Charm Spirit (foaled 26 February 2011) is an Irish-bred, French-trained

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. As a two-year-old he won one minor race but showed promise when finishing third in the

Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère The Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère, formerly the Grand Critérium, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of ...

. In the following year he established himself as one of the best European colts of his generation with wins in the

Prix Djebel The Prix Djebel is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and geldings. It is run over a distance of 1,400 metres (about 7 furlongs) at Deauvi ...

, Prix Paul de Moussac,

Prix Jean Prat The Prix Jean Prat is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,400 metres (about 7 furlongs), and it is s ...

Prix du Moulin The Prix du Moulin de Longchamp is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile), and it is s ...

and

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is ...

Background

Charm Spirit is a bay horse with no white

markings Marking may refer to: Symbols Marking may refer to human-made symbols and annotations in several contexts: On vehicles * Aircraft marking * Emergency vehicle equipment markings ** Battenburg markings, emergency vehicle patterns * Vehicle marki ...

bred in Ireland by Ecurie des Monceaux. He was sired by the

Haydock Sprint Cup The Sprint Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Haydock Park over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), a ...

winner

Invincible Spirit Invincible Spirit (foaled 17 February 1997) is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. As a two-year-old, he won two out of his four races, but as a three-year-old, he only raced twice and was unsuccessful on both occasions. In 20 ...

who has produced many other major winner including Kingman, Mayson, Fleeting Spirit,

Moonlight Cloud Moonlight Cloud (foaled 5 March 2008) is a British– bred, French- trained Thoroughbred racehorse who has won the Prix Maurice de Gheest three times and the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp. In a famous race for the Diamond Jubilee Stakes in 2012, sh ...

and Lawman. Charm Spirit's dam L'Enjoleuse, won two minor races in France and was a descendant of the Canadian broodmare Ciboulette, making her a relative of L'Enjoleur, Fanfreluche, La Voyageuse and

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

. As a yearling, Charm Spirit was offered for sale at Deauville and was bought for €140,000 by

Freddy Head Frédéric Head (born 19 June 1947) is a retired horse trainer and champion jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. His grandfather, William Head, and father, Alec Head, who also competed as prominent jockeys and trainers, raised “Freddy,” at th ...

. The horse entered the ownership of the

Qatari Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares its sole land border with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the ...

Sheikh

Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani () was Prime Minister of Qatar from 29 October 1996 to 3 April 2007. He served as an advisor to the Emir and often represented him at ceremonial events and receptions. Early years and education Abdullah Al Thani i ...

and has been trained by Head during his racing career. He has been ridden in all but one of his races by

Olivier Peslier Olivier Peslier (born 12 January 1973 in Château-Gontier) is a French thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Peslier competes in flat racing mainly in France but travels often around the world for the big international races. From 2003 to 2014, he wa ...

Racing career

2013: two-year-old season

Charm Spirit made his racecourse debut in a

maiden race In horse racing, a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won a race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the s ...

over 1600 metres at

Deauville Racecourse Hippodrome Deauville-La Touques is a race track for thoroughbred horse racing located in Deauville in the Calvados département, in the Normandy ''région'' of France. Originally called Hippodrome de la Touques, it was named for the Touques River ...

on 9 August and finished second to the

André Fabre André Fabre (; born 9 December 1945) is a French thoroughbred horse racing horse trainer, trainer. The son of a diplomat, Fabre graduated from university with a law degree but then decided to pursue a career in thoroughbred horse racing. He beg ...

-trained favourite Golden Heritage. In September he recorded his first victory when winning the Prix de Melezes over 1400 metres 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 ...

. He was then moved up in class for the

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

over the same course and distance and started at odds of 7/1. He finished third of the eight runners beaten three quarters of a

length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with Dimension (physical quantity), dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a Base unit (measurement), base unit for length is chosen, ...

and one and a quarter lengths by the favourite Karakontie and the Spanish colt Noozhoh Canarias.

