Mac Diarmida (USA)
April 13, 1975 – September 8, 2005
Minnesota Mac (USA) x Flying Tammie (USA), by Tim Tam (USA)
Family 1-k
April 13, 1975 – September 8, 2005
Minnesota Mac (USA) x Flying Tammie (USA), by Tim Tam (USA)
Family 1-k
Mac Diarmida looked like just another mediocre racehorse on dirt, if that. Switched to the grass at Hialeah in early 1978 after three opening losses on dirt, the colt won by five lengths. It was the first victory of a 10-race win streak. The Man o' War Stakes (USA-G1) was his first loss on grass as he finished third to Waya, but he revenged himself on the filly in the International, in which she ran third. Holding sway over the remarkable older male Exceller in Eclipse Award voting in a loaded turf male division, he suffered a tendon injury in January 1979 and was retired to a stud career far less distinguished than his racing career had been.
Race record
16 starts, 12 wins, 0 seconds, 2 thirds, US$503,184
1978:
Honors
Eclipse Award, American champion turf horse (1976)
Assessments
Rated at 133 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American turf runners of 1978, 4 pounds below highweighted Exceller.
As an individual
A dark bay or brown horse, Mac Diarmida had a fluid motion over turf that was missing when he traveled over dirt.
As a stallion
According to records compiled by The Jockey Club, Mac Diarmida sired 73 winners (39.7%) and two stakes winners (1.1%) from 184 named foals of racing age.
Connections
Foaled in Florida, Mac Diarmida was bred by John Hartigan at his Cashel Stud. The horse was owned by Dr. J. M. Torsney, who purchased Mac Diarmida privately as a weanling. The horse was trained by Scotty Schulhofer. He was regularly ridden by Jean Cruguet. Mac Diarmida entered stud in Florida in 1979 and stood his entire stud career at Cashel Stud, by then owned by John Hartigan's son Kevin and his daughter-in-law Jessica. The stallion was euthanized September 8, 2005, due to the infirmities of old age. He was buried in the farm’s equine cemetery.
Pedigree notes
Sired by 1967 Chicagoan Handicap winner Minnesota Mac (by Rough’n Tumble), Mac Diarmida is inbred 4x5x5 to 1943 American champion sire Bull Dog. He is a half brother to Grade 2-placed stakes winner Flying Dad (by My Dad George). He is also a half brother to Tammie Says Go (by Speak John), dam of 1986 California Juvenile Stakes (USA-G3) winner Wilderness Bound (by Riverman).
Mac Diarmida’s dam, Flying Tammie, was unplaced in five starts but is a half sister to stakes winner and multiple stakes producer Vicki’s Choice (by Beau Busher). She is also a half sister to Barbs Compact (by Barbizon), dam of 1985 Carleton F. Burke Handicap (USA-G1) winner Tsunami Slew (by Seattle Slew), Grade 2 winner Green Barb (by Green Dancer), and stakes winners Sky Light Princess (by Jeff D.), Great Sunday (by Gyro), and Barb’s Slew (by Seattle Slew) and second dam of Grade 3 winner Forli Light.
Flying Tammie and her siblings are out of the winner Compact (by the winning Jacopo horse Rush Act), whose dam Compassion (by 1937 Classic Stakes winner Flying Scot, by The Porter) is a winning half sister to 1955 Whitney Stakes winner First Aid (by Bernborough). The next dam in Mac Diarmida’s tail-female line, the winner Humane (Broadside x Humanity, by Voter) is also the dam of Sister Dikki (by Bernborough), dam of 1968 Bay Meadows Juvenile Championship Stakes winner Governors Party (by Nashua) and stakes winner Wild World (by Warfare).
