Soldier's Tale (foaled 28 March 2001) was an American-bred, British-trained

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 and sire. He was a talented but injury-prone sprinter who raced only eight times before he retired at the age of six. Unraced as a two-year-old he won one minor race from two starts in early 2004 before being off the course for over a year. As a four-year-old in 2005 he won his first two races including the

Chipchase Stakes The Chipchase Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Newcastle over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to take ...

before finishing fourth in the July Cup. He missed the whole of the 2006 season before returning as a six-year-old in 2007. He finished third in the

Duke of York Stakes The Duke of York Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run over a distance of 6 furlongs () at York in May. History An ...

and the

John of Gaunt Stakes The John of Gaunt Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Haydock Park over a distance of 7 furlongs and 37 yards (1,442 metres), an ...

before recording his biggest victory on his final appearance when he defeated a top-class international field to win the

Golden Jubilee Stakes The Platinum Jubilee Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. Three-year-olds foaled in the Southern Hemis ...

. After his retirement from racing he stood as a breeding stallion in Australia.

Background

Soldier's Tale 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 in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

by his owner Syd Belzberg's Budget Stable Inc. He was one of the best horses sired by

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

who won the

July Cup The July Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metre ...

and the

Nunthorpe Stakes The Nunthorpe Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged two years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 5 furlongs (1,006 metres), and it is sche ...

in 1999, a year in which he was voted

Cartier Champion Sprinter The Cartier Champion Sprinter is an award in European horse racing, founded in 1991, and sponsored by Cartier SA as part of the Cartier Racing Awards. The award winner is decided by points earned in group races plus the votes cast by British racing ...

. Soldier's Tale's dam Myrtle showed above-average ability in a brief racing career, winning 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 ...

and finishing third in the

Princess Margaret Stakes The Princess Margaret Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old fillies. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to take ...

. She was descended from the British broodmare Harlequinade, who was the ancestor of major winners including

Lemon Souffle Lemon Souffle (22 February 1991–8 October 2001) was a European champion Thoroughbred racehorse, bred and trained in the United Kingdom. In the International Classification for 1993 she was the highest-rated two-year-old filly in Europe and ...

and

Golden Lilac Golden Lilac is an Irish-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. She won her first six races including the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and the Prix de Diane as a three-year-old in 2011. In May 2012, she defeated Cirrus des Aigles to win the ...

. As a

foal A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal ...

was offered for sale in November 2001 at

Keeneland Keeneland Association, Inc. is an equine business based in Lexington, Kentucky. It includes two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex. It is also known for i ...

but failed to reach his $50,000

reserve price In economics, a reservation (or reserve) price is a limit on the price of a good or a service. On the demand side, it is the highest price that a buyer is willing to pay; on the supply side, it is the lowest price a seller is willing to accept ...

. He returned to Keeneland in September 2002 but again the bidding did not reach the reserve, which on this occasion was set at $75,000. Soldier's Tale was sent to race in Europe and entered training with

Jeremy Noseda Jeremy Noseda (born 17 September 1963) is a retired British racehorse trainer. After six years working for John Dunlop, and five years as assistant to John Gosden, he joined Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation in late 1993, and played a si ...

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 ...

. He was named after

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

's theatrical work ''

L'Histoire du soldat ' (''The Soldier's Tale'') is a theatrical work "to be read, played, and danced" () by three actors and one or several dancers, accompanied by a septet of instruments. Conceived by Igor Stravinsky and Swiss writer C. F. Ramuz, the piece was based ...

''.

Racing career

2004: three-year-old season

Soldier's Tale did not race as a two-year-old, beginning his racing career as a three-year-old in 2004 when he was ridden in both of his races by Eddie Ahern. On his racecourse debut he started 11/4 favourite for a six-

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 ...

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 15 April. After being restrained by Ahearn in the early stages he finished strongly but failed by a head to overhaul the

Barry Hills Barry Hills (born 2 April 1937) is a retired British thoroughbred horse trainer. He lives in Lambourn, England. Biography Barry Hills had three sons in his first marriage, to Maureen Newson: John, Michael, and Richard. John (died 2014) was a h ...

