A solid allowance filly, Flower Bed was decidedly better than an empty stall as a racer. Nonetheless, her true worth was as a broodmare. While she was the dam of three good stakes winners, it was her champion granddaughters Gallant Bloom and Bowl of Flowers and her stallion grandsons Graustark and His Majesty that etched her name deep into the record books.
Race record
9 starts, 4 wins, 1 second, 0 thirds, US$9,800
As an individual
A dark bay or brown mare, Flower Bed stood about 16 hands.
As a producer
A Reine-de-Course as designated by influential pedigree analyst and turf writer Ellen Parker, Flower Bed produced nine named foals, of which eight started and seven won. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Bred by Louis B. Mayer, Flower Bed was owned by Herman B. Delman, who purchased her for US$20,000 from a Mayer dispersal in January 1948. She was trained by Reggie Cornell. Delman, in turn dispersed most of his horses at auction in August 1949, and Flower Bed was purchased by Isabel Dodge Sloane's Brookmeade Stable for US$15,500. In 1957, Brookmeade sold Flower Bed to Robert J. Kleberg, Jr., of King Ranch in a private transaction. She did not produce any foals after 1961.
Pedigree notes
Flower Bed is outcrossed through five generations. She is a half sister to 1950 Santa Anita Derby winner Your Host (by Alibhai) and to stakes-placed Your Hostess (by Alibhai), dam of 1974 Ladies Handicap (USA-I) winner Coraggioso (by Gallant Man), 1967 Arlington-Washington Futurity winner T. V. Commercial (by T. V. Lark), 1963 Schuylerville Stakes winner Gallatia (by Gallant Man) and juvenile stakes winner Royal Clipper (by Royal Charger). Your Hostess is also the second dam of 1969 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Majestic Prince, 1971 English champion 2-year-old male Crowned Prince, English Group II winner Gallina and Grade/Group III winners Native Guest and Bad Conduct and is the third dam of 1974 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby, FR-I) and French champion 3-year-old male Caracolero, 1973 French champion 2-year-old filly Hippodamia and Grade III winner With a Twist. Returning to Flower Bed, she is also a half sister to Bowl of Roses (by Alibhai) second dam of multiple Japanese Group III winner Nichido Arashe, and to Caluria (by Heliopolis), second dam of Argentine Group III winner Yamolai.
Boudoir II, the dam of Flower Bed and her siblings, turned in her best performance when second by a head in the 1941 Irish One Thousand Guineas. She is a half sister to Dark Justice (by Fair Trial), dam of 1962 American Derby winner Black Sheep (by Nigromante) and multiple stakes producer Zuleika (by Alibhai).
The next dam in Flower Bed's tail-female line, Kampala, was sired by 1916 Two Thousand Guineas winner Clarissimus and is a full sister to La Cantine, dam of the stakes-winning steeplechaser Rouge Vert (by Porte Veine) and second dam of 1959 Prix du President de la Republique winner Voveen (by Sirlan). Kampala and La Cantine were produced from the unraced Prince Palatine mare La Soupe II, whose dam Hermosita, a half sister to 1911 Ascot Gold Cup winner Willonyx, was sired by 1904 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) and Grand Prix de Paris winner Ajax.
Race record
9 starts, 4 wins, 1 second, 0 thirds, US$9,800
As an individual
A dark bay or brown mare, Flower Bed stood about 16 hands.
As a producer
A Reine-de-Course as designated by influential pedigree analyst and turf writer Ellen Parker, Flower Bed produced nine named foals, of which eight started and seven won. Her important foals are as follow:
- Flower Bowl (1952, by Alibhai) won the 1956 Delaware Handicap and Ladies Handicap. She is the dam of two-time American champion filly Bowl of Flowers (by Sailor) and of stakes winners and important sires Graustark and His Majesty, both by Ribot. She is the second dam of Grade II winner Spruce Bouquet and the useful sire Whiskey Road.
- Floral Park (1953, by Alibhai) won the 1957 Bellerose Handicap. She is the second dam of 1989 Demoiselle Stakes (USA-I) winner Rootentootenwooten and the third dam of 1989 Derby Italiano (ITY-I) winner Prorutori, Australian Group III winner Stormy Regent and Grade III winner Kukulcan.
- Green Finger (1958, by Better Self) won only once in 18 starts but is the dam of 1974 Queens County Handicap (USA-II) winner Free Hand (by Gallant Man) and Grade II-placed stakes winner Blandford Park (by Little Current). She is the third dam of multiple Australian Group I winner Our Poetic Prince, 1987 Queensland Elders Handicap (AUS-I) winner Dancing Poet and multiple Grade III winner Take Me Out.
- Brambles (1960, by Beau Max) won the 1965 Benjamin F. Lindheimer Handicap. He sired only one stakes winner from 53 named foals.
- Multiflora (1961, by Beau Max) failed to win in 14 tries but is the dam of three-time American champion Gallant Bloom (by Gallant Man) and the second dam of Australian Group III winner Lady's Slipper and Irish Group III winner Misty Valley. She is the third dam of three-time Scandinavian champion Valley Chapel.
Connections
Bred by Louis B. Mayer, Flower Bed was owned by Herman B. Delman, who purchased her for US$20,000 from a Mayer dispersal in January 1948. She was trained by Reggie Cornell. Delman, in turn dispersed most of his horses at auction in August 1949, and Flower Bed was purchased by Isabel Dodge Sloane's Brookmeade Stable for US$15,500. In 1957, Brookmeade sold Flower Bed to Robert J. Kleberg, Jr., of King Ranch in a private transaction. She did not produce any foals after 1961.
Pedigree notes
Flower Bed is outcrossed through five generations. She is a half sister to 1950 Santa Anita Derby winner Your Host (by Alibhai) and to stakes-placed Your Hostess (by Alibhai), dam of 1974 Ladies Handicap (USA-I) winner Coraggioso (by Gallant Man), 1967 Arlington-Washington Futurity winner T. V. Commercial (by T. V. Lark), 1963 Schuylerville Stakes winner Gallatia (by Gallant Man) and juvenile stakes winner Royal Clipper (by Royal Charger). Your Hostess is also the second dam of 1969 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Majestic Prince, 1971 English champion 2-year-old male Crowned Prince, English Group II winner Gallina and Grade/Group III winners Native Guest and Bad Conduct and is the third dam of 1974 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby, FR-I) and French champion 3-year-old male Caracolero, 1973 French champion 2-year-old filly Hippodamia and Grade III winner With a Twist. Returning to Flower Bed, she is also a half sister to Bowl of Roses (by Alibhai) second dam of multiple Japanese Group III winner Nichido Arashe, and to Caluria (by Heliopolis), second dam of Argentine Group III winner Yamolai.
Boudoir II, the dam of Flower Bed and her siblings, turned in her best performance when second by a head in the 1941 Irish One Thousand Guineas. She is a half sister to Dark Justice (by Fair Trial), dam of 1962 American Derby winner Black Sheep (by Nigromante) and multiple stakes producer Zuleika (by Alibhai).
The next dam in Flower Bed's tail-female line, Kampala, was sired by 1916 Two Thousand Guineas winner Clarissimus and is a full sister to La Cantine, dam of the stakes-winning steeplechaser Rouge Vert (by Porte Veine) and second dam of 1959 Prix du President de la Republique winner Voveen (by Sirlan). Kampala and La Cantine were produced from the unraced Prince Palatine mare La Soupe II, whose dam Hermosita, a half sister to 1911 Ascot Gold Cup winner Willonyx, was sired by 1904 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) and Grand Prix de Paris winner Ajax.