Rapper Dragon, (, 27 August 2012 – 7 May 2017) was an Australian-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. When racing as a two-year-old in Australia he showed considerable promise as he won one race and finished second in both

The Schweppervescence The Schweppervescence, registered as the T L Baillieu Handicap, is an Australian Turf Club Group 3 Thoroughbred quality handicap horse race, for two-year-olds, over a distance of 1400 metres, held annually at Rosehill Racecourse in Sydney, Aus ...

and Champagne Stakes. After being gelded and sent to race in Hong Kong he ran well as a three-year-old, making steady improvement and ending his second season with a win in the Lion Rock Trophy. In the following season he was the dominant racehorse in Hong Kong, taking the

Hong Kong Classic Mile The Hong Kong Classic Mile is a domestic Group 1 four year old set weights Thoroughbred horse race in Hong Kong, run over a distance of 1600 metres. It was originally a Group 3 race and was the traditional lead-up race for the Hong Kong Derby. In t ...

Hong Kong Classic Cup The Hong Kong Classic Cup is a Thoroughbred set weights horse race in Hong Kong for four year olds, run over a distance of 1800 metres. The first three finishers in this race have priority to run in the Hong Kong Derby, which is the most prestigious ...

Hong Kong Derby The Hong Kong Derby is a Hong Kong Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1873. Restricted to horses four-years-old only since 1981, the race is run in mid-March and is the premier event on the domestic racing programme with a purse of HK$18 m ...

and

Chairman's Trophy The Chairman's Trophy is a Group 2 set weights Thoroughbred horse race in Hong Kong, run at Sha Tin over a distance of 1600 metres, and takes place in early April. Horses three years old and older are qualified to enter this race. Winners ...

but sustained a fatal injury in the

Champions Mile The Champions Mile is a Group 1 flat horse race in Hong Kong for three-year-old and above thoroughbreds run over a distance of 1,600 metres (approximately 1 mile) on the turf at Sha Tin Racecourse with the total purse of HK$14m in 2014/15, appr ...

. He was posthumously named Hong Kong Horse of the Year.

Background

Rapper Dragon was a

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

horse with a narrow white blaze bred by Eduardo Cojuangco at his Gooree Park stud at

Mudgee Mudgee is a town in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley north-west of Sydney and is the largest town in the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area as well as being ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. Cojuangco named the

colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: * Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People *Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places * Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United State ...

Street Rapper and sent him into training with

Gai Waterhouse Gabriel Marie "Gai" Waterhouse (née Smith; born 2 September 1954) is an Australian horse trainer and businesswoman. The daughter of Tommy J. Smith, a leading trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses, Waterhouse was born and raised in Sydney. After ...

. He was sired by Street Boss, a sprinter who won the

Bing Crosby Handicap The Bing Crosby Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The Grade 1 race is open to horses three years of age and up. It is run on Dirt at a distance of six furlong and presently of ...

and the Triple Bend Handicap in 2008. The best of his other progeny have included Cathryn Sophia, Danza (

Arkansas Derby The Arkansas Derby is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in April at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is currently a Grade I race run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles (9 furlongs) on dirt. In 2004, ...

) and The Quarterback (

Newmarket Handicap The Newmarket Handicap is a Victoria Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred open handicap horse race over a distance of 1200 metres, at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia on Super Saturday in March during the VRC Autumn Racing Carnival. Pri ...

). Rapper Dragon's dam Swing Dance was an unraced half-sister to the Queen of the Turf Stakes winner Amanpour and a female-line descendant of Natalma.

Racing career

2014/2015: two-year-old season

Street Rapper began his track career at

Randwick Racecourse Royal Randwick Racecourse is a racecourse for horse racing located in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Randwick Racecourse is Crown Land leased to the Australian Turf Club and known to many Sydney racegoers as headquarte ...

where he finished fourth in a 1000 metres race on 24 January 2015 and seventh in the Listed Lonhro Plate three weeks later. On 5 March at

Wyong Wyong () is a town in the Central Coast of New South Wales, located approximately 63 km SSW of Newcastle and 89 km NNE of Sydney. Established in 1888, it is one of the two administrative centres for the local government area. His ...

he recorded his first success as he won a two-year-old handicap by more than three

lengths 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 In ...

at odds of 2.6/1. After finishing runner-up in the

Group 3 Group 3 may refer to: *Group 3 element, chemical element classification *Group 3 (racing), FIA classification for auto racing * Group 3, the third tier of races in worldwide Thoroughbred horse racing * Group 3 image format, Group 3 & Group 4 are ...

Rosehill Racecourse The Rosehill Gardens Racecourse is located in the Western Sydney suburb of Rosehill, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is operated by the Australian Turf Club. Rosehill holds horse races for thoroughbred gallopers on a grass ...

he ended his first campaign by running second to Pasadena Girl in the Group 1 Champagne Stakes at Randwick on 18 April.

2015/2016: three-year-old season

At the end of his first season Street Rapper was bought privately by the trainer John Moore on behalf of Albert Hung Chao Hong and was exported to Hong Kong where the colt was gelded and renamed Rapper Dragon. All but the first of his Hong Kong races took place at

Sha Tin Racecourse Sha Tin Racecourse is one of the two racecourses for horse racing in Hong Kong. It is located in Sha Tin in the New Territories. It is managed by Hong Kong Jockey Club. Penfold Park is encircled by the track, and the Hong Kong Sports Ins ...

