Minoru · 25.08.09

The 1909 Epsom Derby was won by Minoru, an Irish-bred colt whose story deserves a Hollywood treatment.

Bred by Col. William Hall Walker, later Lord Wavertree, Minoru was named after the son of His Lordship’s Japanese master gardener — the name can be roughly translated as truth, reality, fidelity, or substance. Leased to King Edward VII, the colt initially showed little promise, but was eventually entered in the English classics. Given little chance against supposedly superior horses such as Bayardo, Minoru won both the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby — he missed the English Triple Crown when he finished off the board in the St. Leger. Minoru was retired to stud the following year, and in 1913 was sold to Russian interests.

Later in 1909, in recognition of Minoru’s success, the first racetrack to be built in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond was christened Minoru Park Racetrack. Some 7000 spectators attended the races on opening day, 21 August 1909, and Minoru became the social centre in early Richmond. Today the race-track is long-gone, but Minoru Park is still the cultural and athletic centre of the city. If you follow the GoogleMaps link, the curved row of trees near the centre of the satellite image marks the track’s far turn.

To mark the centenary of both Minoru’s Guineas/Derby double and the opening of Minoru Park Racetrack, a life-sized bronze statue of Minoru the racehorse was unveiled in Minoru Park this past Friday. Among the guests at the ceremony was Brian Eida, the son of Minoru Eida, after whom the horse was named over 100 years ago.

There are two chapters to the story of Minoru that were never touched-upon in any of the local media coverage. As mentioned above, he was sold in 1913 and sent to a stud farm in Russian, together with another Derby winner, Aboyeur. Both horses disappeared during the Russian Revolution and subsequent civil war, and were assumed to have been killed. However, according to Minoru’s Thoroughbred Heritage profile, there were rumours that both Minoru and Aboyeur survived: “the two stallions [were] harnessed to a cart and driven from Moscow to Novorossiysk, and then evacuated with the British Military Mission to Serbia, where they lived in peaceful anonymity until the end of their days”.

In addition, there is another link between Minoru and British Columbia racing besides the old racetrack that bore his name. Before being sent to Russia, the stallion sired a filly named Serenissima, who had a limited racing career but was an outstanding broodmare. One of Serenissima’s offspring was Selene, a champion filly on the track and an even more successful broodmare. She was the mother of another Derby winner, Hyperion, one of the greatest racers and most influential sires of the Twentieth Century. And Hyperion was the great-grand-sire, in direct male-line, of B.C. champion racehorse, and 1965 Canadian Horse of the Year, George Royal.

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