Shirocco (foaled 10 April 2001) is a German

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 ...

. He was trained in his native Germany by

Andreas Schütz Andreas Schütz (born 19 February 1968) is a Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. From a prominent racing family, he is the fourth generation to train professionally. Andreas Schütz started out as an amateur jockey, winning four German championshi ...

up to the end of his three-year-old season before moving to French trainer

André Fabre André Fabre (born 9 December 1945) is a French thoroughbred horse racing trainer. The son of a diplomat, Fabre graduated from university with a law degree but then decided to pursue a career in thoroughbred horse racing. He began by working in t ...

to race as a four and five year old.

Background

Shirocco was sired by

Monsun Monsun (4 March 1990 – 9 September 2012) was a bay Thoroughbred racehorse and stallion bred in Germany by Gestüt Isarland and owned by Baron Georg von Ullmann. Background Monsun was a son of Germany's first triple crown winner and champion ...

, a German racehorse and leading sire. His dam was

The Minstrel The Minstrel (11 March 1974 – 3 September 1990) was a Canadian-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Bred in Ontario, he was sold as a yearling and exported to Europe, where he was campaigned in Ireland and the United King ...

mare So Sedulous who won two races when trained in England by

Geoff Wragg Geoff Wragg (9 January 1930 – 15 September 2017) was a Thoroughbred horse trainer who trained champion horses such as Teenoso and Pentire. He was the son of former jockey and trainer Harry Wragg, from whom he took over the licence at Abingto ...

. She was also the dam of Subiaco (winner of the Group 2 Gerling-Preis) and stakes winners Satchmo, Storm Trooper and September Storm.

Racing career

Shirocco is best known for winning 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 ...

in 2005. He also won the 2004

Deutsches Derby The Deutsches Derby is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Hamburg-Horn over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is scheduled to t ...

. Overall, he won 6 major group races in 5 countries.

Awards

In 2005 Shirocco was named German Horse of the Year.

Stud record

In October 2006 he was purchased by

Darley Stud Darley Stud is located at Dalham Hall, the global breeding operation owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates. It is on the outskirts of Newmarket, Suffolk, the internatio ...

and retired to Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. In seven seasons on the Darley stallion roster he sired Brown Panther (winner of the Group 1 Irish St. Leger), Windstoss (winner of the Group 1

) and Group 2 winners Arrigo, Grand Vent and Wild Coco. Before the start of the 2014 breeding season he was sold to Glenview Stud in

Fermoy Fermoy () is a town on the River Blackwater in east County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2016 census, the town and environs had a population of approximately 6,500 people. It is located in the barony of Condons and Clangibbon, and is in the D� ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns ar ...

, Ireland to stand as a National Hunt stallion. In 2016 his daughter

Annie Power Annie Power (foaled 20 March 2008) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. A National Hunt horse specialising in hurdle racing, she won fifteen of her seventeen races including the Johnstown Novice Hurdle, Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Novice H ...

won the

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...

at the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Ra ...

Pedigree

References

2001 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Germany Racehorses trained in Germany Racehorses trained in France German Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Breeders' Cup Turf winners Thoroughbred family 2-e {{racehorse-stub