Chief Singer

Chief Singer
Chief Singer, painted by Bob Demuyser oil on canvas
Sire	Ballad Rock
Grandsire	Bold Lad (IRE)
Dam	Principia
Damsire	Le Fabuleux
Sex	Stallon
Foaled	March 19, 1981
Country	Ireland
Colour	Brown
Owner	Jeff Smith
Trainer	Ron Sheather
Record	9: 4–2–1
Major wins
Coventry Stakes (1983) St. James's Palace Stakes (1984) July Cup (1984) Sussex Stakes (1984)
Awards
Gilbey champion racehorse of Europe (1984) Timeform top-rated sprinter (1984) Top-rated British three-year-old (1984) Timeform rating 131

Chief Singer (19 March 1981 – 2000) was an Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a racing career which lasted from June 1983 until September 1984 he ran nine times and won four races. The colt won the Group Three Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot on his racecourse debut but ran disappointingly in his only other race as a two-year-old. As a three-year-old he finished second to El Gran Senor in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket Racecourse and then completed a rare hat-trick of wins by taking the St. James's Palace Stakes at Ascot, the July Cup at Newmarket and the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood. At the end of the season he retired to stud where he had limited success as a sire of winners.

Chief Singer was a dark brown, almost black horse standing 16.3 hands high with a white blaze and two white feet. He was the best horse sired by Ballad Rock, an Irish sprinter whose best win came in the Greenlands Stakes. At stud, Ballad Rock suffered from health problems which limited his fertility: Chief Singer was one of only ten foals he sired in 1981. His dam, Principia, was a minor winner in France and a daughter of the 1967 Epsom Oaks winner Pia.

As a yearling Chief Singer was sent to the sales. His unusual size did not appeal to prospective owners and he was bought for the relatively low price of 10,000 guineas by Jeff Smith. The colt was sent into training with the former jockey Ron Sheather at his Park Lodge stable in Newmarket, Suffolk. Chief Singer was the first major winner for his regular jockey Ray Cochrane.