Chester House (February 1, 1995 – June 28, 2003) was an American-bred

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 and sire. In his racing career, he ran in both Europe and North America, winning six races, most notably the

Arlington Million The Arlington Million is a Grade 1 flat horse race in the United States for thoroughbred horses aged three years and upward on the turf. It was originally raced at the now-closed Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois over a distance of ...

as a five-year-old in 2000. Following his retirement, he showed promise as a stallion before dying at the age of eight.

Background

Chester House was a dark bay horse bred by his owner, Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms breeding operation. He was sired by

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and out of the

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mare Toussaud and was his dam's first foal. Toussaud later produced Belmont Stakes winner

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at his

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stable in

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Race career

Chester House started his record in England with a win in his first outing. He then won the class B Rosehill Stakes at Doncaster, the Listed Steventon Stakes at Newbury and the Listed Huxley Stakes at Chester. He recorded his first

group race Group races, also known as Pattern races, or Graded races in some jurisdictions, are the highest level of races in Thoroughbred horse racing. They include most of the world's iconic races, such as, in Europe, the Derby, Irish Derby and Prix de ...

win in the Group Three Brigadier Gerard Stakes by five lengths. After about three showings in four more group races in England, his connections entered him in the 1999

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the s ...

. Before the race, he was relocated to the United States to be trained by Robert Frankel. Chester House had no previous experience on dirt, stumbled at the start and was last for almost half of the race. He then made steady progress to finish fourth, less than three lengths behind the winner, Cat Thief. After the Classic, he remained in the United States to compete in turf races. After losing his first six starts, he won the Grade 1

by three lengths with Jerry Bailey riding. His connections then retired him and sent him to stud at the U.S. division of Juddmonte Farms.

Stud career

Chester House showed promise as a sire of winners in a brief stud career. Most notable of his offspring in North America is the champion mare Ventura, who won the 2008 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint and the 2009 Woodbine Mile against colts along with several other Grade 1 wins. Ventura earned over $2 million. Chester House had a second Breeders’ Cup winner in the colt Muhannak, who won the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Marathon and was a Grade 3 winner in Ireland. Chester House's other winners included grade 1 winner Divine Park; the multiple grade 2 winner Spring House (who raced for 5 seasons); grade 2 winner Warning Zone; and grade 3 winner Stonehouse, along with many more minor stakes winners. The best of his European runners was Phoenix Tower Standing at $25,000 for a guaranteed live foal, Chester House offered the Mr. Prospector blood line at a much lower price than similar stallions like Kingmambo or

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Death

In May 2003, Chester House’s handlers noticed that he wasn’t doing well. A vet visit showed he was anaemic and had contracted pneumonia. Further test showed these were secondary sicknesses as he had developed a type of cancer called Myelodysplastic Syndrome. Chemotherapy began at once in order to save his life, but the illness progressed so rapidly that Juddmonte Farms managers decided to euthanise the horse on June 28, 2003.http://www.juddmonte.com/news/2003/ChesterHouse.aspx Juddmonte.com/News

References

{{Reflist 1995 racehorse births 2003 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United States Thoroughbred family 6-d