Habitat (horse)

Habitat
Sire	Sir Gaylord
Grandsire	Turn-To
Dam	Little Hut
Damsire	Occupy
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	4 May 1966
Country	United States
Colour	Bay
Owner	Charles W. Engelhard, Jr.
Trainer	Fulke Johnson Houghton
Record	8: 5-2-0
Major wins
Lockinge Stakes (1969) Prix Quincey (1969) Wills Mile (1969) Prix du Moulin (1969)
Awards
Timeform Top-rated horse (1969) Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland (1987, 1994, 1996) Timeform rating: 134

Habitat (1966–1987) was an American-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a racing career which lasted from April until October 1969, the colt ran eight times and won five races. Unraced as a two-year-old, he proved to be the best European miler of 1969, winning the Lockinge Stakes and the Wills Mile in England and travelling to France to win the Prix Quincey and the Prix du Moulin. He was then retired to stud where he became an outstandingly successful sire of racehorses and broodmares.

Habitat was a bay horse standing 16.1 hands high bred in Kentucky by Nuckols Bros. He was sired by Sir Gaylord, a half brother to Secretariat and a successful racehorse and sire in his own right: at the time of Habitat's racing career he was at the height of his reputation as a breeding stallion, having sired the 1968 Epsom Derby winner Sir Ivor. Habitat's dam. Little Hut, won five races and produced several other winners including Northfields (by Northern Dancer) who won the Louisiana Derby and became a successful sire in Europe and South Africa.

As a yearling, Habitat was sent to the Keeneland Sales where he was bought for $105,000 by the American businessman Charles Engelhard. The colt was sent to England to be trained by Fulke Johnson Houghton at Blewbury in Berkshire.

Habitat was slow to mature and did not appear as a two-year-old in 1968. In April 1969 he made his debut in the Royal Stakes, a trial race for the Epsom Derby at Sandown Park and finished unplaced. He next finished second in a minor race at Windsor Racecourse and then recorded his first win when taking the Willows Plate at Haydock Park by five lengths in May. Later that month, Habitat was moved up in class and matched against older horses in the Lockinge Stakes over one mile at Newbury Racecourse. Ridden by the Australian jockey Ron Hutchinson, he started at odds of 10/1 and won by one and a half lengths from a strong field which included, Jimmy Reppin (Sussex Stakes), Tower Walk (Nunthorpe Stakes), Lorenzaccio and Wolver Hollow (Eclipse Stakes).

...
Wikipedia