Recent from talks
Kincsem
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Kincsem
Kincsem (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈkint͡ʃɛm]; Hungarian for "My Precious" or "My Treasure"; March 17, 1874 – March 16, 1887) was a Hungarian Thoroughbred racehorse who has the longest undefeated record of any racehorse after winning all of her 54 races. The next closest in this regard is Black Caviar, who won all her 25 races. Foaled in Kisbér, Hungary in 1874, Kincsem is a national icon and widely considered one of the top racehorses of the 19th century.
Over four seasons, Kincsem won against female and male competitors at various race tracks across Europe, including multiple Classic race victories in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. She raced frequently in Germany, winning the Grosser Preis von Baden three times. In her four-year-old campaign, she traveled to England to win the Goodwood Cup, then won the Grand Prix de Deauville in France. In total, Kincsem defeated 85 different horses who had won over 400 races. She defeated 17 classic winners, including four consecutive Deutsches Derby winners (Double Zero, Pirat, Oroszvár, Künstlerin), three consecutive Prei der Diana winners (Chére Amie, Altona, Illona), a Poule d'Essai winner (Fontainebleau), Prix de Diane winner (Mondaine), etc...
As a broodmare, Kincsem produced just five foals, four of whom survived. Nevertheless, two of her foals became Classic winners and her daughters also proved to be outstanding broodmares. Her line has had a lasting influence on the breed, with modern descendants including English Classic winners Polygamy and Camelot.
Kincsem was bred at the stud of Ernő Blaskovich at Tápiószentmárton, in The Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Her sire, Cambuscan, was bred by Queen Victoria and in 1864 went on to win the July Stakes and place in the St. Leger Stakes. He was sold to Hungarian interests and was brought to stand at the Hungarian National Stud in the Kisbér District in 1873. Cambuscan was by Newminster, while his dam, The Arrow, was by Slane. Kincsem was out of the Hungarian mare Waternymph, a daughter of the English horse Cotswold. Kincsem's third dam, Seaweed was also by Slane, making Kincsem inbred to him in the third and fourth generations (3x4).
At that time, there were thieves in Hungary called betyars who stole cattle and horses. One night they tried to steal horses from an open summer stable of Blaskovich that had only a crossbar through the door. They made a noise, so stable staff chased them away and the horses, including Waternymph, were saved. This legend was later distorted and attributed to Kincsem, who in the new version was allegedly stolen by wandering Gypsies and later returned to her owner.
Another distorted legend says that Kincsem was once offered for sale as part of a package deal with six other yearlings for 7000 gulden but she were rejected by the buyer, Baron Alex Orczy. In fact, according to a newspaper article about the auction, Kincsem was not on the list. Blaskovich later wrote that he didn't want to sell her because she had an unusually long, easy galloping stride and he loved her very much for her calm and very affectionate nature. In November 1875, Blaskovich sent her to Göd, seventy kilometers away, where trainer Robert Hesp opened a new stable that year. Kincsem arrived there “on the hoof” and the journey took two days. Englishman Robert Hesp trained her throughout her career and she was ridden by other Englishmen Elijah Madden (42 wins), Archie Wainwright (9 wins) and Tom Busby (3 wins).
Kincsem was a liver chestnut without any white markings who stood 16.1 hands (65 inches, 165 cm) high at maturity. Several descriptions were written during her life. The first was written even before her first race, in the spring of 1876, when the editors of the racing newspaper Sportblatt visited the leading stables and described Kincsem as the best two-year-old in Austria-Hungary. Sportblatt from 8 April 1876: "The chestnut mare by Cambuscan from the Waternymph looks most like a racehorse. She is over and over full of quality, long and deep, stands on dry, strong, flawless legs and shows herself to great advantage in a fast gallop. We think we are not mistaken in expressing the view that [she] is destined to play an excellent role on the racetrack." During her stay in England, newspapers described her movement as admirable - long, flat, spacious, and it was said that there was no horse with a better stride at Newmarket. A few weeks later in France, a journalist under the pseudonym Freemann wrote in the newspaper Le Jockey: "It is rare to see a more complete type of racehorse than Kincsem, when she appeared on the track with her tall figure, magnificent lines, excellence, strength, lightness, with a figure as perfect as a gallop, and we understood why Captain Matchell, one of the greatest connoisseurs in the world, offered £10,000 to her owner, who refused it." Another journalist, Robert Milton, wrote in Le Figaro: "Mr. Blaskovich's mare is the most beautiful I have ever seen in my life. All the breeders admire her and her victory was met with great applause." Nevertheless, American novelist Brainerd Kellogg Beckwith (not a contemporary of Kincsem) wrote his own description in his 1967 book "Step and Go Together": "She was as long as a boat and as lean as a hungry leopard ... she had a U-neck and mule ears ... she was lazy, gangly, shiftless ... she was a daisy-eating, scenery-loving, sleepy-eyed and slightly pot-bellied hussy."...
Kincsem was noted for her quirky personality, though some details may have become exaggerated over time. For example, a legend claims that she always traveled with a cat and might not move if separated from it. A painting shows her with a cat that some sources name Csalogány (nightingale). Contemporary sources make no mention of the cat but many articles of Sportblatt refer to her traveling with a horse named Csalogany. During Kincsem's extensive travels, all her hay and grain came from Blaskovich's stud farm (then an unusual arrangement), and she refused to eat anything else. She was also particular about the quality of the water she drank. On one occasion at Baden-Baden, the water ran out and she refused to drink for two days until a suitable substitute was found at what was subsequently known as Kincsem's Well.
