Lucky Story
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Lucky Story (foaled 1 February 2001–12 May 2010) was an American-bred, British-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. Although he never won a Group 1 race in a career badly disrupted by injury he was rated one of the best horses of his generation at two and three years of age. After finishing fourth on his debut he won his remaining four starts as a juvenile in 2003 including the
Vintage Stakes The Vintage Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), and it is scheduled to take place ...
and Champagne Stakes. He failed to win in four starts as a three-year-old but produced a career-best performance when narrowly beaten in the
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 ...
. He was retired from racing and had some success as a breeding stallion before dying in 2010 at the age of nine.


Background

Lucky Story was a bay or brown horse bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm. As a yearling in 2002 he was put up for auction at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale and was bought for $95,000 by representatives of
Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum (; 15 August 1943 – 4 January 2006) was an Emirati royal and politician who served as the second vice president, first and third prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, and ruler of Dubai. He was pr ...
's Gainsborough Stud. The colt was sent to Europe where he was leased for racing purposes to Abdulla Buhaleeba and was sent into training with Mark Johnston at Middleham in
North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
. He was sired by Kris S, who made little impact as a racehorse but sired the winners of more than 20
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 ...
/ Grade I races, including
Symboli Kris S Symboli Kris S (, foaled January 21, 1999 in the United States – December 8, 2020) was a Japanese Thoroughbred race horse and sire. He was voted Japanese Horse of the Year in 2002 and 2003. He was retired at the end of 2003 and was syndicat ...
, Brocco and Kris Kin. Lucky Story's dam Spring Flight won eight times when racing in the United States between 1989 and 1992, recording her best win in the Senorita Stakes. Her other foal included Lucky Story's full-brother Dr Fong. She was descended from Misplay, a half-sister to Worth and was therefore a distant relative of
Count Fleet Count Fleet (March 24, 1940 – December 3, 1973) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the sixth winner of the American Triple Crown. He won the Belmont Stakes by a then record margin of twenty-five lengths. After an undefeated ...
.


Racing career


2003: two-year-old season

Lucky Story began his racing career by finishing fourth in a minor event at
Ayr Racecourse Ayr Racecourse at Whitletts Road, Ayr, Scotland,''British Racing and Racecourses'' () by Marion Rose Halpenny – Page 71 was opened in 1907. There are courses for Flat racing, flat and for National Hunt racing. History Horse racing in Ayr dat ...
on 29 May. Three weeks later at the same track he started 4/11 favourite for 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 six
furlongs A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to any of 660 feet, 220 yards, 40  rods, 10 chains, or approximately 201 metres. It is no ...
at the same track in which he was ridden by Stanley Chin. He took the lead two furlongs out, accelerated clear of his three opponents and won by five lengths despite being eased down in the final strides. The colt made a quick return in a minor event at
Pontefract Racecourse Pontefract Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. Layout The track is left-handed undulating course with a sharp bend into the home straight. Horses drawn low (i.e. on the inside of the ...
ten days later and recorded another decisive win as he pulled away in the final furlong to come home six lengths clear of Mac The Knife. For his next appearance, Lucky Story was moved up in class to contest 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 ...
Vintage Stakes over seven furlongs at
Goodwood Racecourse Goodwood Racecourse is a horse-racing track five miles north of Chichester, West Sussex, in England controlled by the family of the Duke of Richmond, whose seat is nearby Goodwood House. It hosts the annual Glorious Goodwood meeting in l ...
on 30 July. Ridden as on two of his three previous starts by Keith Dalgleish he was made the 6/5 favourite, with the best fancied of his eight opponents being The Mighty Tiger, Kings Point (winner of the Superlative Stakes) and Nevisian Lad (
July Stakes The July Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and geldings. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and ...
). After racing just behind the leaders he went to the front two furlongs out and kept on well to win by one and a quarter lengths from The Mighty Tiger. Darryll Holland took over from Dalgleish when Lucky Story started 2/1 second favourite behind
Haafhd Haafhd (foaled 18 February 2001) is a retired British Thoroughbred racehorse and active Sire (horse), stallion, best known for winning the 2000 Guineas Stakes and Champion Stakes in 2004. Background Haafhd, a bright chestnut horse standing 15 2Â ...
in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes at
Doncaster Racecourse Doncaster Racecourse (also known as the Town Moor course) is a racecourse in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It hosts two of Great Britain's List of British flat horse races#Group 1, 36 annual Group One, Group 1 flat races, the St Leger ...
on 12 September. In a change of tactics he led from the start and held on under pressure to win by a neck from the
Michael Stoute Sir Michael Ronald Stoute (born 22 October 1945) is a Barbadian British Thoroughbred horse trainer in flat racing. Career Stoute, whose father was the Chief of Police for Barbados, left the island in 1964 at the age of 19 to become an assis ...
-trained Auditorium despite hanging to the right in the final furlong. After the race it was reported that Johnston regarded the colt as his best prospect since
Mister Baileys Mister Baileys (1991–2009) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from June 1993 to July 1994 he ran nine times and won four races. After winning the Vintage Stakes and the Royal Lodge Stakes as a two-year-o ...
. A month later the form of the race was boosted when the fifth-placed finisher
Milk It Mick Milk It Mick (foaled 25 March 2001) is a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire (horse), sire. As a juvenile in 2003 he was highly tried, running twelve times and winning five races including the Somerville Tattersall Stakes and the Dewhur ...
won the Group 1
Dewhurst Stakes The Dewhurst Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old Colt (horse), colts and Filly, fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mi ...
. The Dewhurst had been intended as Lucky Story's final run of the season but was withdrawn by Johnston two days before the race after the colt performed poorly in a training gallop. In the 2003 International Classification for two-year-olds Lucky Story was given a rating of 118, making him the fourth-best European juvenile of the year behind Bago, Attraction and Grey Swallow. He shared his rating with Milk It Mick and Three Valleys making him the joint-highest British-trained colt of his generation.


