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The racehorse Nijinsky II (named after the Dance r Vaslav Nijinsky ) was a son of Northern Dancer and Flaming Page and a grandson of Nearco . He was born in 1967 and died in 1992 . One of the greatest horses in Thoroughbred Horse-racing history, he was bred at E. P. Taylor 's famous Windfields Farm in Oshawa, Ontario , Canada . He was then bought at the Windfields Farm's annual yearling auction for $84,000 by American minerals industrialist Charles W. Engelhard, Jr. (1917-1971) on whom the James Bond character "Goldfinger"—from the film of the same name—was based, and his wife Jane Engelhard (1917-2004). Shipped to Ireland , where he was trained by Vincent O'Brien, Nijinsky II became champion two-year-old of both England and Ireland. In 1970, after winning the Two Thousand Guineas Stakes and the Epsom Derby , as a three-year-old Nijinsky II won the Irish Derby and then defeated older horses for the first time at Ascot in the mile and a-half King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes . These victories revealed Nijinsky II and regular jockey Lester Piggott as perhaps the most formidable horse and jockey combination ever seen on a racecourse. Despite a subsequent attack of Ringworm , he then went on to win the Doncaster St. Leger over one mile and six furlongs, thereby becoming the first horse since Bahram 35 years earlier to complete the English Triple Crown . In his next race, Nijinsky II ran in the world-famous Prix De L'Arc De Triomphe at Longchamp, in Paris, France , where he was sensationally beaten a short head by Sassafrás . Many attribute his defeat to racing over too far a distance in the St Leger. In his final race, the Champion Stakes , he again finished second, this time to Lorenzaccio. This defeat confirmed that Nijinsky was past his brilliant peak, and he was immediately retired to stud in Kentucky where he became a successful stallion. In the course of his brilliant racing career, he smashed the Europe an earnings record. He was subsequently syndicated for a world record sum. His unfortunate Longchamp defeat took the gloss off a career that many still regard as the greatest ever in terms of brilliance. The much-loved Nijinsky II team also managed to collect the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Team Award in this year. His brilliance lives on in his descendants, who include 1995 Epsom Derby winner Lammtarra .
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