Veronicas Girl with Jaquealoup, less than one hour after his birth.
Warmblood Horse Sales · Hall of Fame
Veronicas Girl
Veronicas Girl
The Mare Who Was Never Meant to Be Forgotten
A Thoroughbred winner with Mill Reef twice and Nijinsky once in her pedigree — later given a new chapter through Noah, Jaquealoup and Genisis.
01 · Why She Is Here
A Winner on the Track — and a Mother With a New Legacy
Veronicas Girl belongs in this Hall of Fame for two reasons that can both be proved: she won on the racecourse, and her distinguished Thoroughbred blood now continues through two young horses by Noah.
She was not bought because of a fashionable advert or a carefully planned search. She came into Brian's life after being left at his yard and never reclaimed. The mare remained, was cared for, and eventually became part of a much bigger story than anyone first realised.
Once her identity was properly traced, the forgotten mare became Veronicas Girl: a registered Thoroughbred by Desert Prince, a race winner in her own right, and a direct descendant of both Mill Reef and Nijinsky.
Her present owner, Karen Mills, now holds the mare whose verified history reaches from British racing into the Warmblood Horse Sales breeding family.
02 · Identity Proven
One Mare, Two Spellings — No Mistaken Identity
Her official name is presented here as Veronicas Girl, the spelling used in her current equine records. Historical racing archives commonly index the same mare as Veronica's Girl with an apostrophe.
The identity is not based on a name alone. The date of birth, sex, colour, sire, dam, breeder, unique life number and veterinary microchip check all point to the same horse: the dark bay Thoroughbred mare foaled on 22 April 2003, by Desert Prince out of Veronica Franco.
Her duplicate Weatherbys passport records her official identity and Unique Life Number 8260GB26067658T.
Georgie at Brown Moss Equine Clinic scanned the mare and matched her microchip to the official documentation.
Timeform, Racing Post and Irish Racing identify the same 2003 mare by Desert Prince out of Veronica Franco, bred and raced by J. J. Whelan.
HorseTelex and SporthorseData reproduce the same sire, dam and deeper Thoroughbred family found in the racing and passport records.
03 · The Correct Race Record
Not Six Starts — Nine Starts and One Win
The complete Timeform and Irish Racing records agree: Veronicas Girl ran nine times, won once and finished third on three occasions, earning £6,040.
04 · Her Sire
Desert Prince — Group One Speed and International Class
Veronicas Girl was by Desert Prince, one of the leading European milers of his generation. Desert Prince won the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the Prix du Moulin and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in 1998 and was rated Europe's leading three-year-old colt that season.
His sire line runs through Green Desert to Danzig and Northern Dancer. His dam, Flying Fairy, brought in the first of the two routes to Mill Reef found in Veronicas Girl's pedigree.
Group One victory at the Curragh over one mile.
Group One victory at Longchamp against older horses.
Group One victory at Ascot to confirm his place among Europe's best milers.
A major international sire line behind speed, quality and influence.
05 · Mill Reef Proven Twice
Two Separate Routes to One Racing Immortal
Mill Reef does not appear only once in a distant corner of the pedigree. He appears twice in the fourth generation — a documented 4 × 4 duplication.
The first route comes through her sire's female family: Desert Prince was out of Flying Fairy, whose dam Fairy Footsteps was by Mill Reef.
The second route comes through Veronicas Girl's dam: Veronica Franco was by Darshaan, Darshaan was by Shirley Heights, and Shirley Heights was by Mill Reef.
Mill Reef won the Derby, Eclipse Stakes, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1971. His double presence is therefore not a decorative name on the page; it is a repeated line to one of the great Thoroughbreds of the twentieth century.
06 · Nijinsky Proven
The Triple Crown Winner in Her Maternal Line
Nijinsky enters through the dam line. Veronicas Girl's dam Veronica Franco was out of Maiden Eileen, a daughter of Stradavinsky. Official Aga Khan Studs records identify Stradavinsky as a son of Nijinsky.
Nijinsky won the 2,000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger in 1970, becoming the last colt to complete the English Triple Crown. That direct route is visible and complete in Veronicas Girl's fourth generation.
07 · The Mare Who Was Left Behind
Her Value Existed Before Anyone Looked It Up
Long before the race archive was opened or the pedigree lines were traced, Veronicas Girl had already shown the part of her story that mattered most: she needed somewhere safe, and Brian gave it to her.
The later research did not create her value. It revealed what had always been there — a winner's record, a serious Thoroughbred family and an identity that could be checked against official documentation.
That is why her place here is personal. The mare once left without a future now has her name, her race record, her pedigree and her descendants recorded together in one permanent story.
08 · The Noah Chapter
Two Full Siblings — One Remarkable New Branch
Bred to the AES licensed stallion Noah, Veronicas Girl produced two full siblings. The mating joined her proven Thoroughbred family to Noah's European Warmblood performance pedigree.
Male, foaled in 2023. By Noah out of Veronicas Girl and the first recorded member of this full-sibling pair.
Filly, foaled 6 April 2025. Her passport confirms the spelling Genisis; the name was chosen for its biblical connection to Noah.
09 · What the Cross Brings Together
Thoroughbred Royalty Meets Modern Jumping Blood
On Veronicas Girl's side sit Desert Prince, Green Desert, Danzig, Mill Reef, Darshaan and Nijinsky: names rooted in elite Flat racing, classic distance ability, speed and international Thoroughbred breeding.
On Noah's side sit Branco van Overis, Parco, Darco, Lugano van la Roche, Ragazzo and Ramiro Z: a documented route through modern European sport-horse breeding.
Jaquealoup and Genisis stand where those two histories meet. They are not racing-bred Thoroughbreds and they are not simply another Warmblood cross. They are the living result of combining a verified race-winning mare with Brian's own graded stallion.
Desert Prince · Mill Reef 4 × 4 · Nijinsky · one win from nine starts.
Branco van Overis · Parco · Darco · Lugano van la Roche · Ragazzo.
The 2023 male who opened this new branch of the family.
The 2025 filly whose name links the family story back to Noah.
10 · Her Legacy
The Forgotten Mare Whose History Refused to Disappear
“Veronicas Girl was left behind, but she was never a mare without a history. Once her identity was found, the winner, the bloodline and the mother were all standing in the same field.”
She ran nine times — not six.
She won at Lingfield by a head.
She carries Mill Reef twice and Nijinsky once.
Her official identity was matched by paperwork and microchip.
She produced two full siblings by Noah: Jaquealoup and Genisis.
Now the mare who was left behind has her story recorded properly.
Public facts on this page were checked against the Timeform, Racing Post and Irish Racing archives; Weatherbys identification documentation; HorseTelex and SporthorseData pedigree records; and official Aga Khan Studs records for Veronica Franco and Stradavinsky. The account of how the mare came to the yard, her present ownership and her Warmblood Horse Sales family is based on Brian and Karen Mills' first-hand records. The full microchip number is intentionally not published.