Northern Sunset (IRE)
March 3, 1977 – October 10, 2003
Northfields (USA) x Moss Greine (IRE), by Ballymoss (GB)
Family 5-h
March 3, 1977 – October 10, 2003
Northfields (USA) x Moss Greine (IRE), by Ballymoss (GB)
Family 5-h
Northern Sunset was no great shakes as a race mare and in fact was tried as a hurdler before concluding her racing career. Fortunately for her and for the Thoroughbred, she ended up in the broodmare band at Virginia Kraft Payson’s Payson Stud. Mrs. Payson typically bred for classic stamina rather than precocity, and Northern Sunset proved an excellent fit for her breeding program. The 1995 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year, Northern Sunset produced four graded or Group stakes winners including a European champion, and two of her daughters have bred on with some success.
Race record
18 starts, 2 wins, 1 second, 1 third, US$3,777 (converted from Irish earnings)
Northern Sunset was also a winner over hurdles at 4.
As an individual
A chestnut mare, Northern Sunset was good-sized, rangy, and roomy.
As a producer
A Reine-de-Course as designated by pedigree analyst Ellen Parker, Northern Sunset produced 13 named foals, of which 12 started and 11 won. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Northern Sunset was bred by Basil Brindley. Sent to the 1980 Newmarket December sale, she was sold for 10,000 guineas to Dr. Gordon Layton’s Loch Lea Farm and exported to the United States. After being bred to Darby Creek Road, she was entered in the 1982 Keeneland January mixed sale and was purchased by Payson Stud for US$105,000. She was humanely destroyed in October 2003 after suffering a stroke.
Pedigree notes
Northern Sunset is inbred 4x4 to the undefeated Italian champion Nearco, a two-time champion sire on the English/Irish combined list, She is out of Moss Greine (by 1958 English and French champion older male Ballymoss) is a half sister to English stakes winner Prince of Greine (by Arctic Prince) and 1961 Tetrarch Stakes winner Time Greine (by Arctic Time). Moss Greine is also a half sister to Drinagh (by Arctic Star), dam of French stakes winner Emerald Isle (by Saint Crespin III), and to Arctic Blossom (by Arctic Time), dam of Irish stakes winner Legarde (by Home Guard).
The next dam in the tail-female lineage, Blaith na Greine (by Straight Deal), is a half sister to 1940 English champion 3-year-old filly Godiva (by Hyperion) and 1942 Irish Triple Crown winner Windsor Slipper (by Windsor Lad). Produced from the Phalaris mare Carpet Slipper (whose Blandford half sister Dalmary won the 1934 Yorkshire Oaks and produced the great foundation mare Rough Shod II), Blaith na Greine is also a half sister to Silken Slipper (by Bois Roussel), dam of 1957 Irish Oaks winner Silken Glider (by Airborne) and second dam of 1970 Irish St. Leger winner Allangrange, 1967 Prix Gladiateur and Queen Alexandra Stakes winner Alciglide, and 1968 Royal Whip winner Stitch. In addition, Blaith na Greine is a half sister to Her Slipper (by Tetratema), second dam of 1962 Prix du Jockey-Club (French Derby) winner Val de Loir and 1966 Irish One Thousand Guineas and Oaks Stakes winner Valoris.
Books and media
Northern Sunset is one of 22 important broodmares profiled in Edward Bowen’s Matriarchs II: More Great Mares of Modern Times (2008, Blood-Horse Publications).
Last updated: June 12, 2023
Race record
18 starts, 2 wins, 1 second, 1 third, US$3,777 (converted from Irish earnings)
Northern Sunset was also a winner over hurdles at 4.
As an individual
A chestnut mare, Northern Sunset was good-sized, rangy, and roomy.
As a producer
A Reine-de-Course as designated by pedigree analyst Ellen Parker, Northern Sunset produced 13 named foals, of which 12 started and 11 won. Her important foals are as follow:
- Salem Drive (1982, by Darby Creek Road) won the 1987 Bougainvillea Handicap (USA-G2) and the 1989 Stars and Stripes Handicap (USA-G2) and placed in five Grade 1 events. He was not a success at stud, siring six stakes winners from 225 named foals.
- Lac Ouimet (1983, by Pleasant Colony) won five Grade 2 races. He was a useful sire of durable bread-and-butter horses, getting 32 stakes winners from 496 named foals.
- Dry North (1985, by Temperence Hill) won three of her 25 starts. She is the dam of restricted Canadian stakes winner Fly North (by Pleasant Colony), whose daughter Farda Amiga (by Broad Brush) won the 2002 Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) and Alabama Stakes (USA-G1) and was that year’s American champion 3-year-old filly.
- St. Jovite (1989, by Pleasant Colony) won the 1992 Budweiser Irish Derby (IRE-G1) and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes (ENG-G1) on his way to a Cartier Award as Europe’s 1992 Horse of the Year. Depending on the reference cited, he sired either eight or nine stakes winners from 458 named foals.
- Charette (1990, by Chief’s Crown) won four of 14 starts while racing in Ireland and the United States. She is the dam of of stakes winner Powder (by Broad Brush), who in turn is the dam of Grade 2 winner One Caroline (by Unbridled’s Song).
- L’Carriere (1991, by Carr de Naskra; a gelding) won the 1996 Saratoga Breeders’ Cup Handicap (USA-G3) and placed in three Grade 1 races.
Connections
Northern Sunset was bred by Basil Brindley. Sent to the 1980 Newmarket December sale, she was sold for 10,000 guineas to Dr. Gordon Layton’s Loch Lea Farm and exported to the United States. After being bred to Darby Creek Road, she was entered in the 1982 Keeneland January mixed sale and was purchased by Payson Stud for US$105,000. She was humanely destroyed in October 2003 after suffering a stroke.
Pedigree notes
Northern Sunset is inbred 4x4 to the undefeated Italian champion Nearco, a two-time champion sire on the English/Irish combined list, She is out of Moss Greine (by 1958 English and French champion older male Ballymoss) is a half sister to English stakes winner Prince of Greine (by Arctic Prince) and 1961 Tetrarch Stakes winner Time Greine (by Arctic Time). Moss Greine is also a half sister to Drinagh (by Arctic Star), dam of French stakes winner Emerald Isle (by Saint Crespin III), and to Arctic Blossom (by Arctic Time), dam of Irish stakes winner Legarde (by Home Guard).
The next dam in the tail-female lineage, Blaith na Greine (by Straight Deal), is a half sister to 1940 English champion 3-year-old filly Godiva (by Hyperion) and 1942 Irish Triple Crown winner Windsor Slipper (by Windsor Lad). Produced from the Phalaris mare Carpet Slipper (whose Blandford half sister Dalmary won the 1934 Yorkshire Oaks and produced the great foundation mare Rough Shod II), Blaith na Greine is also a half sister to Silken Slipper (by Bois Roussel), dam of 1957 Irish Oaks winner Silken Glider (by Airborne) and second dam of 1970 Irish St. Leger winner Allangrange, 1967 Prix Gladiateur and Queen Alexandra Stakes winner Alciglide, and 1968 Royal Whip winner Stitch. In addition, Blaith na Greine is a half sister to Her Slipper (by Tetratema), second dam of 1962 Prix du Jockey-Club (French Derby) winner Val de Loir and 1966 Irish One Thousand Guineas and Oaks Stakes winner Valoris.
Books and media
Northern Sunset is one of 22 important broodmares profiled in Edward Bowen’s Matriarchs II: More Great Mares of Modern Times (2008, Blood-Horse Publications).
Last updated: June 12, 2023