Broome became a Group One winner when he won Sunday’s Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, but the Aidan O’Brien-trained galloper needs several more major victories to supplant Perth as the best thoroughbred named after a Western Australian place.
Broome required six attempts at Group One level to register his first success in the highest grade, his Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud triumph under Colin Keane improving his career record to seven wins and four placings from 17 starts.
Broome is a five-year-old son of Australia bred in Ireland by Epona Bloodstock. French banker Maurice Ephrussi bred Perth at Haras du Gazon, a famous farm in Normandy at which the champion galloper entered the world in 1896. Maurice Caillault and Paul de Pourtales paid 27,500 to buy Perth as a yearling, and the son of War Dance and Primrose Dame developed into a superstar three-year-old colt, winning three of France’s five classics – the Poule d’Essai des Poulains, Prix du Jockey Club and Grand Prix de Paris.
Kidney disease ended Perth’s life in 1908, but not before he sired six Principal race winners, including 1908 Prix du Jockey Club hero Alcantara. Perth’s descendants include Australia-bred stallion Contempler, which won seven feature events across South Australia and Victoria in the 1960s.
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