2014: three-year-old season

On his first appearance as a three-year-old, Charm Spirit won the Group Three Prix Djebel over 1400 metres at

Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse The Hippodrome de Maisons-Laffitte at 1 avenue de la Pelouse in the northwestern Parisian suburb of Maisons-Laffitte in France was a turf horse racing facility and track for Thoroughbred flat racing. Opened in 1878 by Joseph Oller, inventor of t ...

, getting the better of Kiram, Imperiator and Bookrunner in a four-way photo-finish. The colt was then sent to England to contest the

2000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1.6 km) and scheduled to take place each yea ...

over the Rowley Mile at

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...

. In a very strong renewal of the

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

he finished fifth behind Night of Thunder, Kingman,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and Shifting Power, with Noozhoh Canarias, Toormore, Kingston Hill, War Command,

The Grey Gatsby The Grey Gatsby (foaled 14 March 2011) is an Irish-bred racehorse who was trained in Britain and Ireland. In 2014 he established himself as one of the best colts of his generation in Europe by winning the Dante Stakes and the Prix du Jockey Club ...

, Bookrunner and

Outstrip Outstrip (foaled 27 January 2011) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He was one of the leading two-year-old in Britain in 2013 when he won the Champagne Stakes and was placed in both the Vintage Stakes and the Dewhurst Stakes. In November he wa ...

among the unplaced runners. In June, Charm Spirit was dropped in class for the Group Three Prix Paul de Moussac over 1600 metres at

Chantilly Racecourse Chantilly Racecourse (In French: "Hippodrome de Chantilly") is a Thoroughbred grass, turf race track, racecourse for flat racing in Chantilly, Oise, France, about north of the centre of the city of Paris. Chantilly Racecourse is located in the ...

. He started the 7/10 favourite despite conceding three pounds to his four opponents and won "cosily" by three quarters of a length from Salai. On 14 July, over the same course and distance, Charm Spirit and Shifting Power started joint-favourites for the Group One Prix Jean Prat. Racing on very soft ground, the colt stayed on strongly in the closing stages to win by a neck and three quarter of a length from Yuften and Shifting Power. Yuften was demoted to fourth for causing interference in the last 200 metres. Charm Spirit was matched against older horses for the first time in the Prix du Moulin at Longchamp on 14 September and started the 11/2 third choice in the betting behind the British-trained colts Toronado and Night of Thunder. Ridden for the first time by Thierry Jarnet, he raced close to the leaders on the inside before taking the lead in the last 200 metres and winning by a head and a neck from Toronado and Night of Thunder. In October, Charm Spirit was sent to Britain for a second time to contest the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at

Ascot Racecourse Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, about 25 miles west of London. Ascot is used for thoroughbred horse racing, and it hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 races and three Grade ...

. He was made the 5/1 third favourite behind Night of Thunder and the filly

Integral In mathematics, an integral is the continuous analog of a Summation, sum, which is used to calculate area, areas, volume, volumes, and their generalizations. Integration, the process of computing an integral, is one of the two fundamental oper ...

in a field which also included Toormore,

Kingsbarns Kingsbarns is a village and parish in Scotland lies near the eastern coast of Fife, in an area known as the East Neuk, southeast of St Andrews and north of Crail. The name derives from the area being the location of the barns used to store gr ...

, Tullius ( Sandown Mile), Custom Cut (

Joel Stakes The Joel Stakes is a Group races, Group 2 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket Racecourse, ...

), Captain Cat ( Superior Mile) and Top Notch Tonto (runner-up in the previous year's race). Peslier tracked the leaders before "squeezing" through to take the lead a furlong out and won by half a length from Night of Thunder, with Toormore half a length further back in third. After the race, Freddy Head said "He is a much better horse now. I was worried about the tough Ascot mile and the ground, but he's a great warrior".

Stud career

Charm Spirit stands at the Haras du Logis Saint-Germain stud, at a fee for 2023 of €5,000.

Notable progeny

''c = colt, f =

filly A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States ...

, g =

gelding A gelding (Help:IPA/English, /ˈɡɛldɪŋ/) is a castration, castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. The term is also used with certain other animals and livestock, such as domesticated Camelidae, camels. By compa ...

Pedigree

References

{{reflist 2011 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in France Thoroughbred family 4-g