Manna

Manna (1922–1939) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career which lasted from summer 1924 until September 1925, Manna ran eight times, winning four races. As a three-year-old in 1925 he won the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and The Derby by a record margin of eight lengths. Manna was retired after breaking down in his bid to win the Triple Crown in the St. Leger at Doncaster. He later had a successful career at stud. Background Manna, described by the Breeders’ Review as "a superb creature" with whom it was "impossible to find fault", was a bay horse bred in Ireland by James J. Maher at his Confey Stud in County Kildare. As a yearling he was sent to the sales at Doncaster, where he was sold for 6,300 gns to the trainer Fred Darling acting on behalf of the Shanghai-based bullion broker Henry E. Morriss. Darling had been instructed by a telegram from Morriss to buy the best yearling in the sale. Manna was trained by Darling at his stable at Beckhampton in Wiltshire where he proved to be a lively and high-spirited individual. Manna was from the third crop of foals sired by Phalaris an outstanding sprinter who went on to become the most influential stallion of the 20th century. Manna's dam, the unraced mare Waffles, went on to produce the St. Leger winner Sandwich. Morriss later explained the colt's name by saying "I always felt that he was a Heaven-sent gift... and Waffles, his dam is the name of a food."