Regal Embrace | |
---|---|
Sire | Vice Regent |
Grandsire | Northern Dancer |
Dam | Close Embrace |
Damsire | Nentego |
Sex | Stallion |
Foaled | 1975 |
Country | Canada |
Colour | Bay |
Breeder | E. P. Taylor |
Owner | Windfields Farm |
Trainer | Macdonald Benson |
Earnings | Can$ |
Major wins | |
Seagram Cup Handicap (1978) Canadian Classic Race wins: Queen's Plate (1978) |
Regal Embrace (foaled 1975 in Ontario) was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by E. P. Taylor and raced under the name of his Windfields Farm, he was out of the mare Close Embrace, a daughter of Nentego who was a son of Never Say Die, winner of the 1954 Epsom Derby and St. Leger Stakes. Regal Embrace was sired by Vice Regent, a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee and a son of Northern Dancer who is regarded as the 20th century’s best sire of sires.
Regal Embrace did not race as a two-year-old. At age three in 1978, he was conditioned for racing by future Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer Mac Benson who had joined Windfields Farm that year. Ridden by another Hall of Fame inductee, Sandy Hawley, Regal Embrace defeated the great Overskate to win the 1978 Queen's Plate, Canada's most prestigious race and North America's oldest annually run stakes race. [1] In winning, Regal Embrace equaled the stakes record set by Victoria Park in 1960. [2] Standing at stud in 1979, Regal Embrace eventually stood at Blue Sky Farms in New York State. As a sire, he met with modest success.
Northern Dancer was a Thoroughbred who, in 1964, became the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. He then became one of the most successful sires of the 20th century. He is considered a Canadian icon and was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1965. Induction into the Racing Hall of Fame in both Canada and the United States followed in 1976. As a competitor, The Blood-Horse ranked him as one of the top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred racehorses of the 20th century. As a sire of sires, his impact on the breed is still felt worldwide.
The Minstrel 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 Kingdom. As a two-year-old The Minstrel was unbeaten in three races including the Dewhurst Stakes, but lost two of his first three starts in 1977. He was then moved up in distance and won his remaining three races: the Epsom Derby, the Irish Derby, and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
New Providence (1956–1981) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1959 became the first official winner of the Canadian Triple Crown.
Deputy Minister was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred horse racing Champion. At age two, he won eight out of his nine starts and was voted both the Sovereign and Eclipse Awards for Champion 2-Year-Old in Canada and the United States respectively. He also received Canada's Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year. Although his three-year-old campaign was restricted by injury, Deputy Minister rebounded at age four with several major wins.
Nearctic was a Canadian-bred Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse.
Bunty Lawless (1935–1956) was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1951 was voted Canada's "Horse of the Half-Century".
Canadian Champ (1953–1978) was a Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse who in 1956 won the three races that became the Canadian Triple Crown Championship in 1959. Sired by Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Windfields, he was out of the mare Bolesteo.
Swynford Stakes is a discontinued Canadian Thoroughbred horse race held annually from 1956 through 2016. It was first run at Greenwood Raceway as a race for horses aged three and older. In 1967 it was moved to Woodbine Racetrack where it was changed to a race for two-year-olds. It received Grade 3 status for 1999 and 2000.
Flaming Page was a Canadian Thoroughbred who was a Champion racehorse and then an outstanding broodmare. She is best known as the dam of English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky. She was elected to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1980.
Regal Intention (1985–2008) is a Canadian Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.
Vice Regent was a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse and Canada's leading sire for thirteen years. Owned and bred by E. P. Taylor, he was from Northern Dancer's second crop and out of the mare Victoria Regina, a daughter of the French multiple stakes winner Menetrier whom E. P. Taylor purchased as a sire from François Dupré and imported to Canada.
Canadiana (1950–1971) was the first Canadian-bred racehorse to earn more than $100,000 Canadian. She was bred by E. P. Taylor at his National Stud near Oshawa, Ontario. Sired by Taylor's stallion, Chop Chop who would go on to sire three more Queen's Plate winners, her dam Iribelle was also owned by Taylor. Canadiana's British-born damsire Osiris was the Leading sire in Canada in 1938, 1940, 1942, and 1947.
Regal Classic was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. In 1987, he earned the Sovereign Award for Champion 2-Year-Old Colt after winning the Summer Stakes, Cup and Saucer, Grey Stakes and Coronation Futurity, plus finishing second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. At age three, he started his campaign on the American Triple Crown trail, where he finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby and sixth in the Preakness. He then returned to Canada where he finished second in the Queen's Plate and won the Prince of Wales, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.
Natalma was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known as the dam (mother) of the most important sire, and sire of sires, of the late 20th Century, Northern Dancer. She also established a highly influential female family, which has produced other leading sires Machiavellian and Danehill, plus numerous other stakes winners. Natalma was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2007.
Titled Hero was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by renowned Canadian horseman, E. P. Taylor, his sire Canadian Champ and his grandsire Windfields were both Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductees. Out of the mare Countess Angela, his damsire was Bull Page, the 1951 Canadian Horse of the Year and the leading sire in Canada in 1958. Titled Hero was purchased for $15,000 in 1964 by Peter K. Marshall at the annual Windfields Farm yearling sale.
Windfields (1943–1971) was a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first stakes race winner bred by E. P. Taylor and for whom he named his world-famous Windfields Farm.
Chop Chop (1940-1963) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was inducted in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. He was sired by Flares, a son of U.S. Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox and a full brother to U.S. Triple Crown winner Omaha. Flares raced in England with considerable success for owner William Woodward Sr., counting the Ascot Gold Cup, Champion Stakes and Princess of Wales's Stakes among his wins.
Silver Deputy was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse best known as a top sire in North America. He was a son of Deputy Minister, who was an Eclipse and Sovereign Award winning runner and the 1997/98 Leading sire in North America. His dam was Silver Valley, a daughter of Mr. Prospector, the 1987/88 Leading sire in North America and nine-time Leading broodmare sire in North America.
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.
James Charles "Jim" Bentley was a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses who twice won Canada's most prestigious race, the Queen's Plate. During his career he trained horses to win six National Championships, three of which would earn Hall of Fame induction.