Great Heavens (foaled 28 April 2009) is a British

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 won the 2012

Irish Oaks The Irish Oaks is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs (2,414 metres), and it ...

. She is owned by Lady Rothschild and trained by

John Gosden John Harry Martin Gosden (born 30 March 1951) is a British Horse trainer, racehorse trainer. He has trained over 3,000 winners worldwide, including victories in the Breeders' Cup Classic, the Epsom Derby, Derby, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, A ...

Breeding

Great Heavens is the daughter of

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

, who won The Derby,

Irish Derby The Irish Derby ( Irish: Dearbaí na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a dista ...

and

King George King George may refer to: People Monarchs ;Bohemia *George of Bohemia (1420-1471, r. 1458-1471), king of Bohemia ;Duala people of Cameroon * George (Duala king) (late 18th century), king of the Duala people ;Georgia *George I of Georgia (998 or ...

and multiple Champion sire. Galileo's sire was

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...

, winner of the

Eclipse Stakes The Eclipse Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown ...

and

Irish Champion Stakes The Irish Champion Stakes ( Irish: Curadh-Dhuais na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Leopardstown over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2 ...

and multiple Champion sire. Great Heavens' dam Magnificient Style is the daughter of Silver Hawk. Great Heavens is a full-sister to

and

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

winner

Nathaniel Nathaniel is an English variant of the biblical Hebrew name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. ...

. She is also the half-sister to

Fillies' Mile The Fillies' Mile is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is sc ...

winner

Playful Act Playful Act (foaled April 12, 2002 in Ireland) is a Thoroughbred racehorse and the world's most expensive broodmare. Owned and bred by prominent British owner/breeder Robert Sangster, she was sired by the Champion Sire Sadler's Wells, out of t ...

and

Sun Chariot Stakes The Sun Chariot Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,60 ...

winner Echoes in Eternity.

Racing career

Great Heavens only started once as a two-year-old, finishing in fifth place in an eight furlong

Haydock Haydock is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 11,416 Haydock's historic area covers the Haydock electoral ward and a section of the Blackbrook ward. Haydo ...

maiden. Starting her three-year-old season in a Yarmouth maiden she won comfortable from Monshak. She then started the Listed Lord Weinstock Memorial Stakes at Newbury as the 11/8 favourite. Under jockey

William Buick William Buick (born 22 July 1988) is a Norwegian-born British flat jockey. He shared the champion apprentice jockey title in 2008 with David Probert and won the Lester Award for Apprentice Jockey of the Year in 2007 and 2008. From 2010 to 2 ...

she made all the running and won unchallenged. Great Heavens then faced eight rivals in the

Lancashire Oaks The Lancashire Oaks is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Haydock Park over a distance of 1 mile, 3 furlongs and 175 yards ...

where she was the 11/4 favourite. She again made all the running and won impressively, beating

Pinnacle Stakes The Lester Piggott Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged four years or older. It is run at Haydock Park over a distance of 1 mile, 3 furlongs and 175 yards (2,373 metres ...

winner Shimmering Surf by five lengths. After this performance she was sent off the 5/4 favourite in the

. The

Ribblesdale Stakes The Ribblesdale Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 211 yards (2,406 metres), and it i ...

winner Princess Highway was at 9/4, with

Epsom Oaks The Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 ya ...

winner Was at 5/1 and Epsom Oaks second Shirocco Star at 7/1. As the field of seven turned into the finishing straight Great Heavens was in fifth place. She ran on strongly in the final furlong and took the lead with 100 yards to run. She then drew clear to win by three lengths from Shirocco Star. On 4 October, Great Heavens' owners paid a supplementary entry fee of €100,000 to run the filly in the

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe () is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris over a distance ...

. She started the 7.5/1 fourth favourite and fared the best of the British and Irish challengers as she finished sixth behind the upset winner

Solemia Solemia (foaled 20 February 2008) is an Irish-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2012 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Before her win in the Arc, Solemia had won four of her twelve races, with her biggest win coming ...

Pedigree

''Note: b. =

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

, ch. =

Chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

, gr. =

Grey Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

'' * Great Heavens is

inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders an ...

4x4 to

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America ...

. This means that the stallion appears twice in the fourth generation of her pedigree.

References

{{reflist 2009 racehorse births Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Irish Classic Race winners Thoroughbred family 9-f