2004: three-year-old season

Injury problems meant that Lucky Story was off the track for the first seven months of 2004. After an absence of eleven months the colt returned in the Group 3 Sovereign Stakes over one mile at Salisbury Racecourse on 12 August in which he was matched against older horse. Ridden as in all of his 2004 starts by Holland he took the lead a furlong out but was caught on the line and beaten a short head by the four-year-old
Norse Dancer Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a Medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nors ...
. He was then sent to France
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 ...
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 ...
on 5 September but after leading in the early stages he faded to finish seventh of the eleven runners behind Grey Lilas. In the
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 ...
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 ...
twenty days later he started a 16/1 outsider in an eleven-runner field. Appearing to relish the "searing pace" he took second place in the straight and steadily reeled in the leader Rakti but was still half a length behind at the finish. On his last racecourse appearance Lucky Story disappointed in the
Champion Stakes The Champion Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 1 furlong a ...
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 ...
on 16 October, coming home ninth of the ten finishers behind Haafhd. In the
2004 World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings The 2004 World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings was the inaugural edition of the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings. It is an assessment of Horse racing, racehorses which was issued by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) ...
Lucky Story was given a rating of 122, making him the fifteenth best racehorse in the world. He was rated the second-best three-year-old trained in Britain, two pounds behind Haafhd and equal to the
Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, more commonly known as the Derby and sometimes referred to as the Epsom Derby, is a Group races, Group 1 flat Horse racing, horse race in England open to three-year-old Colt (horse), colts and Filly, fillies. It is run at Ep ...
winner North Light.


Stud record

Lucky Story was retired to become a breeding stallion at Tweenhills Farm in
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
. He died in his paddock of a suspected heart attack on 12 May 2010. The stud's director said "We found Lucky Story dead this morning after what would appear sudden death in his sleep. Thankfully there was no sign whatsoever that he had suffered". The best of his offspring was
Art Connoisseur Art Connoisseur (foaled 20 March 2006) is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for his upset victory in the 2009 edition of the Golden Jubilee Stakes. He showed high-class form as a two-year-old in 2008, wi ...
who won the Golden Jubilee Stakes in 2009. His other foals included Lucky Kristale ( Lowther Stakes), Annecdote ( Oak Tree Stakes), Arpinati ( Premio Primi Passi) and Lucky Like ( Two-Year-Old Trophy).


Pedigree


References

{{Reflist


External links


Career 1-2-3 Colour Chart
– ''Lucky Story'' 2001 racehorse births 2010 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 6-a