Carotene (horse)

Last updated
Carotene
Sire Great Nephew
GrandsireHoneway
DamCarrot Top
DamsireHigh Hat
Sex Filly
Foaled1983
Country Canada
Colour Chestnut
Breeder Kinghaven Farms
Owner Kinghaven Farms
Trainer Roger Attfield
Record40: 12-8-5
Earnings$1,267,092
Major wins
Breeders' Stakes (1986)
Toronto Cup Stakes (1986)
Wonder Where Stakes (1986)
Nassau Stakes (1987)
Matchmaker Handicap (1987)
New Hampshire Sweepstakes Handicap (1987)
Yellow Ribbon Stakes (1987)
Pan American Handicap (1988)
Awards
Canadian Champion 3-Yr-Old Filly (1986)
Canadian Champion Turf Horse (1986, 1987, 1988)
Canadian Champion Older Female Horse (1987, 1988)
Honours
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (2003)
Carotene Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack

Carotene (foaled 1983 in Ontario) is a Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse who holds the filly or mare record for winning the most Sovereign Awards. Bred by David Willmot's Kinghaven Farms, she was a daughter of the British sire Great Nephew, who also sired Epsom Derby winners Grundy and Shergar. Carotene's dam was Carrot Top, a mare David Willmot purchased in foal from the Whitney family at the 1982 dispersal sale of their bloodstock in the United Kingdom.

Contents

Racing career

1985 & 1986 Racing Seasons

Carotene was trained by Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Roger Attfield and raced from a base at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto. In 1985, the two-year-old filly won her only start. The following year, she won the Toronto Cup Stakes, and the Wonder Where Stakes. She ran second in the 1986 E. P. Taylor Stakes and after going to California to race, finished third in the Yellow Ribbon Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

In the 1986 Canadian Triple Crown races for three-year-olds dominated by males, she finished second to Golden Choice in the Prince of Wales Stakes on dirt, then under jockey Richard Dos Ramos won the third and longest leg of the series run on turf, the 1½ mile Breeders' Stakes. Sent to Japan for the 1986 Japan Cup, Carotene finished ninth to winner Jupiter Ireland.

Carotene's 1986 performances earned her two Sovereign Awards for Canadian Champion 3-Yr-Old Filly and the first of her three consecutive Canadian Champion Turf Horse titles.

1987 Racing Season

At her home base at Woodbine Racetrack, Carotene won the 1987 Nassau Stakes and was second in the Niagara Handicap and the King Edward Stakes. In the United States, she beat males in the New Hampshire Sweepstakes Handicap at Rockingham Park, won the Matchmaker Handicap at Atlantic City Race Course, and won the Yellow Ribbon Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

Carotene's performances earned her two more Sovereign Awards as the 1987 Canadian Champion Turf Horse and Canadian Champion Older Female Horse.

1988 Racing Season

After her 1987 season in Canada, Carotene's handlers sent her south to Florida for the winter racing season, where jockey Don Seymour rode the five-year-old to victory in the 1988 Grade I Pan American Handicap at Gulfstream Park. In that race, she defeated males and did it in a winning time that was one-fifth of a second off the course record.

At home at Woodbine Racetrack, Carotene's best result was a second in the Jockey Club Cup Handicap. In other races in the United States, she ran second in the Santa Barbara Handicap and third in the 1988 San Juan Capistrano, the Matchmaker Handicap and the Sword Dancer Invitational Handicaps. At the end of the 1988 racing season, she was voted her third straight Sovereign Award for Champion Female Turf Horse and her second straight Canadian Champion Older Female Horse.

As a broodmare, Carotene had the first of her eight foals in 1990 and her last in 2003.

Related Research Articles

All Along was a champion Thoroughbred racemare that was foaled in France. She was one of the top fillies of the last part of the 20th century, racing mostly in Europe. All Along was named into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2019. Her only winning offspring was the Mill Reef sired colt Along All who won the Prix Greffulhe Group 2 of 1989 and was to spend his time as a sire in Japan.

