Saumarez (28 March 1987–2012) was a

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 Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, 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 basic ...

who won

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

's most prestigious race, the

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp Racec ...

in 1990.

Background

Saumarez was sired by the 1985

winner Rainbow Quest in his first season at stud. He was owned by

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

superstar

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

and owner of his

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

team,

Bruce McNall Bruce Patrick McNall (born April 17, 1950) is an American former Thoroughbred racehorse owner, sports executive, and convicted felon who once owned the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian ...

. He was trained at trained by

Henry Cecil Sir Henry Richard Amherst Cecil (11 January 1943 – 11 June 2013) was a British flat racing horse trainer. Cecil was very successful, becoming Champion Trainer ten times and training 25 domestic Classic winners. These comprised four winners ...

at his Warren Place stable at

Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Located (14 miles) west of Bury St Edmunds and (14 miles) northeast of Cambridge. It is considered the birthplace and global centre of thoroughbred ...

Racing career

Saumarez failed to win at age two in 1989 then got his first win in 1990 under

Steve Cauthen Steve Cauthen (born May 1, 1960) is a retired American jockey. In 1977 he became the first jockey to win over $6 million in a year working with agent Lenny Goodman, and in 1978 he became the youngest jockey to win the U. S ...

in the Aldborough Maiden Stakes. Following a win in the Harvester Graduation Stakes, he finished second to winner Blue Stag in the

Dee Stakes The Dee Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 70 yards () at Chester in ...

Chester Racecourse Chester Racecourse, also known as the Roodee, is a racecourse located in Chester, England. The horse racing venue is officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the "oldest racecourse still in operation". Horse racing in Chester d ...

. In June he was sent to France where

Nicolas Clément Nicolas Clément (12 January 1779 – 21 November 1841) was a French physicist and chemist. He was a colleague of Charles Desormes, with whom he conducted the Clément-Desormes experiment. The two chemists are also credited with determining a ...

took over as trainer. Steve Cauthen rode Saumarez to victory in the

Grand Prix de Paris The Grand Prix de Paris is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and ...

and then under French jockey

Gérald Mossé Gérald Mossé (born 3 January 1967 in France) is a jockey in thoroughbred horse racing. He began riding professionally in April 1983 and his success during his apprenticeship under Patrick-Louis Biancone led to an offer to ride for renowned trai ...

, he won the

Prix du Prince d'Orange The Prix du Prince d'Orange is a group-3 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles), and it is scheduled t ...

in September and October's prestigious,

. For majority owner Bruce McNall, it was his second Arc win, having won it in 1987 with Trempolino. Nicolas Clément became the youngest trainer to win this race. Saumarez was then sent to the United States for the

Breeders' Cup Turf The Breeders' Cup Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for three-year-olds and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The race's curre ...

Belmont Park Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905. It is operated by the non-profit New York Raci ...

Elmont, New York Elmont is an unincorporated hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in northwestern Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States, along its border with the borough of Queens in New York City. The population was 35,265 at the 2 ...

where he finished fifth to In the Wings whom he had beaten in the Arc.

Stud record

Sold for $8 million to a syndicate led by C A B St. George, Saumarez was retired to

stud Stud may refer to the following terms: Animals * Stud (animal), an animal retained for breeding ** Stud farm, a property where livestock are bred Arts and entertainment * Stud (band), a British progressive rock group * The Stud (bar), a gay bar ...

. He formerly stands at Odessa Stud in

Ceres, Western Cape Ceres is the administrative centre and largest town of the Witzenberg Local Municipality in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Ceres serves as a regional centre for the surrounding towns of Wolseley, Tulbagh, Op-die-Berg and Prince Al ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

and Died in 2012. He has sired twelve stakes winners and notably is the damsire of 2007

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey ...

winner,

Authorized Authorization or authorisation (see spelling differences) is the function of specifying access rights/privileges to resources, which is related to general information security and computer security, and to access control in particular. More fo ...

.Saumarez at Cheval Bleu
/ref>

Pedigree

*Saumarez was

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 Human reproduction is sexual reproduction that result ...

4 × 4 to Nasrullah, meaning that this stallion appeared twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.

References

External links

Video at YouTube of Saumarez winning the 1990 Prix de l'Arc De Triomphe
(called by Tom Durkin) {{Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe Winners 1987 racehorse births 2012 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in France Arc winners Thoroughbred family 16-a