DVD - The Story of NIJINSKY II - 1970 European TRIPLE CROWN Winner W/BONUS Film

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The horse whose beauty and racing feats stirred the imagination of the world. An $84,000 yearling purchase from E.P. Taylor's Windfield's Farm, a then record for a Canadian sale, this NORTHERN DANCER colt was flown to Europe to the Irish stables of Vincente O'Brien in September of 1968 to run in the green, lemon, and red colors of his new owner, American industrialist, Charles Englehart, and named, NIJINSKY II.

NIJINSKY possessed impeccable pedigree: he had eight classic winners as great grandsires. See rare racing footage of three of his great grandsires: HYPERION winning the 1932 Epsom Derby, MAHMOUD winning the 1935 Epsom Derby, OMAHA winning the 1935 Kentucky Derby, also of NATIVE DANCER, NEARCO, and NORTHERN DANCER - in NIJINSKY II the influence of these great horses came together in a brilliant racing career.

He swept unbeaten in his two-year-old season and later captured England's Triple Crown: The Two Thousand Guineas at Newmarket, Epsom Derby, and St. Leger at Doncaster - the first horse in 35 years to accomplish this highly elusive feat! See all three races plus the Dewhurst Stakes, The King George, Irish Sweeps Derby, and the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe and also early morning exercise, gallops, and groomings leading up to these big races.

Other highlights include interviews with E.P. Taylor - the breeder of NIJINSKY II at Windfields Farm; Arthur "Bull", the patriarch of Claiborne Farm; and Omar Shariff, international actor and a horse owner himself, at the Prix de L'Arc in Paris, France.

In two years, NIJINSKY's original $84,000 price tag was multiplied by 77 times and much of the credit would go to O'Brien and his staff who had earned themselves the reputation of running one of the best stables in Europe; their delicate handling of the talented but notoriously temperamental champion had paid off. And so NIJINSKY II became a legend and had written himself into the record books of racing; he was syndicated for a then record sum of over $5 million, becoming the most valuable horse in history. He brought together in his career England the United States and was the fastest horse over a distance of ground in England since the war. The horse would only be seen again in his progeny.

A thrilling masterpiece narrated by Orson Wells that pays tribute to one of NORTHERN DANCER's most prolific sons!


AS AN ADDED BONUS... a brief segment is shown after the main feature - veterinarians, researchers and farriers attended the Blue Grass Laminitis Symposium; one of the most recent advancements in the treatment of this potentially deadly hoof ailment is a glue-on shoe which was developed in West Germany. Symposium organizers had been testing the shoe on prominent Claiborne Farm stallion, NIJINSKY II.

AND FINALLY...a terrific 100-year Claiborne Farm anniversary commercial looking back on the legendary career of NIJINSKY II caps off this classic film feature.


 

57 Minutes.

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