Providential (February 6, 1977 – May 1998) was an
Irish-born
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...
racehorse
Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...
who competed successfully in France and won the most important race on
turf
Sod is the upper layer of turf that is harvested for transplanting. Turf consists of a variable thickness of a soil medium that supports a community of turfgrasses.
In British and Australian English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', ...
in the United States. Bred and raced by
Bertram R. Firestone, he was sired by
Run the Gantlet
Run the Gantlet (1968–1986) was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse and noted sire.
Background
He was out of the mare First Feather, whom owner Paul Mellon had purchased as a yearling at a then record price of $90,000 for a filly. ...
, the 1971
American Champion Male Turf Horse
The American Champion Male Turf Horse award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor.
The award originated in 1953 when the ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) named Iceberg II their champion. The Thoroughbred Racing Association (TRA) added the cat ...
and a son of
Tom Rolfe
Tom Rolfe (April 14, 1962 – June 12, 1989) was an American Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse and Horse breeding#Terminology, sire. He was the leading colt of his generation in the United States, winning the Preakness Stakes and being voted ...
, the 1965
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually on Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland (except in 2026 when it will move to Laurel Park (race track), Laurel Park dur ...
winner and
American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse The American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971.
The award originated in 1936 when ''Turf & Sports Di ...
. His dam was Prudent Girl, a daughter of Primera who raced in England where he won back-to-back editions of the
Princess of Wales's Stakes
The Princess of Wales's Stakes is a Group races, Group 2 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to Thoroughbred horses aged three years or older. It is run on the July Cour ...
in 1959–1960.
Trained by
François Boutin
François Boutin (21 January 1937 – 1 February 1995) was a France, French Thoroughbred horse trainer.
The son of a farmer, he was born in the village of Beaunay in the northerly Seine Maritime département. He began riding horses at a young ag ...
, Providential made two starts at age two. After making a winning debut on October 29, 1979, at
Saint-Cloud Racecourse
Hippodrome de Saint-Cloud is a grass race course for Thoroughbred flat horse racing opened in 1901 at 1 rue du Camp Canadien in Saint-Cloud near Paris, France. During World War 1, the race course site housed the No. 4 Canadian Stationary Hospita ...
, he came back on November 11 to win the
Group 2 The term Group 2 may refer to:
* Alkaline earth metal
The alkaline earth metals are six chemical elements in group (periodic table), group 2 of the periodic table. They are beryllium (Be), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), barium (B ...
Critérium de Saint-Cloud
The Critérium de Saint-Cloud is a Conditions races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbred Colt (horse), colts and Filly, fillies. It is run at Saint-Cloud R ...
. In January 1980, Providential was sold to Serge Fradkoff, a
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
businessman who also campaigned
Perrault and
Kilijaro
Kilijaro (8 February 1976 – after 1990) was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and Horse breeding#Terminology, broodmare. She was the best filly of her generation in Ireland at both two and three years of age, winning the Phoenix Stakes ...
in France and the United States.
In his first start for his new owner on April 13, 1980, Providential won the Group 2
Prix Greffulhe
The Prix Greffulhe is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old horses. It is run over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles) at Saint-Cloud in May.
History
The ev ...
at
Longchamp Racecourse
The Longchamp Racecourse (, ) is a 57 hectare horse-racing facility located on the Route des Tribunes at the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is used for flat racing and is noted for ...
in Paris. On the same racecourse, the colt ran second in the
Prix Hocquart
The Prix Hocquart is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1 mile and 4 furlongs) at ...
and third in France's most important race for three-year-old colts, the
Group 1 Group 1 may refer to:
* Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Alkali metal
* Group 1 (motorsport), a regulation set of the FIA for series-production touring cars used in motorsport.
* Group One Thoroughbred horse races, the leading e ...
Prix du Jockey Club
The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly ov ...
