Grundy (1972–1992) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career which lasted from July 1974 until August 1975, he ran eleven times and won eight races. He was the leading British two-year-old of 1974, when his wins included the Champagne Stakes and the Dewhurst Stakes. In 1975 he was narrowly beaten in the 2000 Guineas but went on to win the Irish 2000 Guineas and the Epsom and Irish Derbies. He is best remembered for his win over Bustino in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, which has been described as Britain's "Race of the Century". He was retired to stud at the end of 1975 and had some success as a sire of winners. He was exported to Japan, where he died in 1992.
Background
Grundy was a chestnut horse with a white blaze and flaxen mane and tail. bred by Overbury Stud near Tewkesbury, in Gloucestershire, England. He was a son of Great Nephew who also sired Epsom Derby winner Shergar and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame filly, Carotene. His dam, Word From Lundy, was a daughter of the French runner Worden, whose wins included Italy's Premio Roma and the 1953 Washington, D.C. International Stakes in the United States. Word From Lundy won over two miles, but was from a family which was noted for its speed, having produced the leading sprinter Tower Walk.
In 1973 the yearling was sent to the Newmarket October sales where he was bought by the bloodstock agent Keith Freeman for 11,000 guineas. Freeman was acting on behalf of Carlo Vittadini, an Italian banker who owned a stud farm in Italy and later Beech House Stud at Newmarket, England.
The colt was sent into training with Peter Walwyn at Seven Barrows, Lambourn in Berkshire. Grundy was ridden in all his races by the Irish jockey Pat Eddery.
Racing career
1974: two-year-old season
Grundy made his first racecourse appearance at Ascot in July 1974. He won the Granville Stakes over six furlongs, defeating his stable companion No Alimony, who went on to win the Craven Stakes and the Predominate Stakes in 1975. In August he won the Sirenia Stakes over the same distance at Kempton from Prospect Rainbow.
In September, Grundy was sent to Doncaster to contest the Champagne Stakes in which he was matched against the Coventry Stakes winner Whip It Quick. Eddery struggled to obtain a clear run in the straight but succeeded in getting Grundy to the line half a length ahead of Whip It Quick without having to use the whip.
On his final start of the season, Grundy ran in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket. In this race he was pitted against the Irish-trained Steel Heart, an exceptionally fast colt who had won the Gimcrack Stakes and the Middle Park Stakes. Racing on soft ground for the first time, Grundy went to the front two furlongs from the finish and pulled clear to beat Steel Heart by six lengths. In the Free Handicap, a ranking of the year's best British juveniles, Grundy was placed first with a rating of 133. Timeform rated him the best two-year-old in Europe on 134.
1975: three-year-old season
Grundy's preparation for the British Classic Races was interrupted in March by a training accident at Seven Barrows when he was kicked in the face by another three-year-old colt, Corby. He made his three-year-old debut in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury in April. Running on very heavy ground he lost his unbeaten record when he finished second by two lengths to Mark Anthony. In the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, Grundy started 7/2 favourite in a field of 24 runners but finished second again, beaten half a length by the 33/1 outsider Bolkonski. The start of the race had been delayed for twenty minutes by protests by striking stable lads. Grundy was then sent to Ireland for the Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh. He took the lead at the midway point of the race and "romped away" to win comfortably by one and a half lengths from the French-trained Monsanto with Mark Anthony a length a way in third to record his first win of the season.