Fun facts
Last updated: June 10, 2024
Race record
16 starts, 12 wins, 0 seconds, 2 thirds, US$503,184
1978:
- Won Washington, D.C., International Stakes (USA-G1, 12FT, Laurel)
- Won Canadian International Championship Stakes (CAN-G1, 13FT, Woodbine)
- Won Secretariat Stakes (USA-G2, 12FT, Arlington Park)
- Won Lexington Handicap (USA-G2, 8.5FT, Belmont)
- Won Lawrence Realization Stakes (USA-G2, 12FT, Belmont)
- Won Long Branch Stakes (USA-G3, 8FT, Monmouth)
- Won Leonard Richards Stakes (USA-G3, 8.5T, Delaware)
- Won Golden Grass Handicap (USA-L, 8.5FT, Gulfstream Park)
- 3rd Man o' War Stakes (USA-GT, 11FT, Belmont)
Honors
Eclipse Award, American champion turf horse (1976)
Assessments
Rated at 133 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American turf runners of 1978, 4 pounds below highweighted Exceller.
As an individual
A dark bay or brown horse, Mac Diarmida had a fluid motion over turf that was missing when he traveled over dirt.
As a stallion
According to records compiled by The Jockey Club, Mac Diarmida sired 73 winners (39.7%) and two stakes winners (1.1%) from 184 named foals of racing age.
Connections
Foaled in Florida, Mac Diarmida was bred by John Hartigan at his Cashel Stud. The horse was owned by Dr. J. M. Torsney, who purchased Mac Diarmida privately as a weanling. The horse was trained by Scotty Schulhofer. He was regularly ridden by Jean Cruguet. Mac Diarmida entered stud in Florida in 1979 and stood his entire stud career at Cashel Stud, by then owned by John Hartigan's son Kevin and his daughter-in-law Jessica. The stallion was euthanized September 8, 2005, due to the infirmities of old age. He was buried in the farm’s equine cemetery.
Pedigree notes
Sired by 1967 Chicagoan Handicap winner Minnesota Mac (by Rough’n Tumble), Mac Diarmida is inbred 4x5x5 to 1943 American champion sire Bull Dog. He is a half brother to Grade 2-placed stakes winner Flying Dad (by My Dad George). He is also a half brother to Tammie Says Go (by Speak John), dam of 1986 California Juvenile Stakes (USA-G3) winner Wilderness Bound (by Riverman).
Mac Diarmida’s dam, Flying Tammie, was unplaced in five starts but is a half sister to stakes winner and multiple stakes producer Vicki’s Choice (by Beau Busher). She is also a half sister to Barbs Compact (by Barbizon), dam of 1985 Carleton F. Burke Handicap (USA-G1) winner Tsunami Slew (by Seattle Slew), Grade 2 winner Green Barb (by Green Dancer), and stakes winners Sky Light Princess (by Jeff D.), Great Sunday (by Gyro), and Barb’s Slew (by Seattle Slew) and second dam of Grade 3 winner Forli Light.
Flying Tammie and her siblings are out of the winner Compact (by the winning Jacopo horse Rush Act), whose dam Compassion (by 1937 Classic Stakes winner Flying Scot, by The Porter) is a winning half sister to 1955 Whitney Stakes winner First Aid (by Bernborough). The next dam in Mac Diarmida’s tail-female line, the winner Humane (Broadside x Humanity, by Voter) is also the dam of Sister Dikki (by Bernborough), dam of 1968 Bay Meadows Juvenile Championship Stakes winner Governors Party (by Nashua) and stakes winner Wild World (by Warfare).
Fun facts
- Mac Diarmida was named in honor of Seán Mac Diarmida, an Irish revolutionary who was executed for his part in the Easter Rising of 1916 in which Irish nationalists revolted against British rule. 485 people died as a result of the Rising, the majority of them civilians. Mac Diarmida was also a member of a number of societies promoting use of the Irish Gaelic language and advocating for Irish independence from Great Britain.
- Mac Diarmida is the namesake for a turf stakes race at Gulfstream Park.
Last updated: June 10, 2024