Connaught (horse)

Connaught
Sire	St. Paddy
Grandsire	Aureole
Dam	Nagaika
Damsire	Goyama
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1965
Country	Ireland
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Jim Joel
Owner	Jim Joel
Trainer	Noel Murless
Record	16: 7-3-2
Earnings	£69,212
Major wins
King Edward VII Stakes (1968) Great Voltigeur Stakes (1968) Coronation Stakes (1969) Prince of Wales's Stakes (1969, 1970) Westbury Stakes (1970) Eclipse Stakes (1970)
Awards
Timeform rating 130

Connaught (1965 – 1987) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Noted for his difficult temperament and front-running style he won seven of his sixteen races in a track career which lasted from October 1967 to July 1970. Owned and bred by Jim Joel, he was trained by Noel Murless and ridden in most of his races by Sandy Barclay.

As a two-year-old he showed great promise at home but refused to enter the starting stalls on his scheduled debut and then finished fifth in the Observer Gold Cup. In 1968 he ran poorly in the 2000 Guineas but proved himself a top class colt by running second to Sir Ivor in the Epsom Derby after looking likely to win entering the final furlong. Later that year he won the King Edward VII Stakes and Great Voltigeur Stakes but ran badly when favourite for the St Leger Stakes. As a four-year-old he won the Coronation Stakes, Prince of Wales's Stakes in the first half of the season before succumbing to a respiratory infection. At five he was unbeaten in three races, taking the Westbury Stakes and a second Prince of Wales's Stakes before ending his racing career with a win in the Eclipse Stakes.

After his retirement from racing he had steady success as a breeding stallion. He died in 1987.

Connaught was a "big, burly, immensely powerful" bay horse with a white blaze and white socks on his hind legs bred in the United Kingdom by his owner Jim Joel. He was sired by St. Paddy the winner of the Epsom Derby and St. Leger Stakes in 1960. His dam Nagaika won the Solario Stakes as a two-year-old in 1956 and was bought by Joel a year later. As a broodmare she had already produced Court Sentence, who won the St James's Palace Stakes in 1962. Nagaika was the great-granddaughter of Neomenie, a mare whose other descendants included the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Nikellora.

...
Wikipedia