George Royal
| George Royal | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Dark Hawk |
| Grandsire | Canadian Horse Of The Year (1965) |
| Honours | |
| Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (1976) British Columbia Horse Racing Hall of Fame (1988) George Royal Stakes at Hastings Racecourse Life-sized statue at Hastings Racecourse | |
| Last updated on February 15, 2007 | |
George Royal (1961–1981) was a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse.
Background
George Royal was a bay horse foaled in
Cloverdale, British Columbia. He was sired by Dark Hawk out of the mare Polly Bashaw. His great-grandsire was Hyperion, son of the English Triple Crown Champion Gainsborough
. He was originally owned by Robert Hall and Ernie Hammond and trained by Robert W. Hall.
Racing career
The colt began racing at two at
Canadian Horse of the Year honours. In 1965 George Royal made Canadian history when he became the 1st horse to ride in a commercial passenger plane when he flew with Air Canada from Vancouver to Toronto. In 1966, in Johnny Longden's last race as a jockey, George Royal repeated as winner of the San Juan Capistrano Handicap. In the Clubhouse at Santa Anita Park there is an oil painting of the finish of the 1966 San Juan Capistrano, which was also used for the cover of the Santa Anita official program during the 1967 racing season. That fall, jockey Ismael Valenzuela
made it back-to-back wins in the Canadian International Stakes.
Stud record
Retired to
Aldergrove, British Columbia, where he sired several stakes winners before suffering a stroke in 1981 that led to his having to be humanely euthanized
. He was buried at the family farm, Emerald Acres, where a monument marks the spot.
Honours
On its creation in 1976, George Royal was inducted in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Honored by the British Columbia Horse Racing Hall of Fame, his statue stands in the paddock at Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver and a stakes race there bears his name.