. Fradkoff then entrusted the horse's race conditioning to
Olivier Douieb who saddled him to three unsuccessful starts in France, a third-place finish in the
Premio Roma
The Premio Roma is a Group 2 flat horse race in Italy open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Capannelle over a distance 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles), and it is scheduled to take place each year in November.
History
The e ...
at
Capannelle Racecourse
Capannelle Racecourse () is a horse racing venue in Rome, Italy. The course was constructed in 1881, and it was rebuilt in 1926 to a design by Paolo Vietti-Violi.
It was recently the venue of two Conditions races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat race ...
in Rome, Italy, and twentieth place in a Group 1 race at
Hipódromo de San Isidro
The Hipódromo de San Isidro is a horse racing track located in San Isidro, Buenos Aires, Argentina, owned by the Argentine Jockey Club. It is one of the largest and most important racetracks in the Americas. 120 racing days are held per year, ...
in
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
.
In 1981, Serge Fradkoff sent Providential to the care of
U.S. Racing Hall of Fame trainer
Charlie Whittingham at
Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious race ...
in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. In the US the horse was raced as Providential II.
For Whittingham, Providential finished second in his October debut and then second in the Grade II
Carleton F. Burke Handicap. Ridden by French jockey
Alain Lequeux
Alain Lequeux (1947 – 26 April 2006) was one of France's leading jockeys in the 1970s and 1980s. He won 33 Group or Grade 1 races, including the 1981 Washington, D.C. International Stakes aboard Providential for trainer Charlie Whittingham. So ...
, in November Providential won the most important race of his career against an international field in the
Washington, D.C. International Stakes at
Laurel Park Racecourse
Laurel Park, formerly Laurel Race Course, is an American thoroughbred racetrack located just outside Laurel, Maryland which opened in 1911. The track is miles in circumference. Its name was changed to "Laurel Race Course" for several decades un ...
in
Laurel, Maryland
Laurel is a city in Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River, in northern Prince George's County. Its population was 30,060 at the 2020 census. Founded as a mill town i ...
over
April Run
{{Infobox racehorse
, horsename = April Run
, image =
, caption =
, sire = Run the Gantlet
, grandsire = Tom Rolfe
, dam = April Fancy
, damsire = No Argument
, sex = mare
, foaled = 1978-{{death date and age, 1994, 1978
, country = ...
. Returning to California, he won the inaugural running of the
Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes
The Hollywood Turf Cup is a Graded stakes race, Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-years-old or older over a distance of one and one-half miles (12 furlongs) on the Grass, turf track scheduled annually in late November at Del Mar R ...
at
Hollywood Park Racetrack
Hollywood Park was a thoroughbred horse racing, race course located in Inglewood, California, about 3 miles (5 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and adjacent to The Forum (Inglewood, California), the Forum indoor arena. In 1994, t ...
over
John Henry
John Henry most commonly refers to:
*John Henry (folklore)
John Henry may also refer to:
People
Artists and entertainers
* John Henry (actor) (1738–1794), Irish and early American actor
*Seán Ó hEinirí (1915–1998), known in English as John ...
who was fourth.
Raced in 1982 once, on dirt, he was 5th in the Santa Anita H. Providential was retired to
stud
Stud may refer to:
Animals
* Stud (animal), an animal retained for breeding
** Stud farm, a property where livestock are bred
Arts and entertainment
* Stud (band), a British progressive rock group
* The Stud (bar), a gay bar in San Francisco
* ...
. His offspring met with limited success in racing.
Providential died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
at age twenty-one in May 1998 at Derby Hill Farm in
Mount Airy, Maryland
Mount Airy is a town in Carroll and Frederick counties in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is part of both the Washington Metropolitan Area and Baltimore Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,654.
History
The community w ...
.
References
{{Reflist
Providential's pedigree and partial racing statsAlain Lequeux and Providential
1977 racehorse births
1998 racehorse deaths
Thoroughbred family 21-a
Racehorses bred in Ireland
Racehorses trained in France
Racehorses trained in the United States