Fanfreluche
SireNorthern Dancer
GrandsireNearctic
DamCiboulette
DamsireChop Chop
SexFilly
Foaled1967
CountryCanada
ColourDark Bay/Brown
BreederJ. Louis Lévesque
OwnerJ. Louis Lévesque
TrainerYonnie Starr
Record21-11-6-2
Earnings$238,688
Major wins
Princess Elizabeth Stakes (1969)
Natalma Stakes (1969)
Manitoba Derby (1970)
Alabama Stakes (1970)
Benson & Hedges Invitational Handicap (1970)
Quebec Derby (1970)
Awards
TRA United States Champion 3-Year-Old Filly (1970)
Canadian Horse of the Year (1970)
Sovereign Award for Outstanding Broodmare (1978)
Honours
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (1981)
Fanfreluche Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack
Last updated on February 9, 2010

Fanfreluche (April 9, 1967 – July 29, 1999) was a Canadian-bred Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.

Background

Fanfreluche was a bay mare bred in Canada. She was named by her French-Canadian owner Jean-Louis Levesque[1] for the title character of a popular children's television show on the French-language division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Racing career

Successfully raced in Canada as a two-year-old, at age three Fanfreluche's performances in both Canada and the United States earned her the Sovereign Award for Canadian Horse of the Year.[1] Fanfreluche was voted American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly in 1970 by the Thoroughbred Racing Association. Office Queen won the rival Daily Racing Form poll[2] in the last year that champions were voted on separately.

In 1981 Fanfreluche was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.[3]

Breeding record

At the end of her three-year-old racing season, Fanfreluche was sold as a broodmare prospect to prominent American horseman Bertram R. Firestone for a then world-record price of $1.3 million. Bred to notable stallion Buckpasser, in 1972 she produced the two-time Canadian Horse of the Year and Hall of Fame inductee L'Enjoleur.[1] She also produced two other champions, La Voyageuse and Medaille d'Or. She has numerous stakes-winning descendants worldwide, including Encosta de Lago and Holy Roman Emperor.[4]

Kidnapping

On June 25, 1977, while in foal to Secretariat, Fanfreluche was abducted from Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky.[5] In December, five months after her disappearance, the FBI located her 158 miles south near the small town of Tompkinsville, not far from the Tennessee border. Fanfreluche was being kept by a family who said they had found her wandering along the country road.[5] Returned safely to Claiborne Farm, in the spring of 1978 Fanfreluche gave birth to her foal, a colt given the French language name "Sain Et Sauf", which in English translates as Safe And Sound.

A few years later, on February 8, 1983, the Irish racehorse Shergar was also the victim of a kidnapping but unlike Fanfreluche, Shergar was never found.

Fanfreluche died on July 29, 1999, of old age and was buried at Big Sink Farm in Midway, Kentucky.

Pedigree

Pedigree of Fanfreluche, bay mare, 1967
Sire
Northern Dancer		 Nearctic Nearco Pharos
Nogara
Lady Angela Hyperion
Sister Sarah
Natalma Native Dancer Polynesian
Geisha
Almahmoud Mahmoud
Arbitrator
Dam
Ciboulette		 Chop Chop Flares Gallant Fox
Flambino
Sceptical Buchan
Clodagh
Windy Answer Windfields Bunty Lawless
Nandi
Reply Teddy Wrack
Alaris (family: 4-g)

References

  1. 1 2 3 DelNagro, Mike (August 1, 1977). "The Million-dollar Horse Heist". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Forty Marcy tabbed". Ocala Star-Banner. November 29, 1970. Retrieved 2012-07-14.
  3. ↑ "Fanfreluche - 1981". Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. 1981-01-01. Archived from the original on 2005-12-01. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  4. ↑ "Pedigree fun facts for 2018 Kentucky Derby". www.kentuckyderby.com. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  5. 1 2 Reed, William F. (December 19, 1977). "The Toast of Tompkinsville: Old Brandy, the stray mare found out on Kentucky Rt. 53, charmed a steamfitter's family, which never suspected she was Fanfreluche, the $500,000 champion". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
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