Pedro the Great (27 March 2010 – 9 August 2019) is an American-bred, Irish-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 and

sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" an ...

. He raced only as a two-year-old in 2012 when he won two of his five races including the

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 ...

Phoenix Stakes The Phoenix Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is ...

. He was retired from racing in 2013 and became a breeding stallion in France.

Background

Pedro the Great is a bay horse bred in Kentucky by

Anthony Oppenheimer Anthony Ernest Oppenheimer (born June 1937) is a British diamond dealer and racehorse owner. Early life He was born in June 1937, the son of Sir Philip Oppenheimer, and his wife Pamela Fenn Stirling. Career Oppenheimer was president of De Beer ...

's Hascombe Stud. In 2011 he was sent to England and put up for the auction at the

Tattersalls Tattersalls (formerly Tattersall's) is the main auctioneer of race horses in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founding It was founded in 1766 by Richard Tattersall (1724–1795), who had been stud groom to the second Duke of Kingston. ...

October Yearling Sale where he was bought for 150,000

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

John Magnier John Magnier (born 10 February 1948) is an Irish business magnate. He is a leading thoroughbred stud owner and has extensive business interests outside the horse-breeding industry. Magnier was a senator in the upper house of the Oireachtas, ...

of the

Coolmore Stud Coolmore Stud, in Fethard, County Tipperary, Ireland, is the headquarters of one of the world's largest breeding operation of thoroughbred racehorses. Through its racing arm, Ballydoyle, Coolmore also has raced many classic winners and champio ...

. During his racing career he was trained by

Aidan O'Brien Aidan Patrick O'Brien (born 16 October 1969 in County Wexford, Ireland) Aidan O'Brien bio NTRA. ...

Ballydoyle Ballydoyle is a racehorse training facility located in County Tipperary in Ireland. It is a sister thoroughbred facility to Coolmore Stud, and both are owned by John Magnier, son in law to the racehorse trainer Vincent O'Brien. The current trai ...

. Like many Coolmore horses the details of his ownership changed from race to race: he sometimes raced in the colours of

Michael Tabor Michael Barry Tabor (born 28 October 1941) is a British racehorse owner. As a partner in Coolmore Stud, he is one of only four racehorse owners to have won both the Epsom Derby and the Kentucky Derby. Tabor has extensive business interest ...

while on other occasions he was described as being owned by a partnership of Tabor,

Susan Magnier John Magnier (born 10 February 1948) is an Irish business magnate. He is a leading thoroughbred stud owner and has extensive business interests outside the horse-breeding industry. Magnier was a senator in the upper house of the Oireachtas, S ...

and Derrick Smith. He was sired by

Henrythenavigator Henrythenavigator (foaled February 28, 2005) is an American-bred and Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He won the 2000 Guineas, the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the St. James's Palace Stakes and the Sussex Stakes in 2008. After he finished second i ...

who won 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 ...

Irish 2000 Guineas The Irish 2,000 Guineas 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 distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and i ...

St James's Palace Stakes The St James's Palace Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old Colt (horse), colts. It is run at Ascot Racecourse, Ascot ...

and

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

in 2008. As a breeding stallion he was not a conspicuous success and was eventually exported to Russia, but he did sire several other good winners including

George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...

(

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf is an American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old horses, run on a grass course at a distance of one mile. It is part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the ''de facto'' year-end championship for North ...

) and

Sudirman Sudirman (; 24 January 1916 – 29 January 1950) was an Indonesian military officer and revolutionary during the Indonesian National Revolution and the first commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. Born in Purbalingga, Dutch East Ind ...

. Pedro the Great's dam Glatisant was a high-class racemare who won the

Prestige Stakes The Prestige Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old fillies. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), and it is scheduled to take plac ...

in 1993. She was even better as a broodmare, producing the 2000 Guineas winner

Footstepsinthesand Footstepsinthesand (foaled 15 February 2002) is a retired, undefeated Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire who was bred in the United Kingdom but trained during his racing career in Ireland. He won both his races as a two-year-old in 2004 and ...

and being the female-line ancestor of

Power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

and

Rivet A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylinder (geometry), cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the deformed e ...

