia
		Maid Marian	Hampton
			Quiver
	Bromus (GB) 1905	Sainfoin	Springfield
			Sanda
		Cheery	St. Simon
			Sunrise
Dam Selene (GB) 1919	Chaucer 1900	St. Simon	Galopin
			St. Angela
		Canterbury Pilgrim	Tristan
			Pilgrimage
	Serenissima 1913	Minoru	Cyllene
			Mother Siegel
		Gondolette	Loved One
			Dongola

References

1. Pharamond at Thoroughbred Heritage
2. Selene at Thoroughbred Heritage
3. Morris, Simon; Tesio Power 2000 - Stallions of the World, Syntax Software
4. Sickle's full biography at Thoroughbred Heritage
5. St. Joseph Gazette (Missouri) - November 26,1958
6. The News and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina) - November 29, 1947
7. Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah) - December 20,1951
8. Thoroughbred Heritage – American Champion Steeplechasers
9. Normandy Farm at Thoroughbred Heritage