-trained Fun To Ride with a gap of seven

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 ...

back to Majorca in third. On 12 May the colt started 4/9 favourite against eleven opponents in a seven furlong maiden at

York Racecourse York Racecourse is a horse racing venue in York, North Yorkshire, England. It is the third biggest racecourse in Britain in terms of total prize money offered, and second behind Ascot in prize money offered per meeting. It attracts around 350, ...

. After tracking the leaders he took the lead approaching the final furlong and drew clear to win by five lengths from the filly Capestar with another nine lengths back to New Order in third. Soldier's Tale then had multiple health and injury problems, fracturing a leg and suffering a bout of

colic Colic or cholic () is a form of pain that starts and stops abruptly. It occurs due to muscular contractions of a hollow tube (small and large intestine, gall bladder, ureter, etc.) in an attempt to relieve an obstruction by forcing content out. ...

and missed the rest of the season.

2005: four-year-old season

A year and a day after his last run Soldier's Tale contested a six-furlong handicap race at York in which he was assigned a weight of 124 pounds and was ridden by

Jamie Spencer Jamie Spencer (born 8 June 1980, in County Tipperary) is an Irish flat racing jockey currently riding in the UK. He has been champion jockey in both Ireland and Britain and has won seven classics, five in Ireland and two in England.

. After being held up towards the rear of the field he made a strong run on the stands-side (the right side of the course from the jockeys' viewpoint) in the last quarter mile, catching the leader Fonthill Road in the final stride and winning by a short head. ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pa ...

s correspondent described his winning run as "a tremendous burts of speed". On 25 June Soldier's Tale was stepped up in class for the

Group Three AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette tel ...

Chipchase Stakes at

Newcastle Racecourse Newcastle Racecourse is a horse racing course located at Gosforth Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, owned by Arena Racing Company. It stages both flat and National Hunt racing, with its biggest meeting being the Northumberland Plate hel ...

in which he was ridden by

Kevin Darley Kevin Darley (born 5 August 1960, in Penn, Wolverhampton) is a retired jockey, and a co-president of the Jockeys' Association of Great Britain. He was British flat racing Champion Apprentice in 1978 with 70 wins and Champion Jockey in 2000 w ...

and started 6/4 favourite in a twelve-runner field. The race attracted a strong field including

Fayr Jag Fayr Jag (17 May 1999 – 21 April 2008) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. Trained throughout his racing career in Yorkshire by Tim Easterby he was a durable sprinter who ran 64 times and won eleven races in seven s ...

Bahamian Pirate Bahamian Pirate (3 March 1995 – February 2017) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He was a specialist sprinter who produced his best form on soft ground and was trained for most of his racing career by David "Dandy" Nicholls in Yorkshi ...

, Patavellian (

Prix de l'Abbaye The Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged two years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,000 metres (about 5 furlongs), ...

), Quito (

Ayr Gold Cup The Ayr Gold Cup is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ayr over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled ...

), Steenberg (

Wentworth Stakes The Wentworth Stakes is a Conditions races, Listed Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Doncaster Racecourse, Doncaster o ...

), Pivotal Point ( Stewards' Cup,

Diadem Stakes A diadem is a type of crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by monarchs and others as a badge of royalty. Overview The word derives from the Greek διάδημα ''diádēma'', "band" or "fillet", from διαδέω ''diadéō'', "I ...

) and Indian Maiden (

Cecil Frail Stakes The Cecil Frail Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to mares and fillies aged three years or older. It is run at Haydock Park over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,206 metres), and it is schedul ...

). After tracking the leaders Soldier's Tale took the lead inside the final furlong and won "comfortably" by half a length from Quito. Twelve days after his win at Newcastle Soldier's Tale was moved up to the highest level to contest the Group One

July Cup The July Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metre ...

over six furlongs at Newmarket and started the 4/1 joint-favourite alongside

Somnus In Roman mythology, Somnus ("sleep") is the personification of sleep. His Greek counterpart is Hypnos. Somnus resided in the underworld. According to Virgil, Somnus was the brother of Death (Mors), and according to Ovid, Somnus had a 'thousand' ...

in a nineteen-runner field. Ridden by Spencer, he raced up the stand-side and chased the leaders before running on in the closing stages to finish fourth behind Pastoral Pursuits,

Avonbridge Avonbridge ( gd, Drochaid na h-Aibhne) Drochaid na h-Aibhne
www.facl ...

and Etlaala. Injury and health problems then kept Soldier's Tale of the racecourse for almost two years. Noseda later explained that at one point in 2005 the horse was ten minutes away from being

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 ...

