Frizette was consistent and durable but not particularly talented, spending most of her career in overnight races and claiming stakes. She made her name as a broodmare for the French breeding operation of Herman Duryea, whose widow inherited the mare when Duryea died in 1916. Many of Frizette's descendants wound up in the famed stud of Marcel Boussac, but some returned to North America, making Frizette a great foundation mare in both French and American breeding.
Race record
36 starts, 12 wins, 8 seconds, 7 thirds
1907:
As an individual
A bay mare; no further information available.
As a producer
Designated as a Reine-de-Course by pedigree analyst Ellen Parker, Frizette produced 14 named foals, of which eight were winners. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Frizette was bred and owned by James R. Keene. She began her racing career in the barn of Keene's trainer, James Rowe, Sr. Following her victory in the Troy Claiming Stakes, the filly was claimed for US$2,000 by J. A. Wernberg. Herman Duryea claimed her out of the Seabreeze Stakes as a 3-year-old and sent her to France, where she was also a winner before retiring to Duryea's Haras du Gazon. In 1926, Duryea's widow sold Frizette to Marcel Boussac, who got only one foal from the old matron before sending her to a butcher shop in 1929. In fairness to Boussac, Frizette had been barren for two years and there is no record of her physical condition at the time; further, French law of the time required that horses be put down by a butcher.
Pedigree notes
Frizette is outcrossed through five generations. Following her birth, her dam Ondulee was exported to Argentina. Her only other produce of any note is her 1904 Martagon colt Marathon, sire of two American Classic winners.
A daughter of St. Simon, Ondulee is out of Ornis (by Bend Or), whose full brother Orion won the 1891 Champion Stakes. Ornis is also a full sister to Isis, whose granddaughter Hamburg Belle (by Hamburg) is generally considered the American champion 2-year-old filly of 1903. The dam of Ornis and her siblings, Shotover (by Hermit), won the 1882 Two Thousand Guineas and Derby Stakes but is generally considered the inferior of her stablemate Geheimniss, winner of the 1882 Oaks Stakes and St. Leger Stakes.
Fun facts
Last updated: January 8, 2024
Race record
36 starts, 12 wins, 8 seconds, 7 thirds
1907:
- Won Laureate Stakes (USA, 5FD, Belmont)
- Won Rosedale Stakes (USA, 5FD, Jamaica)
- Won Troy Claiming Stakes (USA, 5.5FD, Saratoga)
As an individual
A bay mare; no further information available.
As a producer
Designated as a Reine-de-Course by pedigree analyst Ellen Parker, Frizette produced 14 named foals, of which eight were winners. Her important foals are as follow:
- Banshee (1910, by Irish Lad) won the 1913 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. Her daughter Durban (by Durbar II) won the 1920 Grand Criterium and the 1921 Prix Vermeille before producing 1931 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) winner and three-time French champion sire Tourbillon (by Ksar), 1925 Prix Morny winner Banstar (by Sunstar), and 1930 Prix Penelope winner Diademe (by Ksar), second dam of 1943 French dual Classic winner Caravelle. Banshee also produced Heldifann (by Durbar II), winner of the 1923 Prix du Couvert and the second dam of 1943 French champion 2-year-old male Priam (known as Priam II in the United States after being imported for stud duty) and 1949 Eclipse Stakes and Champion Stakes winner Djeddah, the French champion older male of 1949.
- Frizzle (1911, by Biniou) won several stakes in France before being sent to the United States. His most notable achievement at stud was siring Fricassee, fourth dam of the remarkable producer Aspidistra.
- Mary Maud (1915, by Irish Lad) was imported to the United States as a yearling and became a multiple stakes winner but was a disappointing producer.
- Frizeur (1916, by Sweeper II) was imported to the United States and became a member of John E. Madden's broodmare band, later passing to the ownership of Brownell Combs. She produced 1936 American champion sprinter and handicap female Myrtlewood (by Blue Larkspur), dam in turn of 1943 American co-champion 2-year-old filly Durazna (by Bull Lea) and 1942 Kentucky Oaks winner Miss Dogwood (by Bull Dog) and ancestress of the great sire Mr. Prospector and 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. Frizeur also produced 1927 Test Stakes winner Black Curl (by Friar Rock), dam of 1938 Test Stakes winner Black Wave (by Sir Gallahad III) and second dam of 1947 Kentucky Derby winner Jet Pilot, and in addition is the dam of juvenile stakes winners Pairbypair (by Noah) and Crowning Glory (by Black Toney).
- Durzetta (1918, by Durbar II) won the 1920 Prix Morny and Prix de la Forêt but was a disappointing producer.
- Princess Palatine (1919, by Prince Palatine) never raced and was exported to the United States. She produced stakes winner Count Palatine (by Under Fire), but her most important foal was her stakes-placed daughter Valkyr (by Man o' War), whose produce includes 1942 American champion 3-year-old filly Vagrancy (by Sir Gallahad III; a notable foundation mare in her own right), 1934 Spinaway Stakes winner Vicaress (by Flying Ebony), and 1946 Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama Stakes winner Hypnotic (by Hypnotist II). This branch of the family is responsible for Kentucky Broodmares of the Year Natashka (1981) and Banja Luka (1987).
- Ondulation (1920, by Sweeper II) won the 1923 Prix de la Nonette. She produced Belgian stakes winner Iago and is the third dam of the great Dahlia, a two-time Horse of the Year in England and the American champion grass horse of 1974.
- Frizelle (1922, by Durbar II) is the second dam of 1938 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) winner Cillas and the third dam of 1952 Prix du Jockey Club winner Auriban.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Frizette was bred and owned by James R. Keene. She began her racing career in the barn of Keene's trainer, James Rowe, Sr. Following her victory in the Troy Claiming Stakes, the filly was claimed for US$2,000 by J. A. Wernberg. Herman Duryea claimed her out of the Seabreeze Stakes as a 3-year-old and sent her to France, where she was also a winner before retiring to Duryea's Haras du Gazon. In 1926, Duryea's widow sold Frizette to Marcel Boussac, who got only one foal from the old matron before sending her to a butcher shop in 1929. In fairness to Boussac, Frizette had been barren for two years and there is no record of her physical condition at the time; further, French law of the time required that horses be put down by a butcher.
Pedigree notes
Frizette is outcrossed through five generations. Following her birth, her dam Ondulee was exported to Argentina. Her only other produce of any note is her 1904 Martagon colt Marathon, sire of two American Classic winners.
A daughter of St. Simon, Ondulee is out of Ornis (by Bend Or), whose full brother Orion won the 1891 Champion Stakes. Ornis is also a full sister to Isis, whose granddaughter Hamburg Belle (by Hamburg) is generally considered the American champion 2-year-old filly of 1903. The dam of Ornis and her siblings, Shotover (by Hermit), won the 1882 Two Thousand Guineas and Derby Stakes but is generally considered the inferior of her stablemate Geheimniss, winner of the 1882 Oaks Stakes and St. Leger Stakes.
Fun facts
- Although James R. Keene was Frizette's breeder of record, the mating that produced her was actually planned by William Collins Whitney, who had imported Ondulee from England in foal to Martagon. Following the birth of the Martagon foal in 1904, Whitney bred Ondulee to Hamburg but died that fall, and Keene bought the pregnant mare for US$14,000 from the dispersal sale for Whitney's Thoroughbred holdings.
- The Frizette Stakes is a major American race for 2-year-old fillies. First run in 1945, it is currently a Grade 1 race carded at 1 mile on dirt at Belmont Park.
Last updated: January 8, 2024