George Washington (horse)

For other uses, see George Washington (disambiguation).

George Washington
Racing silks of Susan Magnier
Sire	Danehill
Grandsire	Danzig
Dam	Bordighera
Damsire	Alysheba
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	2003
Country	Ireland
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Roy and Gretchen Jackson's Lael Stables
Owner	Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith
Trainer	Aidan O'Brien
Record	14: 6-1-4
Earnings	£805,977^[1]
Major wins
Railway Stakes (2005) Phoenix Stakes (2005) National Stakes (2005) 2,000 Guineas (2006) Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (2006)
Awards
European Champion Two-Year-Old Colt (2005) European Champion Three-Year-Old Colt (2006)

George Washington (3 January 2003 – 27 October 2007) was a thoroughbred racehorse foaled in Ireland by champion sire Danehill out of Bordighera, also the dam of the high-class colt Grandera. Bred by Roy and Gretchen Jackson, he was trained at Ballydoyle by Aidan O'Brien and owned by Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith. George Washington suffered a dislocated ankle fracture ^[2] during the Breeders' Cup Classic at Monmouth Park on 27 October 2007, and was euthanized. The horse was nicknamed 'Gorgeous George' by his followers.

Two-year-old career

George Washington's debut was in a maiden race during the 2,000 Guineas meeting at Newmarket on 1 May 2005. He finished third behind League Champion over 5 furlongs (1,006 m).

Victory followed in his second race at the Curragh three weeks later, this time over 6 furlongs (1207 m). Another win came in the Group II Railway Stakes, again over 6 furlongs (1207 m) at the Curragh.

The Group I Phoenix Stakes was next on the agenda, and George Washington won by 8 lengths from his stablemate Amadeus Mozart, despite having been slightly hampered at the start.

His final race as a two-year-old was in the National Stakes in September, another Group 1, which he won by 2 lengths as a long odds-on favourite. Although he was declared to run in the Dewhurst Stakes the following month, he was withdrawn just minutes before the race after the ground was deemed unsuitable.

For his performances, George Washington was voted the 2005 Cartier Award for Two-Year-Old European Champion Colt.

Three-year-old career

The 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket was his first outing of the season. Aidan O'Brien was attempting to win the race for a fourth time, having previously won with King of Kings in 1998, Rock of Gibraltar in 2002, and Footstepsinthesand in 2005. "George" started as 6/4 favourite and won, beating subsequent Epsom Derby winner Sir Percy by 2½ lengths.

Breakdown of 2000 Guineas Stakes Race performances since the race

Placing	Name	Subsequent race(s) and placing	Location	Distance
2nd	Sir Percy	1st in the Epsom Derby, 4th in Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic.	Various	1 mile 4 furlongs (2414 m)
4th	Araafa	1st in St. James's Palace Stakes, Irish 2,000 Guineas, and 2nd in QE2	Various	1 mile (1,600 m)
6th	Final Verse	1st in Listed race and injured since	Goodwood	1 mile (1,600 m)
7th	Amadeus Wolf	Won Group 2 Duke of York Stakes, 6 furlongs, 5 High placings in 5 Group 1 sprints	Various	5/6 furlongs (1006/1207 m)
9th	Asset	2nd in Jersey Stakes	Ascot	7 furlongs (1408 m)
11th	Killybegs	2nd in Celebration Mile, 4th in Queen Elizabeth II Stakes	Goodwood, Ascot	1 mile (1,600 m)
12th	Red Clubs	1st in Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup (Haydock Pk) 6 furlongs, 1st in Group 2 Diadem Stakes (Ascot) 6 furlongs.	2nd in the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes 6 furlongs, 3rd in the Group 1 July Cup 6 furlongs, 4th in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes 5 furlongs and the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes 6 furlongs.	5/6 furlongs (1006/1207 m)
13th	Frost Giant	1st in Group 3	Leopardstown	1 mile 2 furlongs (2012 m)

In the Irish 2,000 Guineas, George Washington finished second, beaten 2 lengths by subsequent dual-Group 1 winner Araafa, who had been fourth at Newmarket. George's trademark finishing acceleration was blunted by the heavy ground conditions, and following the race it emerged that he had torn his foreleg muscles, accounting for his loss.

