Tamarkuz (foaled February 26, 2010) is a retired

Thoroughbred racehorse The Thoroughbred is a horse breed developed for 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 considered " ...

best known for his 2016 win in the $1,000,000

Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile The Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile is a Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up. As its name implies, it is part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the ''de facto'' year-end championship for North American ...

hosted that year by California's

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious race ...

Background

Tamarkuz is a chestnut Thoroughbred horse bred in Kentucky and purchased for $325,000 at the

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 ...

September Sale in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

by the Shadwell Estate. He was sired by

Speightstown Speightstown (), also known as ''Little Bristol'', is the second largest town in Barbados. It is situated north of the capital city of Bridgetown, in the northern parish of Saint Peter. The area is named after William Speight, a member of Barba ...

, who also sired

Hollywood Derby The Hollywood Derby is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late November/early December. Now held at Del Mar racetrack in San Diego, California, until 2014 it was held at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, Californi ...

winner

Seek Again Seek Again is an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. After winning three of his seven races in the United Kingdom he was sent to California in December 2013 and won the Grade I Hollywood Derby. On August 9, 2014, Seek Again won the Grade II Fo ...

and

Belmont Derby The Belmont Derby is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred race horse run over a distance of miles on the turf at Belmont Park in July. The purse for the 2023 race is US$750,000. Race history In 2014, the race became ...

winner Force the Pass, Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap, and

Vosburgh Stakes The Vosburgh Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Run at the end of September/early October, it is open to horses three-years-old and up of either gender. A Grade III sprint race, it is ...

winner Rock Fall, and

Jockey Club Gold Cup The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a thoroughbred flat race, held at the Saratoga Race Course in the United States, that is open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It has traditionally been the main event of the fal ...

Winner

Haynesfield {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Haynesfield , image = , caption = , sire = Speightstown , grandsire = Gone West , dam = Nothing Special , damsire = Tejabo , sex = Stallion , foaled = 2006 , country = United States , colour = Chest ...

. His dam Without You Babe is by

Lemon Drop Kid Lemon Drop Kid (May 26, 1996 – December 13, 2024) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Best known for winning the 1999 Belmont Stakes, he was also the champion older horse of 2000 after winning the Brooklyn, Suburban, Whitney H ...

, winner of the

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over the worldwide classic distance of . Colt (horseracing), Colt ...

and the

Woodward Stakes The Woodward Stakes is an American Grade Il stakes race and is one of the premier races for older thoroughbred horses in the United States. It is named for prominent racehorse owner William Woodward. The race was first run in 1954 at Aqueduct Ra ...

, and who sired upset

Kentucky Oaks The Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers at Churchill Downs; the horses carry . The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Frida ...

winner

Lemons Forever Lemons Forever (foaled May 24, 2003 in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Grade 1 132nd Kentucky Oaks horse race on May 5, 2006. Her win was the biggest upset in the history of the Oaks. The Kentucky Oaks ...

European career

In Europe Tamarkuz was trained by

Saeed bin Suroor Saeed bin Suroor (; born 16 November 1968 in Dubai) is a horse racing horse trainer, trainer in Great Britain. Formerly a policeman, he took out his training licence in 1995 and the following year was appointed as the trainer for Mohammed bin Ra ...

where he ran only in Weight-for-Age and handicap races. During this time he was raced irregularly. In three years he only ran six times with a total of three wins.

Dubai career

Tamarkuz made his racing debut under trainer Musabah Al Muhairi in 2014 at

Meydan Racecourse Meydan Racecourse is a racecourse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The grandstand is a half mile in length, and can accommodate over 60,000 spectators. Meydan opened on 27 March 2010, replacing Nad Al Sheba Racecourse, which formerly occu ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

with a fifth-place finish. In his next start he failed to finish the race due to an injury that would take ten months to fully heal. He returned to racing in 2015 and won four of five starts including wins in the

Firebreak Stakes The Firebreak Stakes, is a horse race, for horses aged four and over, run over a distance of 1,600 metres (one mile) on dirt in February at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. The race is named in honour of the racehorse Firebreak, who won the Hong Kong ...

and the

Burj Nahaar The Burj Nahaar, is a horse race run over a distance of 1,600 metres (one mile) on dirt in March at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. The race is named after the Burj Nahar, a fortified tower on Dubai's old city walls. The Burj Nahaar was first contes ...

. However, the highlight would be his nose victory over Sloane Avenue in the

Godolphin Mile The Godolphin Mile is a Group 2 flat Thoroughbred horse race in the United Arab Emirates for Southern Hemisphere three-year-old horses and Northern Hemisphere four-year-olds. It is contested on dirt over a distance of 1,600 metres (approximately ...

American career

After success in Dubai, Tamarkuz went to America in 2015 where his race conditioning was handled by

Kiaran McLaughlin Kiaran P. McLaughlin (born November 15, 1960, in Lexington, Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer best known for training 2006 Horse of the Year Invasor. Background McLaughlin was born in an area of the country where horse ra ...

. Tamarkuz began with a fourth-place finish in the Met Mile, then ran sixth in the

Forego Stakes The Forego Stakes is a Graded stakes race, Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for horses four years old and older over the distance of seven furlongs on the dirt, scheduled annually in August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New Y ...

, and was fourth again in the

Kelso Handicap The Forty Niner Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and older run over a distance of one mile (8 furlongs) on the dirt held annually in late October at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event offers a purs ...

. He returned to compete in America in 2016 and ran in the same three races as before. It started with a ninth in the Met Mile. In his next two races in the Forego and the Kelso, he was second. After that he entered the

. He went off at odds of 11-1 running against Champions such as

Breeders' Cup Sprint The Breeders' Cup Sprint is an American Weight for Age Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older. Run on dirt over a distance of 6 Furlongs ( mile), the race has been held annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in t ...

winner

Runhappy Runhappy (foaled March 4, 2012) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 2015 American Champion Sprint Horse after winning six consecutive races including the King's Bishop Stakes, Phoenix Stakes, Breeders' Cup Sprint, and Malib ...

and

Santa Anita Derby The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is currently run at a distance of miles on the dirt and carries a purse of . It is one of t ...

winner

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

. Ridden by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, at the start Tamarkuz was last. Quickly he was moved up to seventh and at the three quarters pole

Gun Runner Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms, explosives, and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trad ...

took the lead with Tamarkuz in third. Mike Smith then made his move with Tamarkuz, passing both Dortmund and

to earn an upset win in the race. Following his Breeders' Cup win Tamarkuz was retired to stand at stud at his owner's Shadwell Farm near

References

{{reflist 2010 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United States Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winners Thoroughbred family 4-c