Parthenon displayed plenty of tenacity during his first-start victory in a seven-furlong (1400m) maiden at Leicester. The Dubai Destination colt led for much of the race only to be headed then battle back to beat the well-credentialed Sir Michael Stoute-trained Imposing, by Danehill Dancer out of a daughter of treble Oaks winner Fair Salinia.
The corresponding race in 2007 was won by Parthenon's paternal half-brother Ibn Khaldun, who had had the benefit of a placed effort at Yarmouth a fortnight prior to his maiden win. Ibn Khaldun, of course, progressed quickly from this first taste of success. He went on to back-to-back wins in an Ascot nursery, the G3 Autumn Stakes and then landed the G1 Racing Post Trophy as his two-year-old swansong. A son of Dubai Destination and Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Gossamer, he was bred to succeed.
Parthenon has an equally rich heritage and is bred on very similar lines. His dam, Grecian Slipper, is, like Gossamer, a daughter of Sadler’s Wells. While Gossamer is a full-sister to Barathea, Grecian Slipper is also closely related to two stallions: she is a half-sister to Street Cry and another of her half-siblings, Helsinki, is the dam of Shamardal. Grecian Slipper has already produced the French G3 winners Graikos and Magna Graecia. It would be no surprise to see Parthenon add yet more black type to this illustrious family.