2007: six-year-old season

After an absence of 22 months, the six-year-old Soldier's Tale returned in the

over six furlongs on 16 May 2007 in which he was ridden by

Frankie Dettori Lanfranco Dettori (; born 15 December 1970), better known as Frankie Dettori, is an Italian horse racing jockey based in the United Kingdom. Dettori has been British flat racing Champion Jockey three times and h ...

. Despite his lack of a recent outing he was made the 5/1 third choice in the betting and stayed on strongly in the closing stages and finished third of the nineteen runners behind

Amadeus Wolf Amadeus Wolf (28 January 2003 – 2017) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He had his greatest success as a two-year-old in 2005 when he won three of his five races including the Gimcrack Stakes and the Middle Park Stakes. He failed t ...

and

Red Clubs Red Clubs (17 January 2003 – 17 February 2010) was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He won the Group Two Coventry Stakes as a two-year-old, two Group Three races at three and the Group One Haydock Sprint Cup at four. The las ...

. On 7 June he was tried over seve furlongs for the first time since 2004 and started odds-on favourite for the Listed

Haydock Park Haydock Park Racecourse is a racecourse in Merseyside, North West England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the racecourse is set in an area of parkland bounded by the towns of Haydock to the west, Ashton-in-Makerfie ...

. After racing in mid-division he made a forward move approaching the last quarter mile but after moving into third he could make no further progress and was beaten by the outsiders Mine and Beckermet. On 23 June was dropped in distance but elevated in class for the Group One Golden Jubilee Stakes over six furlongs at Royal Ascot in which he was ridden for the first time by

Johnny Murtagh Johnny Murtagh (born 14 May 1970) is an Irish flat racing trainer and former jockey from Bohermeen, near Navan, Kells, County Meath. As a jockey he won many of the major flat races in Europe, including all the Irish Class ...

and started at odds of 9/1 in a twenty-one runner field. The race featured a three-horse Australian challenge comprising

Miss Andretti Miss Andretti was the 2007 Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year and is the only Thoroughbred in racing history to simultaneously hold a total of five track records in Australia and England. Breeding She is a bay or brown mare that was foal ...

(the 2/1 favourite),

Magnus Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wi ...

(winner of The Galaxy) and

Takeover Target Takeover Target (27 September 1999 – 20 June 2015) was a much-travelled Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who won top sprinting races in each of the five major cities in Australia as well as in the United Kingdom, Japan, and Singapore. H ...

whilst the other runners included Amadeus Wolf, Red Clubs,

Borderlescott Borderlescott (foaled 12 April 2002) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist sprinter noted for his consistency and durability he raced 85 times on 25 different tracks in twelve seasons between 2004 and 2015. He won fourteen races and ...

, Quito and Fayr Jag. Takeover Target went to the front from the start and set the pace but Soldier's Tale began to make progress in the last quarter mile. He caught the Australian gelding on the line and won by a head with Asset taking third place just ahead on Red Clubs. After the race Noseda said "I love him for his heart. He has had countless fractures, had to have colic surgery and pieces of his stomach removed. He has to have a special diet and twice we have been on the verge of having to have him put down. It all sounds a bit soppy, but I love him to bits".

Stud career

Soldier's Tale remained in training in 2008 and was expected to defend the Golden Jubilee Stakes but missed the race after contracting a viral infection and was exported to become a breeding stallion in Australia. He stood for

Robert Sangster Robert Edmund Sangster (23 May 1936 – 7 April 2004)

's Swettenham Stud in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. He has sired several minor winners but no top-class performers.

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 2001 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 1-e