Hub AI
Kincsem AI simulator
(@Kincsem_simulator)
Kincsem
Kincsem (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈkint͡ʃɛm]; Hungarian for "My Precious" or "My Treasure"; March 17, 1874 – March 16, 1887) was a Hungarian Thoroughbred racehorse who has the longest undefeated record of any racehorse after winning all of her 54 races. The next closest in this regard is Black Caviar, who won all her 25 races. Foaled in Kisbér, Hungary in 1874, Kincsem is a national icon and widely considered one of the top racehorses of the 19th century.
Over four seasons, Kincsem won against female and male competitors at various race tracks across Europe, including multiple Classic race victories in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. She raced frequently in Germany, winning the Grosser Preis von Baden three times. In her four-year-old campaign, she traveled to England to win the Goodwood Cup, then won the Grand Prix de Deauville in France. In total, Kincsem defeated 85 different horses who had won over 400 races. She defeated 17 classic winners, including four consecutive Deutsches Derby winners (Double Zero, Pirat, Oroszvár, Künstlerin), three consecutive Prei der Diana winners (Chére Amie, Altona, Illona), a Poule d'Essai winner (Fontainebleau), Prix de Diane winner (Mondaine), etc...
As a broodmare, Kincsem produced just five foals, four of whom survived. Nevertheless, two of her foals became Classic winners and her daughters also proved to be outstanding broodmares. Her line has had a lasting influence on the breed, with modern descendants including English Classic winners Polygamy and Camelot.
Kincsem was bred at the stud of Ernő Blaskovich at Tápiószentmárton, in The Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Her sire, Cambuscan, was bred by Queen Victoria and in 1864 went on to win the July Stakes and place in the St. Leger Stakes. He was sold to Hungarian interests and was brought to stand at the Hungarian National Stud in the Kisbér District in 1873. Cambuscan was by Newminster, while his dam, The Arrow, was by Slane. Kincsem was out of the Hungarian mare Waternymph, a daughter of the English horse Cotswold. Kincsem's third dam, Seaweed was also by Slane, making Kincsem inbred to him in the third and fourth generations (3x4).
At that time, there were thieves in Hungary called betyars who stole cattle and horses. One night they tried to steal horses from an open summer stable of Blaskovich that had only a crossbar through the door. They made a noise, so stable staff chased them away and the horses, including Waternymph, were saved. This legend was later distorted and attributed to Kincsem, who in the new version was allegedly stolen by wandering Gypsies and later returned to her owner.
Another distorted legend says that Kincsem was once offered for sale as part of a package deal with six other yearlings for 7000 gulden but she were rejected by the buyer, Baron Alex Orczy. In fact, according to a newspaper article about the auction, Kincsem was not on the list. Blaskovich later wrote that he didn't want to sell her because she had an unusually long, easy galloping stride and he loved her very much for her calm and very affectionate nature. In November 1875, Blaskovich sent her to Göd, seventy kilometers away, where trainer Robert Hesp opened a new stable that year. Kincsem arrived there “on the hoof” and the journey took two days. Englishman Robert Hesp trained her throughout her career and she was ridden by other Englishmen Elijah Madden (42 wins), Archie Wainwright (9 wins) and Tom Busby (3 wins).
Kincsem was a liver chestnut without any white markings who stood 16.1 hands (65 inches, 165 cm) high at maturity. Several descriptions were written during her life. The first was written even before her first race, in the spring of 1876, when the editors of the racing newspaper Sportblatt visited the leading stables and described Kincsem as the best two-year-old in Austria-Hungary. Sportblatt from 8 April 1876: "The chestnut mare by Cambuscan from the Waternymph looks most like a racehorse. She is over and over full of quality, long and deep, stands on dry, strong, flawless legs and shows herself to great advantage in a fast gallop. We think we are not mistaken in expressing the view that [she] is destined to play an excellent role on the racetrack." During her stay in England, newspapers described her movement as admirable - long, flat, spacious, and it was said that there was no horse with a better stride at Newmarket. A few weeks later in France, a journalist under the pseudonym Freemann wrote in the newspaper Le Jockey: "It is rare to see a more complete type of racehorse than Kincsem, when she appeared on the track with her tall figure, magnificent lines, excellence, strength, lightness, with a figure as perfect as a gallop, and we understood why Captain Matchell, one of the greatest connoisseurs in the world, offered £10,000 to her owner, who refused it." Another journalist, Robert Milton, wrote in Le Figaro: "Mr. Blaskovich's mare is the most beautiful I have ever seen in my life. All the breeders admire her and her victory was met with great applause." Nevertheless, American novelist Brainerd Kellogg Beckwith (not a contemporary of Kincsem) wrote his own description in his 1967 book "Step and Go Together": "She was as long as a boat and as lean as a hungry leopard ... she had a U-neck and mule ears ... she was lazy, gangly, shiftless ... she was a daisy-eating, scenery-loving, sleepy-eyed and slightly pot-bellied hussy."...
Kincsem was noted for her quirky personality, though some details may have become exaggerated over time. For example, a legend claims that she always traveled with a cat and might not move if separated from it. A painting shows her with a cat that some sources name Csalogány (nightingale). Contemporary sources make no mention of the cat but many articles of Sportblatt refer to her traveling with a horse named Csalogany. During Kincsem's extensive travels, all her hay and grain came from Blaskovich's stud farm (then an unusual arrangement), and she refused to eat anything else. She was also particular about the quality of the water she drank. On one occasion at Baden-Baden, the water ran out and she refused to drink for two days until a suitable substitute was found at what was subsequently known as Kincsem's Well.
Recent media