The talented and impressive Nijinsky was a powerful horse that was known as Nijinsky II to most who seen it run. A Canadian-bred and Irish-trained horse, it was a thoroughbred and a sire. At one stage the talk of the European racing scene at the age of two, it went unbeaten in five races. The next season, it wowed audiences by being the first horse in close to four decades to win the prestigious English Triple Crown!
However, the Nijinsky is known for its work as a sire as much as for a glittering career that seen it win close to $700,000 for its jockeys. It helped to establish the reputation of Northern Dancer, one of its sires. It also became, for a time, the leading sire in the whole of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as the top broodmare sire in the whole of North America.
It even had a movie made after it; the 1970 movie known as A Horse Called Nijinsky. It won the Horse of the Millenium award from The Sun, and also has Canadian and Irish events named after it; the Nijinsky Stakes. From 1969-1970, the horse won an incredible 10 major wins, with wins at the likes of the Epsom and Irish Derbies as well as the Railway, Anglesey, Beresford, Dewhurt and Gladness Stakes.
Incredibly, it sired over 155 Stakes/Group winners and is the only sire to have a winner of both the Kentucky and Epsom Derbies in the same year. From the likes of Ferdinand and Golden Fleece to Niniski and Sky Classic, this produced some rather amazing specimens that carried on the noble name long after it had passed on.
Retired to stand at stud at Caliborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky, the mastermind was syndicated in August for close to $5.5m.