Sardanapale was touted in some quarters as the best racehorse anywhere in the world in 1914, and Harry Payne Whitney sent his mare Lady Hamburg II to him in 1917 with the intent of incorporating some of the great horse's blood into his breeding program. He must have been sadly disappointed with the resulting colt, Dis Donc, who was a complete failure as a racehorse despite giving evidence of some talent. Nonetheless, Dis Donc managed to justify the experiment in the stud, where he sired Whitney's champion filly Top Flight and the dam of another Whitney champion, First Flight.
Race record
1 start, 0 wins, 0 seconds, 0 thirds, US$0
Dis Donc was said to have been highly tried as an unraced youngster but was too unsound to make more than one start.
As an individual
A bay horse, Dis Donc was a huge animal who was too heavy for his underpinnings.
As a stallion
Dis Donc led the American juvenile sire list in 1931; he was also second on the American general sire list. According to statistics kept by The Jockey Club, Dis Donc sired 63 winners (64.5%) and 12 stakes winners (12.4%) from 97 named foals. While his results were very good considering his opportunities, Top Flight was his only major stakes winner and he never achieved the stature of Whitney's major stallions.
Notable progeny
Top Flight (USA)
Notable progeny of daughters
First Flight (USA), Our Page (USA)
Connections
Foaled in France, Dis Donc was imported to the USA as a weanling by his breeder and owner, Harry Payne Whitney, and was given a chance at stud solely on the merits of his pedigree. After standing at Whitney's New Jersey stud, he was leased to a Canadian farm until his daughter Top Flight showed her merits as the American champion juvenile filly of 1931. Dis Donc stood the remainder of his stud career at C. V. Whitney's Kentucky stud.
Pedigree notes
Dis Donc is inbred 4x3 to nine-time English champion sire St. Simon and 4x4 to the good English stayer Rosicrucian. He is a half brother to 1929 American champion sire Chicle (by Spearmint), winner of the 1915 Champagne Stakes and the 1916 Brooklyn Derby. His dam, Lady Hamburg II, is a half sister to the hardy gelding Tippety Witchet (by Broomstick), a stakes winner at ages 2 through 6. She was produced from the St. Simon mare Lady Frivoles, whose half sister Lady Quex (by St. Simon's son Florizel II) produced Lord Quex (by Lemberg), a sire of some importance in Australia. Another half sister to Lady Frivoles, Sebenico (by St. Simon's son William the Third) is the second dam of 1927 American champion 2-year-old filly Anita Peabody.
Fun facts
Last updated: June 29, 2021
Race record
1 start, 0 wins, 0 seconds, 0 thirds, US$0
Dis Donc was said to have been highly tried as an unraced youngster but was too unsound to make more than one start.
As an individual
A bay horse, Dis Donc was a huge animal who was too heavy for his underpinnings.
As a stallion
Dis Donc led the American juvenile sire list in 1931; he was also second on the American general sire list. According to statistics kept by The Jockey Club, Dis Donc sired 63 winners (64.5%) and 12 stakes winners (12.4%) from 97 named foals. While his results were very good considering his opportunities, Top Flight was his only major stakes winner and he never achieved the stature of Whitney's major stallions.
Notable progeny
Top Flight (USA)
Notable progeny of daughters
First Flight (USA), Our Page (USA)
Connections
Foaled in France, Dis Donc was imported to the USA as a weanling by his breeder and owner, Harry Payne Whitney, and was given a chance at stud solely on the merits of his pedigree. After standing at Whitney's New Jersey stud, he was leased to a Canadian farm until his daughter Top Flight showed her merits as the American champion juvenile filly of 1931. Dis Donc stood the remainder of his stud career at C. V. Whitney's Kentucky stud.
Pedigree notes
Dis Donc is inbred 4x3 to nine-time English champion sire St. Simon and 4x4 to the good English stayer Rosicrucian. He is a half brother to 1929 American champion sire Chicle (by Spearmint), winner of the 1915 Champagne Stakes and the 1916 Brooklyn Derby. His dam, Lady Hamburg II, is a half sister to the hardy gelding Tippety Witchet (by Broomstick), a stakes winner at ages 2 through 6. She was produced from the St. Simon mare Lady Frivoles, whose half sister Lady Quex (by St. Simon's son Florizel II) produced Lord Quex (by Lemberg), a sire of some importance in Australia. Another half sister to Lady Frivoles, Sebenico (by St. Simon's son William the Third) is the second dam of 1927 American champion 2-year-old filly Anita Peabody.
Fun facts
- “Dis donc” is a French phrase generally used to express surprise or to draw attention to what is about to be said. A literal rendering in English is “say then,” but it can be translated as “by the way,” “listen,” “wow” or “hey!” depending on context.
Last updated: June 29, 2021