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

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

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 1 ...

. 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 Maisons-L ...

Prix Paul de Moussac The Prix Paul de Moussac is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and geldings. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile), and it is scheduled to t ...

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 sch ...

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 sch ...

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 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. After winning two of his four races as a two-year-old, he only raced twice as a three-year-old, losing on both occasions. In 2001 he won twice, ...

who has produced many other major winner including Kingman,

Mayson Mayson may refer to: People *Ginger Mayson, American volleyball coach * Isabella Mayson a British author, better known as Isabella Beeton *Richard Mayson a New Zealand politician *Tom Fletcher Mayson a British recipient of the Victoria Cross *Tommy ...

Fleeting Spirit Fleeting Spirit is a retired, Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who was trained in the United Kingdom during a racing career which lasted from 2007 to 2010. She was a specialist sprinter, running all of her races over five and six furlongs. Fle ...

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, s ...

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 L'Enjoleur (1972 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian Thoroughbred race horse. Bred and owned by prominent Montreal businessman Jean-Louis Lévesque, L'Enjoleur was sired by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Buckpasser, a son of another Hall o ...

Fanfreluche ''Fanfreluche'' was a French-language Canadian children's television show made in Quebec by Radio-Canada. The show made its debut in 1968 and ran for forty-six episodes until 1971. It starred Fanfreluche, a living doll (played by Kim Yaroshevska ...

La Voyageuse La Voyageuse (foaled 1975 in Ontario) is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse who was a three-time Sovereign Award winner. She was bred and raced by prominent Quebec businessman and major racing stable owner Jean-Louis Levesque. Retired to broodma ...

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

Freddy Head Freddy Head (born 19 June 1947, in Neuilly, France) is a retired champion jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing and currently a horse trainer. Known also as "Freddie", his grandfather was a jockey as was his father Alec Head who also became a succe ...

. The horse entered the ownership of the

Qatari Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sha ...

Sheikh

Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani ( ar, عبد الله بن خليفة آل ثاني; born 11 February 1958) 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 ceremon ...

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. He was a retained joc ...

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 Rive ...

on 9 August and finished second to the

André Fabre André Fabre (born 9 December 1945) is a French thoroughbred horse racing 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 began by working in t ...

-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 (french: Hippodrome de Longchamp) is a 57 hectare horse-racing facility located on the Route des Tribunes at the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, France. It is used for flat racing and is noted for its variety of interlaced ...

. 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 race system introduce ...

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 distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Inte ...

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 ...

, 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 (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year ...

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 lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a '' ...

he finished fifth behind Night of Thunder, Kingman, Australia and Shifting Power, with Noozhoh Canarias,

Toormore Toormore (19 March 2011 – 22 February 2018) was an Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He was the champion two-year-old in Europe in 2013 when he was undefeated in all his races including the Vintage Stakes and Vincent O'Brien N ...

, Kingston Hill,

War Command War Command (foaled 27 April 2011) is an American-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. As a two-year-old he won the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot by six lengths and then won the Futurity Stakes, before going on to record his first Group ...

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 Cl ...

, Bookrunner and

Outstrip Outstrip (foaled 27 January 2011) is a British Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse. He was one of the leading two-year-old in Britain in 2013 when he won the Champagne Stakes (Great Britain), Champagne Stakes and was placed in both the Vintage St ...

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 turf racecourse for flat racing in Chantilly, Oise, France, about north of the centre of the city of Paris. Chantilly Racecourse is located in the country's main ...

. 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 ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races a ...

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

Integral In mathematics, an integral assigns numbers to functions in a way that describes displacement, area, volume, and other concepts that arise by combining infinitesimal data. The process of finding integrals is called integration. Along with ...

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 The Sandown Mile is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) at Sandown Park in late April. Histo ...

), Custom Cut (

Joel Stakes The Joel Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it i ...

), Captain Cat (

Superior Mile The Superior Mile is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run over a distance of 1 mile and 37 yards (1,643 metres) at Haydock Park in early September. ...

) 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 stood at

Windsor Park Stud Windsor Park Stud is a New Zealand thoroughbred stud farm that was established in 1998 near Cambridge, in the Waikato region of the North Island. Windsor Park was established by Ian and Jesse Duncan. In 1971, it passed ownership to Nelson and Sue ...

in New Zealand. He sired Aretha, Lilikoi, Spirit of Baz, Utzon

Pedigree

References

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