Due to the 2,000 Guineas form holding up, "George's" rating has been lifted, and his performance in the 2,000 Guineas officially remained the 2nd best performance by a 3-year-old in the 2006 season, beaten only by his win in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot.

In the Celebration Mile, George Washington finished 3rd behind Caradak and Killybegs. He missed the break badly under new jockey Michael Kinane, starting 8 lengths behind Caradak and finishing 1 length behind him.

The day before his main seasonal target, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, heavy rain arrived and 14 mm of rain fell on Ascot racecourse. Half an hour before the race, lots of money came in to cement his place as favourite, and he was sent off at odds of 13/8. Two pacemakers were deployed by Ballydoyle, and an incident occurred during the race between the Seamus Heffernen-ridden colt Ivan Denisovich and Frankie Dettori's mount, Librettist. Under jockey Michael Kinane, George Washington scored by a length and a quarter.

Breeders' Cup Classic

A tilt at the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs had been decided upon about 2 weeks before the event. Because George Washington was already a dominant miler, it was believed that a victory in the Breeders' Cup Mile would do very little for his stud fee. Despite being by a predominantly turf sire in Danehill, his dam is Bordighera, who also foaled Grandera, a victor of three G1. Kinane was declared to ride.

Before the final turn, George Washington approached the leaders. He came wide to make his challenge but was bumped by the eventual winner, Invasor, and lost momentum. Kinane reported that his stamina simply ran out.

Despite calls from Kinane and various members of the press for 'George' to stay in training, he was officially retired and was due to stand at Coolmore's Ireland base for a fee of €60,000.

Fertility problems

On 10 March 2007, it was reported that Coolmore had suspended George Washington's stud career due to fertility problems. The decision was taken to replace him at stud with Holy Roman Emperor, a three-year-old colt who was being prepared to run in the 2,000 Guineas. Like George Washington, Holy Roman Emperor was sired by Danehill and was also trained by Aidan O'Brien. He had been a leading two-year-old in 2006 and was second favourite for the Guineas before the surprise announcement of his retirement.

Return to training

On 25 March 2007, it was announced that George Washington had returned to training at Aidan O'Brien's stable. He was initially entered for the Tattersalls Gold Cup in May, but his return to the racecourse eventually came in the Queen Anne Stakes at the Royal Ascot meeting at Ascot Racecourse on 19 June. He pulled hard going to the start in the early part of the race but eventually settled to finish fourth behind Ramonti.

His second race of 2007 came in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park on 7 July. He finished third, one and a half lengths and a head behind Notnowcato and the Epsom Derby winner Authorized. Authorized and George Washington raced with the majority of the field up the far rail and Authorized won that race by a head; Notnowcato raced alone up the stands rail in search of better ground and beat them both.

Kieran Fallon then reunited with George Washington in the Group 1 Prix Du Moulin in September. The partnership finished third to the high-class filly Darjina and top-class Godolphin horse Ramonti.

George Washington was euthanized on the track following an open fracture to the cannon bone and both sesamoid bones in the right front fetlock while running in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Monmouth Park on 27 October 2007, over a very muddy or "sloppy" track. According to Dr. C. Wayne McIlwraith, the on-call veterinarian, George Washington had cut off all blood supply to his ankle. All other races that day were incident free.

Having been pulled up when well held at the sixteenth pole, George Washington was then euthanized on the track at the request of trainer Aidan O'Brien. It was his second start on dirt and his only start on a sloppy track.