With Approval was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Canadian Triple Crown in 1989 under jockey Don Seymour. Even though he missed the rest of his three-year-old season due to injury, he was named the 1989 Canadian Horse of the Year.

Golden Choice is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning Canada's most prestigious horse race, the Queen's Plate. Sired by Val de l'Orne, the 1975 Prix du Jockey Club winner, his damsire was Barachois, a son of Northern Dancer. Golden Choice was purchased as a yearling for $60,000 at the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (CTHS) sale at Woodbine.

Glorious Song (1976–2003) was a Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse who was a Champion in Canada and the United States and became an important broodmare. Bred by the prominent horseman E. P. Taylor at his Windfields Farm in Oshawa, Ontario, she was sired by Halo and out of the mare Ballade, who also produced U.S. Champion Devil's Bag.

Alydeed is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by Anderson Farms of St. Thomas, Ontario, he was out of the unraced mare Bialy, a daughter of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Alydar. A grandson of British Triple Crown winner Nijinsky, he was sired by Shadeed, the 1985 British Champion Miler and winner of the British Classic, the 2,000 Guineas.

Alywow was a Canadian Thoroughbred Champion racehorse and a member of the Canadian Racing Hall Of Fame.

Northernette was a Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. A Canadian champion at both ages two and three, she was also a Grade I stakes winner in the United States.

Bessarabian is a Canadian Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Owned by Thor Eaton's Eaton Hall Farm, the Eaton family member entrusted her race conditioning to Mike Doyle. The millionaire granddaughter of Northern Dancer, Bessarabian raced in Canada and the United States.

Classy 'n Smart was a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred and raced by Sam-Son Farm, she won five of nine career starts, including two legs of what would later be known as the Canadian Triple Tiara. Although she was voted the 1984 Canadian Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, her primary legacy is as a champion broodmare.

Nodouble (1965–1990) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from 1967 to 1970, he won eleven races from across the country, including the Arkansas Derby, Hawthorne Gold Cup (twice) and the Santa Anita, Brooklyn and Metropolitan Handicaps. He was twice voted American Champion Older Male Horse by the Thoroughbred Racing Association. After retirement to stud, he became the leading sire in North America of 1981 and was also a notable broodmare sire.

(Disambiguation: For the island off the west coast of Erris, Mayo, Ireland, see Inishglora)

Lauries Dancer was a Canadian National Champion and Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racemare who won top races in Canada and the United States.

Intercontinental is a Thoroughbred Champion racehorse who competed in England, France, and the United States.

Cloudys Knight American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Cloudy's Knight is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Out of Northern Dancer's granddaughter Cloudy Spot, he was sired by the 1980 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, Lord Avie. The horse has been successful racing on both synthetic dirt and turf.

Kiridashi is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse.

Gold Strike is a Canadian Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. Bred and raced by Dick Bonnycastle's Harlequin Ranches, she was out of the mare, Brassy Gold. Her sire was the outstanding Smart Strike, a two-time Leading sire in North America who also sired Curlin, Soaring Free, and English Channel, among others.

Lexie Lou Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse

Lexie Lou is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. In 2014, she won the Queen's Plate and two legs of the Canadian Triple Tiara on her way to winning three Sovereign Awards. She has also won three graded stakes in the United States and Canada, and finished second to American Horse of the Year California Chrome in the 2014 Hollywood Derby. In 2019, Lexie Lou was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Caren is a retired Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. A multiple stakes winner at ages two and three, she was named the 2016 Canadian Horse of the Year. She finished her career with a record of 9 wins from 17 starts, and earnings of US$821,790.

Wonder Gadot Canadian racehorse

Wonder Gadot is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown, in 2018. As a two-year-old, she was named the Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Filly after winning the Mazarine and Demoiselle Stakes. At age three, in addition to beating the colts twice in Canada, she was second in the Grade I Kentucky Oaks to Monomoy Girl. She was named the 2018 Canadian Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.

South Ocean (1967–1989) was a Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame mare raced by Charles Taylor. She was bred by Charles's father E. P. Taylor, Canada's preeminent name in Thoroughbred racing and in world breeding history.

References