THE death of Lord Derby’s Ouija Board (Cape Cross) brings to mind again the exploits of a super racemare who has also left her mark on the breeding world, in spite of enormous obstacles.

Raced from two to five, and a true globetrotter, Ouija Board was the best runner among seven winners produced by Selection Board, herself an own-sister to the champion Teleprompter. Coincidentally, Teleprompter had a Group 3-winning half-brother named Chatoyant (Rainbow Quest), which also happens to be the name of the dam of Paulele, who is reviewed on this page.

Ouija Board had no inbreeding going back five generations, and she was sent to be trained by Ed Dunlop. She finished out of the first four three times in 22 starts, and she raced in Ireland, England, France, the USA, the UAE, Japan and Hong Kong. She earned just over £3.5 million and her 10 victories comprised a maiden, a listed race, a Group 3 and seven Group/Grade 1s.

Two wins at the Breeders’ Cup, the Irish and English Oaks double, a Royal Ascot success in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and victory in the Hong Kong Vase, while she was runner-up at the Breeders’ Cup, in the Irish Champion Stakes and placed in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the Japan Cup.

Australia

Ouija Board went to stud in 2007, and had five foals in her first six years. Sadly, her last foal was born in 2013. Among her difficult years she aborted, slipped, and was barren at least four times. She had four colts, the dual Group 1 Derby winner and five-time Group 1 sire, Australia (Galileo), the Australian Group 3 winner Voodoo Prince (Kingmambo), the listed winner and Group 1 Coronation Cup runner-up Frontiersman (Dubawi), and four-time winner Aegaeus (Monsun).

Her only daughter Filia Regina (Galileo) won one of her five starts (finishing seventh every other time), and she is the dam of three winners, the highest rated being this year’s three-year-old Arion (Dubawi). She won and placed on her two starts last year but has failed to train on. However, with two daughters by Dubawi (Dubai Millennium), at least the line will continue into another generation at least.