Taboun (22 February 1956 – 1962) was a French

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 Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, 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 bas ...

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 ...

, best known for winning the

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

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 ...

in 1959. As a two-year-old in 1958, Taboun won the

Prix Robert Papin The Prix Robert Papin is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 1,200 metres (about 6 furlongs), and it ...

and finished second in the

Coventry Stakes The Coventry Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to take plac ...

and the

Prix Morny The Prix Morny is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,200 metres (about 6 furlongs), and it is schedule ...

. In the following spring the colt won the

Prix Djebel The Prix Djebel is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and geldings. It is run over a distance of 1,400 metres (about 7 furlongs) at Deauvi ...

and the

but failed to win again and finished unplaced in his last three races. He was retired to stud where he made little impact before dying at the age of six.

Background

Taboun was a "big, powerful"

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

horse bred in France by the father and son team of the

Aga Khan Aga Khan (; ; also transliterated as ''Aqa Khan'' and ''Agha Khan'') is a title held by the Imamate in Nizari doctrine, Imām of the Nizari Isma'ilism, Nizari Isma'ilism, Ismāʿīli Shia Islam, Shias. The current holder of the title is the ...

and Prince

Aly Khan Prince Aly Salomone Khan (13 June 1911 – 12 May 1960), known as Aly Khan, was an Ismaili sayyid, socialite and ambassador for Pakistan. He was the son of the Aga Khan III, and the father of Aga Khan IV. A socialite, racehorse owner and jock ...

. He raced in Aly Khan's

colours Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...

and was trained at Chantilly by

Alec Head Alec Head (31 July 1924 – 22 June 2022) was a French horse trainer and breeder. Head was the owner of Haras du Quesnay, located near Deauville. A descendant of the trainers who founded the English Racing Colony in Chantilly, Oise, Head's gran ...

. Taboun was sired by the Aga Khan's stallion Tabriz, whose career was ended by injury after winning the Royal Lodge Stakes as a two-year-old in 1949. Taboun's dam Queen of Basrah was a half-sister of Noor, an Irish-bred horse who was named

American Champion Older Male Horse The title of American Champion Older Dirt Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a stallion or gelding, four years old and up, for performances on dirt and main track racing surfaces. In 1971, it became part of ...

in 1950 and of the

Cambridgeshire Handicap The Cambridgeshire Handicap is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile and 1 fur ...

winner Nahar. The mare died shortly after Taboun's birth.

Racing career

1958:two-year-old season

On his racecourse debut in May 1958, Taboun won the Prix Maintenon at

Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse The Hippodrome de Maisons-Laffitte at 1 avenue de la Pelouse in the northwestern Parisian suburb of Maisons-Laffitte in France was a turf horse racing facility and track for Thoroughbred flat racing. Opened in 1878 by Joseph Oller, inventor of t ...

. He was moved up in class when he was sent to England in June to contest the

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, about 25 miles west of London. Ascot is used for thoroughbred horse racing, and it hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 races and three Gra ...

and finished second to the American-bred Hieroglyph. He returned to Maisons-Laffitte in August and recorded his first important win when he won the Prix Robert Papin over 1200

metres The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

from Steamer and

Thymus The thymus (: thymuses or thymi) is a specialized primary lymphoid organ of the immune system. Within the thymus, T cells mature. T cells are critical to the adaptive immune system, where the body adapts to specific foreign invaders. The thymus ...

. Later that month he finished second to Oceanic when favourite for the

Deauville Deauville () is a communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its port, harbour, Race track, race course, marinas, con ...

1959:three-year-old season

Taboun began his three-year-old season with a third success as at Maisons-Laffitte when he recorded a very easy win in the 1400 metre Prix Djebel. The colt then raced Britain for a second time when he contested the 2000 Guineas over Newmarket's Rowley Mile course on 29 April. Ridden by the Australian

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

George Moore he started the 5/2 favourite in a field of thirteen runners. He won decisively by three lengths from the

Middle Park Stakes The Middle Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it i ...

winner Masham, with Carnoustie a neck further back in third place. Taboun ran next in the French equivalent of the 2000 Guineas, the

Poule d'Essai des Poulains Molof (Ampas, Poule, Powle-Ma) is a poorly documented Papuan languages, Papuan language spoken by about 200 people in :id:Molof, Senggi, Keerom, Molof village, Senggi District, Keerom Regency. Classification Stephen Wurm, Wurm (1975) placed it a ...

at Longchamp, in which he attempted to become the second horse, after

Djebel : ''For mountains or other uses, see: Jabal (disambiguation), Jabal.'' Djebel (1937–1958) was a French Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse, who won 15 of 22 races during 1939–1942 including the Prix d'Essai, 2000 Guineas and Prix de l'Arc de ...

in 1940 to win both races. He was made the odds-on favourite but finished second to the

Charles Semblat Charles Henri Semblat (1897–1972) was a French jockey and racehorse trainer. Semblat was leading French jockey for more than twenty years before his riding career was ended by injury. He subsequently had an even more successful career as trainer ...

-trained outsider Thymus, appearing to be a rather unlucky loser. Taboun's subsequent form deteriorated. He finished unplaced in his remaining three races including the

Prix Lupin The Prix Lupin was a Conditions races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred Colt (horse), colts and Filly, fillies. It was run at Longchamp Racecourse, Longchamp over a distance of 2,100 m ...

at Longchamp and the St. James's Palace Stakes at Ascot. In the latter race he started the 7/4 favourite but finished last of the five runners. The success of Taboun helped Aly Khan become

British flat racing Champion Owner The Champion Owner of flat racing in Great Britain is the owner whose horses have won the most prize money during a season. The list below shows the Champion Owner for each year since 1894. Prior to 2015 the period for deciding the championship sta ...

with record prize money of more than £100,000.

Assessment

In their book ''A Century of Champions'', based on a modified version of the Timeform system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Taboun an "average" winner of the 2000 Guineas.

Stud record

Taboun was retired from racing to become a breeding stallion in Ireland, but had little chance to make an impact. He sired a few minor winners before being fatally injured in an accident in 1962.

Pedigree

*Taboun 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, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders an ...

4 x 4 to Blandford, meaning that this stallion appears twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.

References

{{2000 Guineas Winners 1956 racehorse births 1962 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in France Racehorses trained in France Thoroughbred family 16-h 2000 Guineas winners