Colonial Affair (USA)
April 19, 1990 – April 23, 2013
Pleasant Colony (USA) x Snuggle (USA), by Nijinsky II (CAN)
Family 13-b
April 19, 1990 – April 23, 2013
Pleasant Colony (USA) x Snuggle (USA), by Nijinsky II (CAN)
Family 13-b
Colonial Affair was bred to be a stayer, and he was a good one. He was perhaps even better known for who he carried as for his own talent, as he was Julie Krone's mount in the first American Triple Crown race ever won by a female jockey. The favorite for the 1994 Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-G1), his career ended in anticlimactic fashion when he broke a sesamoid in his right hind leg while kicking at the walls of his stall a few days before the race. He stood in Kentucky, Japan, and Argentina but was not a major success as a sire in any location.
Race record
20 starts, 7 wins, 4 seconds, 3 thirds, US$1,635,228
1993:
1994:
Honors
Runner-up in voting for the 1994 Eclipse Award as champion older male
As an individual
A 16.3 hand bay, Colonial Affair was fairly typical of his sire's progeny regarding his size and scope but was handsomer and less rawboned and angular. He had a long stride and was a good mover. He had a laid-back disposition.
As a stallion
According to records kept by The Jockey Club, Colonial Affair sired 349 winners (46.1%) and 21 stakes winners (2.8%) from 757 foals of racing age.
Notable progeny
Cafrune (ARG)
Notable progeny of daughters
Seas Alabada (ARG)
Connections
Colonial Affair was bred in Virginia by Herman Greenberg's Rutledge Farm. He was owned by Don Little's Centennial Farms and was trained by Flint S. "Scotty" Schulhofer. He entered stud at Gainesway Farm in 1995. He was exported to Japan in 2000 and from there was sent to Argentina in 2003. He was found dead in his paddock at Haras El Paraiso on April 23, 2013.
Pedigree notes
Colonial Affair is inbred 5x5 to six-time English champion sire Hyperion, a dual English Classic winner in 1933. He is a half brother to multiple stakes winner Battle Mountain (by Blushing John) and to Devil's Flirt (by Devil's Bag), dam of listed stakes winner Nates Colony (by Pleasant Colony). Another of Colonial Affair's half sisters, Madness of Crowds (by Private Account), produced the Runaway Groom colt Dr. Fox, a stakes winner in Panama and Venezuela. The second dam of Colonial Affair, 1974 Golden Rod Stakes (USA-G3) winner Mirthful Flirt (by Raise a Native), is also the dam of Grade 2 winner Who's Dat (by Believe It) and the second dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Stark South. Colonial Affair's third dam, Glad Rags II, was champion juvenile filly in Ireland in 1965 and won the 1966 One Thousand Guineas. In addition to Mirthful Flirt, she produced Grade 2 winner Terpsichorist and Group 2 winner Gorytus, both by Nijinsky II.
Books and media
Colonial Affair is profiled in Chapter 12 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
Last updated: October 28, 2022
Race record
20 starts, 7 wins, 4 seconds, 3 thirds, US$1,635,228
1993:
- Won Belmont Stakes (USA-G1, 12FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Peter Pan Stakes (USA-G2, 9FD, Belmont)
- 3rd Jim Dandy Stakes (USA-G2, 9FD, Saratoga)
1994:
- Won Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Belmont)
- Won Whitney Handicap (USA-G1, 9FD, Saratoga)
- Won Excelsior Handicap (USA-G2, 9FD, Aqueduct)
- 2nd Westchester Handicap (USA-G3, 8FD, Aqueduct)
- 3rd Woodward Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Belmont)
Honors
Runner-up in voting for the 1994 Eclipse Award as champion older male
As an individual
A 16.3 hand bay, Colonial Affair was fairly typical of his sire's progeny regarding his size and scope but was handsomer and less rawboned and angular. He had a long stride and was a good mover. He had a laid-back disposition.
As a stallion
According to records kept by The Jockey Club, Colonial Affair sired 349 winners (46.1%) and 21 stakes winners (2.8%) from 757 foals of racing age.
Notable progeny
Cafrune (ARG)
Notable progeny of daughters
Seas Alabada (ARG)
Connections
Colonial Affair was bred in Virginia by Herman Greenberg's Rutledge Farm. He was owned by Don Little's Centennial Farms and was trained by Flint S. "Scotty" Schulhofer. He entered stud at Gainesway Farm in 1995. He was exported to Japan in 2000 and from there was sent to Argentina in 2003. He was found dead in his paddock at Haras El Paraiso on April 23, 2013.
Pedigree notes
Colonial Affair is inbred 5x5 to six-time English champion sire Hyperion, a dual English Classic winner in 1933. He is a half brother to multiple stakes winner Battle Mountain (by Blushing John) and to Devil's Flirt (by Devil's Bag), dam of listed stakes winner Nates Colony (by Pleasant Colony). Another of Colonial Affair's half sisters, Madness of Crowds (by Private Account), produced the Runaway Groom colt Dr. Fox, a stakes winner in Panama and Venezuela. The second dam of Colonial Affair, 1974 Golden Rod Stakes (USA-G3) winner Mirthful Flirt (by Raise a Native), is also the dam of Grade 2 winner Who's Dat (by Believe It) and the second dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Stark South. Colonial Affair's third dam, Glad Rags II, was champion juvenile filly in Ireland in 1965 and won the 1966 One Thousand Guineas. In addition to Mirthful Flirt, she produced Grade 2 winner Terpsichorist and Group 2 winner Gorytus, both by Nijinsky II.
Books and media
Colonial Affair is profiled in Chapter 12 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
- Julie Krone's victory aboard Colonial Affair in the Belmont was ranked #55 in Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments, a review of racing in the 20th century compiled by The Blood-Horse and released in 2006.
- Colonial Affair was beaten out in 1994 Eclipse Award voting by just 3 votes out of 247 cast.
Last updated: October 28, 2022