Newsells Park Stud's famed producer and Group 1 winner Kinnaird dies aged 18

Kinnaird, winner of the 2005 Prix de l'Opera and an influential broodmare for Newsells Park Stud, has died at the age of 18 after suffering a bout of colic.

The rise and rise of Kinnaird is a genuine rags to riches tale, as she started out as an 8,000gns two-year-old but went on to claim Group 1 laurels and her progeny, who fetched over £1.5 million at the yearling sales, included six winners and three stakes horses, most notably Berkshire, and the dam of Ivawood.

Trained by Patrick Haslam throughout her racing career, Kinnaird won five times at two, a run that culminated with success in the Group 2 May Hill Stakes. The Jacobs family, owners of Newsells Park Stud, bought Kinnaird privately before her three-year-old campaign, the year prior to her top-level success.

Berkshire: Kinnaird's best sonCredit: Alan Crowhurst

"She was a farm favourite," said Julian Dollar, general manager of Newsells Park. "Mr Jacobs bought her in training and she went on to win the Prix de l'Opera. That was a great day for the family and it came when they'd only recently bought Newsells so that was a big moment."

She joined the burgeoning Newsells Park broodmare band at the conclusion of her four-year-old season, and Dollar remembers that the new addition provided something of a challenge for the team in her early days.

"She was quite a tough girl and she wasn't easy to manage initially," he said. "She couldn't get covered by her chosen stallion during her maiden year so she went to Red Ransom, which is when she produced Keenes Royale."

Keenes Royale went on to win three races at three and, having left the Newsells Park fold, went on to produce July Stakes and Richmond Stakes scorer Ivawood.

Julian Dollar: 'She was a farm favourite'Credit: Laura Green

In 2010 Kinnaird was covered by Mount Nelson, a mating that resulted in Berkshire, winner of the Listed Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot, the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes and the Group 3 Darley Stakes. Berkshire now resides at Kedrah House Stud, where he covered 203 mares earlier this year.

Kinnaird also produced Abdon, a Listed winner in Australia, and Ben Vrackie, a 450,000gns yearling who went on to finish second in the Group 3 March Stakes and the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot - beaten just a short head by Baghdad in the latter.

"She started off as quite a tough cookie but became a real sweetheart and everyone here absolutely loved her," continued Dollar. "She had terrible feet and was always prone to colic - she had three colic surgeries and a cecum bypass - so we had to manage her very carefully. And yet she still toughed it out and in the last couple of years she'd been looking fantastic.

"She knew her own mind and she had lots of heart and that was evident in the fact she battled through three colic surgeries. She was a tough mare and she certainly put that toughness into lots of her progeny. She wasn't easy but mellowed as the years went by and loved all the fuss and attention. It's very sad but she'd had a great innings and lived a lovely life."

Ben Vrackie sells for 450,000gns at TattersallsCredit: Laura Green

Kinnaird's legacy looks set to live on at Newsells, with her winning daughter Keenes Dancer part of the broodmare band and the stud retaining her yearling filly by red-hot sire Kingman. Newsells Park also have her unraced two-year-old Oasis Dream colt, named Kinellar, in training with Roger Varian and are likely to offer her Kodiac colt at next year's yearling sales.

"We've got a two-year-old by Oasis Dream who we didn't sell and, as we didn't know if she was going to have any more fillies, we decided to keep her Kingman yearling filly," said Dollar. "She'll go into training, although we're not sure who with yet."

Despite the heights she went on to scale, Kinnaird originally fetched just €10,000 when pinhooked as a yearling. Kinnaird was then reoffered through Willie Browne's Mocklershill at the Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale in 2003, where she was bought privately for a mere 8,000gns by her trainer.

Bred by Victor Stud, the daughter of Derby winner Dr Devious was out of the Be My Guest mare Ribot's Guest, making her a sibling to two winners, notably Chester Vase scorer Mickdaam.

Her second dam was Raysiya, granddam of the talented Salford Mill and great granddam of the mighty mare Laurens.

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