Racing career

2012: two-year-old season

Rather than making his 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 ...

, Pedro the Great began his track career in the Listed Rochestown Stakes 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 ...

Naas Racecourse Naas Racecourse is a horse racing venue in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland, approximately 18 miles from Dublin. The course stages both Flat racing and National Hunt racing and in 2010 fifteen race meetings were held there. The Naas Races Company w ...

on 4 June. Ridden by his trainer's son

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

, he started at odds of 8/1 and finished fifth of the six runners behind

Dawn Approach Dawn Approach (foaled 23 April 2010) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career which began in March 2012, the colt won all seven of his races including the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, the National Stakes at the Curragh and the ...

. On 21 June he was dropped back in class and started favourite for a maiden at

Leopardstown Leopardstown (), historically called Ballinlore, is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, at the foot of the Wicklow Mountains. With institutional lands and a large racecourse, it is divided by the M50 motorway (Ireland), M50 motorw ...

in which he was partnered by

Seamie Heffernan James Anthony "Seamie" Heffernan (born 17 July 1972) is an Irish flat racing jockey associated for most of his career with the stable of horse racing trainer Aidan O'Brien. From a family with no racing connections, Heffernan was introduced to t ...

. He led from the start and drew away from his five opponents in the final furlong to win by four and a quarter lengths from the

Jim Bolger James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997. Bolger was born in Ōpunake, Taranaki, to Irish immigrants. Bef ...

-trained Wexford Opera. Nine days after his win at Leopardstown the colt was moved up to

Group 3 Group 3 may refer to: * Group 3 element, chemical element classification * Group 3 (motorsport), FIA classification of cars used in auto racing and rallying * Group 3, the third tier of races in worldwide Thoroughbred horse racing * Group 3 image ...

class for the Railway Stakes at the

Curragh The Curragh ( ; ) is a flat open plain in County Kildare, Ireland. This area is well known for horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is on the edge of Kildare town, beside the Japanese Gardens. Pollardstown Fen, the larges ...

and started second favourite behind his stablemate Cristoforo Colombo. After racing in second place for most of the way he faded in the closing stages and finished fifth behind the

David Wachman David Wachman (born 5 July 1971) is a retired Irish racehorse trainer who specialised in flat racing. Before taking out his own licence to train horses, Wachman worked for trainers in Ireland ( Jessica Harrington, Michael Hourigan and Jim Bolge ...

-trained Probably. The Group 1 Phoenix Stakes at Leopardstown on 12 August attracted a field of six runners and Pedro the Great, with Heffernan in the saddle, started the 10/1 fourth choice in the betting. Probably started favourite ahead of Cristoforo Colombo and the British challenger Bungle Inthejungle (

Molecomb Stakes The Molecomb Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 5 furlongs (1,006 metres), and it is scheduled to take plac ...

) while the other two runners were Leitir Mor and the filly Lottie Dod. The horses raced up the stands side (the left hand side from the jockeys' viewpoint) with Pedro the Great settling in fifth before switching to the right and taking the lead in the last quarter mile. The complexion of the race changed abruptly a furlong out when Cristoforo Colombo, who was going well and still in contention, slipped and fell a furlong out. In the closing stages Pedro the Great drew away from his remaining rivals and won "comfortably" by two and three quarter lengths from Leitir Mor. Aidan O'Brien commented "He won his maiden very impressively. He was a bit fresh the last day and we decided to take our time with him today and he settled well. He won’t mind stepping up to seven furlongs". In October Pedro the Great was sent to France to contest 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 ...

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 ...

and started 9/2 third favourite. After being restrained by Joseph O'Brien in the early stages he made some progress approaching the last 400 metres but never looked likely to threaten the leaders and finished fifth to Olympic Glory.

Stud record

Pedro the Great remained in training as a three-year-old but did not race again: his retirement was announced in November 2013. He began his stud career at the Haras de La Haie Neuve in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. Died on 9 August 2019.

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 2010 racehorse births 2019 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in Ireland Thoroughbred family 1-e