Racing career

Date	Race	Track	Location	Distance	Surface	Condition	Finish
1 May 2005	Maiden	Newmarket (Rowley Mile)	Suffolk	5 furlongs (1006 m)	Turf	Good-Firm	3rd
22 May 2005	Maiden	Curragh	Ireland	6 furlongs (1207 m)	Turf	Yielding	1st
26 June 2005	Group 2 Railway Stakes	Curragh	Ireland	6 furlongs (1207 m)	Turf	Good-Firm	1st
7 August 2005	Group 1 Phoenix Stakes	Curragh	Ireland	6 furlongs (1207 m)	Turf	Good	1st
18 September 2005	Group 1 National Stakes	Curragh	Ireland	7 furlongs (1408 m)	Turf	Good	1st
6 May 2006	Group 1 2,000 Guineas	Newmarket (Rowley Mile)	Suffolk	1 mile (1,600 m)	Turf	Good-Firm	1st
27 May 2006	Group 1 Irish 2,000 Guineas	Curragh	Ireland	1 mile (1,600 m)	Turf	Heavy	2nd
27 August 2006	Group 2 Celebration Mile	Goodwood	West Sussex	1 mile (1,600 m)	Turf	Good	3rd
23 September 2006	Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes	Ascot	Berkshire	1 mile (1,600 m)	Turf	Good-Soft	1st
4 November 2006	Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic	Churchill Downs	Louisville, Kentucky	1 ¹⁄₄ miles (2,000 m)	Dirt	Fast	6th
19 June 2007	Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes	Ascot	Berkshire	1 mile (1,600 m)	Turf	Good	4th
7 July 2007	Group 1 Eclipse Stakes	Sandown Park	Surrey	1 ¹⁄₄ miles (2,000 m)	Turf	Good-Soft	3rd
9 September 2007	Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp	Longchamp Racecourse	France	1 mile (1,600 m)	Turf	Good	3rd
27 October 2007	Group 1 Breeders' Cup Classic	Monmouth Park	Oceanport, New Jersey	1 ¹⁄₄ miles (2,000 m)	Dirt	Sloppy	DNF - Fractured and Dislocated Right Front Ankle - Euthanized on track

Only foal sired by George Washington

A George Washington filly was born at the Irish National Stud on 4 February 2008. This foal, out of the mare Flawlessly (FR), sold for 280,000 Euros to Gildawn Stud at Goffs November Foal Sale on 21 November 2008.^[3] This filly was offered for sale again during Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale at Tattersalls, Newmarket, 6–8 October 2009.^[4] She was bought by Ross Doyle for 320,000gns on behalf of Julie Wood, and went into training to Richard Hannon.^[5] The filly, named 'Date with Destiny'^[6] won on her debut at Newbury in July 2010 and in 2011 finished third in the Listed Lingfield Oaks Trial.

Pedigree

Pedigree of George Washington
Sire Danehill 1986	Danzig 1977	Northern Dancer 1961	Nearctic
		Northern Dancer 1961	Natalma
		Pas De Nom 1968	Admiral's Voyage
		Pas De Nom 1968	Petitioner
	Razyana 1981	His Majesty 1968	Ribot
		His Majesty 1968	Flower Bowl
		Spring Adieu 1974	Buckpasser
		Spring Adieu 1974	Natalma
Dam Bordighera 1992	Alysheba 1984	Alydar 1975	Raise a Native
		Alydar 1975	Sweet Tooth
		Bel Sheba 1970	Lt. Stevens
		Bel Sheba 1970	Belthazar
	Blue Tip 1982	Tip Moss 1972	Luthier
		Tip Moss 1972	Top Twig
		As Blue 1970	Blue Tom
		As Blue 1970	As Well

