Big Game (horse)

Big Game
Big Game and Gordon Richards
Sire	Bahram
Grandsire	Blandford
Dam	Myrobella
Damsire	Tetratema
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1939
Country	United Kingdom
Colour	Bay
Breeder	National Stud
Owner	King George VI
Trainer	Fred Darling
Record	9:8-0-0
Major wins
Coventry Stakes (1941) Champagne Stakes (1941) 2000 Guineas (1942) Champion Stakes (1942)

Big Game (1939–1963) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from April 1941 to October 1942, the colt, who was owned by King George VI, ran nine times and won eight races. He was the best British two-year-old colt of his generation in 1941 when he was unbeaten in five starts. Two further wins the following spring including the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket took his unbeaten run to seven, but he suffered his first defeat when odds-on favourite for the wartime "New Derby". He won his only other race in the Champion Stakes before being retired to stud. Big Game's royal connections and racecourse success made him one of the most popular horses of his time.

Big Game was a powerfully built dark bay horse standing 16.1 hands high, bred by the British National Stud and leased for his racing career to King George VI. He was sired by the unbeaten Triple Crown winner Bahram, out of Myrobella, an exceptionally fast filly who was rated the best British two-year-old of either sex in 1932. Myrobella was a member of the same thoroughbred family which produced the Epsom Derby winners Sansovino and Snow Knight. Big Game was sent into training with Fred Darling at Beckhampton in Wiltshire.

Big Game's entire career took place during World War II during which horse racing in Britain was subject to many restrictions. Several major racecourses, including Epsom, Ascot and Doncaster, were closed for the duration of the conflict, either for safety reasons, or because they were being used by the military. Many important races were rescheduled to new dates and venues, often at short notice, and all five of the Classics were run at Newmarket.