Blessingindisguise [M & D Easterby]

Blessingindisguise

Sire

Kala Shikari

Dam

Blowing Bubbles

DOB

1993

Sex

gelding

Colour

bay

Country

Owner

Mr AG Black

Breeder

Mrs A Meller

Source

Doncaster Bloodstock Sales 1994

Form [F]

91220/ 840400050/ 80022101211133U83/ 6911009/07978400019/ 5028628000/ 080410694405000/ 8021000000/ 203854466822240/ 980/

"The horse of a lifetime. It was a dream come true when he won at York. He loved polos but he really hated the stalls." - owner Alan Black.

Blessingindisguise arrived in Sheriff Hutton in 1994 as a yearling from the DBS Sales for 4,000gns. He was owned for his entire 102 race career by York estate agent and chartered surveyor Alan Black.

He was named 'Blessingindisguise' after a phrase used by owner Alan Black's father who, after seeing a fancied horse beaten, often said it may be a 'blessing in disguise' as next time the handicap mark would be lower and the odds probably greater.

Blessingindisguise was looked after for most of his career by Percy Marshall, who travelled many a mile with the popular sprinter and was always there to lead him up.

Blessing showed immense early promise and was a winner as two year old when he won a Newcastle maiden by three lengths. His three year old career was unremarkable, but he was back in the winners enclosure in May 1997 at Redcar where he defeated Moon Strike under Lindsay Charnock. Moon Strike and Blessing were to become rivals over coming seasons. The year 1997 was a good one for Blessingindisguise, winning at Ripon in June and then running off a hat trick at Haydock, Ayr and Ascot. It would have been a five timer were it not for a narrow defeat in the Gosforth Park Cup by a short head to old rival Moon Strike.

In 1998 Blessing won at York and Ascot, earning a career high rating of 100 which was to keep him quiet for a while. His Ascot win, ridden by Mick Kinane, was an exact repeat of the win he had secured the previous year.

By 1999 he was tumbling down the weights, and won at Newcastle at the end of year and then again at the same track in 2001. In 2002 at Catterick Blessingindisguise graced the winner's enclosure for the last time. In his final two seasons he finished runner up four times, but time was called on his career at Haydock in July 2004. He had fallen down the weights to just 43 and at 11 years of age he owed his owner nothing.

His career statistics read 11 wins, and over £108,000 in prizemoney. He was one of the north's favourite sprinters in the late 1990s and his success made his owner's colours well recognised in sprint handicaps. These colours would go on to be carried by another prolific winner, Middlethorpe, in coming seasons.

Blessingindisguise spent a happy retirement and lived into his early twenties, his final years being spent at Mill House Farm, Bulmer, where many of our old favourites have lived out their natural lives.

Links

•	An interview with Alan Black

News

24Jul24		26 years ago: Mick Kinane rides Ascot double

24Jul98		York owner makes it an Ascot double

Date

Race


31May02	Lionweld Kennedy Sprint Handicap 5f
	Catterick
	Jockey: Sam Hitchcott Owner: Mr AG Black
	Trainer: Michael Easterby

30Jun01	Laurent Perrier Handicap 5f
	Newcastle
	Jockey: Terry Lucas Owner: Mr AG Black
	Trainer: Michael Easterby

19Sep99	Easy Favourites Magic Eleven Fifty Two Handicap 5f
	Newcastle
	Jockey: Gyles Parkin Owner: Mr AG Black
	Trainer: Michael Easterby

24Jul98 image	City Index Rated Handicap Showcase Race 5f
	Ascot
	Jockey: Mick Kinane Owner: Mr AG Black
	Trainer: Michael Easterby

10Jul98 image	Mr Kipling Exceedingly Good Stakes 5f
	York
	Jockey: Terry Lucas Owner: Mr AG Black
	Trainer: Michael Easterby

25Jul97 image	Imperial Cancer Research Fund Rated Handicap 5f
	Ascot
	Jockey: Mick Kinane Owner: Mr AG Black
	Trainer: Michael Easterby

14Jul97	Western House Handicap 5f
	Ayr
	Jockey: Terry Lucas Owner: Mr AG Black
	Trainer: Michael Easterby

04Jul97	Ellesmere Handicap 5f
	Haydock
	Jockey: Gyles Parkin Owner: Mr AG Black
	Trainer: Michael Easterby

19Jun97	Racing Channel Handicap 5f
	Ripon
	Jockey: Gyles Parkin Owner: Mr AG Black
	Trainer: Michael Easterby

27May97	Dormanstown Sprint Handicap 5f
	Redcar
	Jockey: Lindsay Charnock Owner: Mr AG Black
	Trainer: Michael Easterby

08May95	Big Dipper Maiden Auction Stakes 5f
	Newcastle
	Jockey: Mark Birch Owner: Mr AG Black
	Trainer: Michael Easterby

BLESSINGINDISGUISE bay gelding 1993	Kala Shikari	Huntercombe	Derring-Do
			Ergina
		Vigour	Lion Cavern
			Brave Revival
	Blowing Bubbles	Native Admiral	Buckpasser
			Native Street
		Out Of Depth	Deep River
			Breide's Wood