References

2000 Guineas winners

1809 Wizard 1810 Hephestion 1811 Trophonius 1812 Cwrw 1813 Smolensko 1814 Olive 1815 Tigris 1816 Nectar 1817 Manfred 1818 Interpreter 1819 Antar 1820 Pindarrie 1821 Reginald 1822 Pastille ♥ 1823 Nicolo 1824 Schahriar 1825 Enamel 1826 Dervise 1827 Turcoman 1828 Cadland 1829 Patron 1830 Augustus 1831 Riddlesworth 1832 Archibald 1833 Clearwell 1834 Glencoe 1835 Ibrahim 1836 Bay Middleton 1837 Achmet 1838 Grey Momus 1839 The Corsair 1840 Crucifix ♥ 1841 Ralph 1842 Meteor 1843 Cotherstone 1844 The Ugly Buck 1845 Idas 1846 Sir Tatton Sykes 1847 Conyngham 1848 Flatcatcher 1849 Nunnykirk 1850 Pitsford 1851 Hernandez 1852 Stockwell 1853 West Australian ₩ 1854 The Hermit 1855 Lord of the Isles 1856 Fazzoletto 1857 Vedette 1858 Fitz-Roland 1859 The Promised Land 1860 The Wizard 1861 Diophantus 1862 The Marquis 1863 Macaroni 1864 General Peel 1865 Gladiateur ₩ 1866 Lord Lyon ₩ 1867 Vauban 1868 Formosa ♥ Moslem 1869 Pretender 1870 Macgregor 1871 Bothwell 1872 Prince Charlie 1873 Gang Forward 1874 Atlantic 1875 Camballo 1876 Petrarch 1877 Chamant 1878 Pilgrimage ♥ 1879 Charibert 1880 Petronel 1881 Peregrine 1882 Shotover ♥ 1883 Galliard 1884 Scot Free 1885 Paradox 1886 Ormonde ₩ 1887 Enterprise 1888 Ayrshire 1889 Enthusiast 1890 Surefoot 1891 Common ₩ 1892 Bona Vista 1893 Isinglass ₩ 1894 Ladas 1895 Kirkconnel 1896 St. Frusquin 1897 Galtee More ₩ 1898 Disraeli 1899 Flying Fox ₩ 1900 Diamond Jubilee ₩ 1901 Handicapper 1902 Sceptre 1903 Rock Sand ₩ 1904 St. Amant 1905 Vedas 1906 Gorgos 1907 Slieve Gallion 1908 Norman 1909 Minoru 1910 Neil Gow 1911 Sunstar 1912 Sweeper 1913 Louvois 1914 Kennymore 1915 Pommern ₩ 1916 Clarissimus 1917 Gay Crusader ₩ 1918 Gainsborough ₩ 1919 The Panther 1920 Tetratema 1921 Craig an Eran 1922 St Louis 1923 Ellangowan 1924 Diophon 1925 Manna 1926 Colorado 1927 Adam's Apple 1928 Flamingo 1929 Mr Jinks 1930 Diolite 1931 Cameronian 1932 Orwell 1933 Rodosto 1934 Colombo 1935 Bahram ₩ 1936 Pay Up 1937 Le Ksar 1938 Pasch 1939 Blue Peter 1940 Djebel 1941 Lambert Simnel 1942 Big Game 1943 Kingsway 1944 Garden Path ♥ 1945 Court Martial 1946 Happy Knight 1947 Tudor Minstrel 1948 My Babu 1949 Nimbus 1950 Palestine 1951 Ki Ming 1952 Thunderhead 1953 Nearula 1954 Darius 1955 Our Babu 1956 Gilles de Retz 1957 Crepello 1958 Pall Mall 1959 Taboun 1960 Martial 1961 Rockavon 1962 Privy Councillor 1963 Only for Life 1964 Baldric 1965 Niksar 1966 Kashmir 1967 Royal Palace 1968 Sir Ivor 1969 Right Tack 1970 Nijinsky ₩ 1971 Brigadier Gerard 1972 High Top 1973 Mon Fils 1974 Nonoalco 1975 Bolkonski 1976 Wollow 1977 Nebbiolo 1978 Roland Gardens 1979 Tap On Wood 1980 Known Fact 1981 To-Agori-Mou 1982 Zino 1983 Lomond 1984 El Gran Senor 1985 Shadeed 1986 Dancing Brave 1987 Don't Forget Me 1988 Doyoun 1989 Nashwan 1990 Tirol 1991 Mystiko 1992 Rodrigo de Triano 1993 Zafonic 1994 Mister Baileys 1995 Pennekamp 1996 Mark of Esteem 1997 Entrepreneur 1998 King of Kings 1999 Island Sands 2000 King's Best 2001 Golan 2002 Rock of Gibraltar 2003 Refuse to Bend 2004 Haafhd 2005 Footstepsinthesand 2006 George Washington 2007 Cockney Rebel 2008 Henrythenavigator 2009 Sea the Stars 2010 Makfi 2011 Frankel 2012 Camelot 2013 Dawn Approach 2014 Night of Thunder 2015 Gleneagles 2016 Galileo Gold

Legend - ₩ = Triple Crown Winners, ♥ = Filly

Cartier Champion Three-year-old Colt

External links

DRF George Washington Suffers Fatal Injury

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