. Rapper Dragon finished unplaced in his first two races for his new connections before narrowly winning a minor handicap race over 1400 metres on 21 February. In this race he was partnered for the first time by João Moreira, who became his regular jockey. The gelding began to make steady progress, finishing second under 128 pounds in the Viva Pataca Handicap and then winning the Primula Handicap over 1600 metres on 28 March. In the Sports For All Handicap on 16 April he came from last place 400 metres from the finish to win going away by one and a half lengths from Romantic Touch. On his final appearance of the season the gelding was stepped up in class to contest the Group 3 Lion Rock Trophy on 29 May and started favourite ahead of Helene Paragon (

Hong Kong Stewards' Cup The Stewards' Cup is a Hong Kong Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the latter part of January at Sha Tin Racecourse. A Group One race that offers a purse of HK$12,000,000, it is run on turf over a distance of 1600 meters and is open ...

). After being settled in mid-division, Rapper Dragon made rapid progress on the outside in the straight, took the lead 200 metres from the finish and won by one and a quarter lengths from Beauty Only. Moreira said that the gelding appeared to be an outstanding prospect commenting "I will win a Group 1 on Rapper Dragon – I would never normally say that about any young horse, but I am so confident that this horse will win a Group 1. Mentally, he is not 100 per cent yet and look what he is doing".

2016/2017: four-year-old season

Rapper Dragon was scheduled to begin his four-year-old campaign in the Sha Tin Trophy on 23 October but was withdrawn from the race after sustaining an injury to his right hind leg. He resumed his season in December when he finished fifth behind Blizzard in the Flying Dancer Handicap. In the Hong Kong Classic Mile for four-year-olds on 22 January 2017 he started the 1.1/1 favourite against thirteen opponents headed by

Pakistan Star Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-la ...

, Beauty Generation and Eagle Way (

Queensland Derby The Queensland Derby is a Brisbane Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds at, set weights, run over a distance of 2400 metres at Eagle Farm Racecourse, Brisbane, Australia in June during the Queensland Winter Racing Ca ...

). After racing just behind the leaders Rapper Dragon accelerated into the lead approaching the final

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use i ...

and won "comfortably" by two lengths from Seasons Bloom. Moore commented "I've been telling the press for weeks that this is the cleanest-winded horse I've had in the stable for donkeys' years and, from that point of view, he was very easy to get fit... I didn’t expect that he would win that easily". Four weeks later the gelding moved up to 1800 metres for the Hong Kong Classic Cup and was made the odds-on favourite in a fourteen-runner field which included Seasons Bloom, Pakistan Star, Beauty Generation and Eagle Way. He raced in mid-division before accelerating in the straight, taking the lead just over 200 metres from the finish and winning by one and a half lengths from Pakistan Star. On 19 March Rapper Dragon stepped up in distance again and started 0.8/1 favourite for the

over 2000 metres. Following his wins in the Mile and the Cup he was attempting to become the first horse to win all three legs of the Hong Kong Four-year-old Classic Series. The field included his old rivals Pakistan Star, Beauty Generation, Eagle Way and Seasons Bloom as well as the strongly fancied British import Gold Mount. In a race run in heavy rain, Rapper Dragon was among the leaders from the start, accelerated into the lead in the straight and came home one and three quarter lengths clear of Pakistan Star. After the race Moore said "This is a really classy animal, he's done everything right, he progressed through the classes, today was the grand final and we won it... there was a moment or two there when he probably was in a tight position but he extricated himself and hit the line like he usually does – really, really strongly." Rapper Dragon was then dropped back to 1600 metres on 9 April for the

in which he faced a strong field of older horses including

Werther ''Werther'' is an opera (''drame lyrique'') in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann (who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on Goethe's epistolary novel ''T ...

( Queen Elizabeth II Cup), Beauty Only, Helene Paragon, Blazing Speed ( Champions & Chater Cup) and Designs On Rome. Starting the 0.6/1 favourite he raced in second place behind Contentment before taking the lead in the straight and held off the strong late challenge of Beauty Only to win by half a length. On 7 May Rapper Dragon started odds-on favourite for the

. He began to struggle approaching half way and was pulled up by Moreira. He was immediately transferred to the track's veterinary hospital where he was

euthanised Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditio ...

after an examination revealed a major and complicated pelvic fracture. At the

Hong Kong Jockey Club Champion Awards The Hong Kong Jockey Club Champion Awards are given annually by the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) to the outstanding horses and people in Hong Kong Thoroughbred horse racing. The most prestigious award for horses is Hong Kong Horse of the Year. The ...

in July 2017 Rapper Dragon was posthumously named Champion Middle-distance Horse, Most Popular Horse of the Year and Hong Kong Horse of the Year. In the

2017 World's Best Racehorse Rankings The 2017 World's Best Racehorse Rankings, sponsored by Longines was the 2017 edition of the World's Best Racehorse Rankings. It was an assessment of Thoroughbred racehorses issued by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities The Long ...

, Rapper Dragon was rated the fifty-ninth best horse in the world with a rating of 119.

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 2012 racehorse births 2017 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Australia Racehorses trained in Australia Racehorses trained in Hong Kong Thoroughbred family 2-d