George Washington (horse)

George Washington
George Washington
	2,000 Guineas (2006); Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (2006)
Awards
	European Champion Two-Year-Old Colt (2005); European Champion Three-Year-Old Colt (2006)
Honours
	Timeform rating: 133
	Last updated on 22 June 2022

George Washington (3 January 2003 – 27 October 2007) was a

Monmouth Park on 27 October 2007 and was euthanised

. The horse was nicknamed 'Gorgeous George' by his followers.

Two-year-old career

George Washington's debut was in a

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the following month, he was withdrawn just minutes before the race after the ground was deemed unsuitable.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. The horse 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 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

foreleg

.

Due to the 2,000 Guineas form holding up, George Washington's rating was raised and his run in the 2,000 Guineas officially remained the second-best performance by a three-year-old in the 2006 season, beaten only by his win in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot.^{[citation needed]}

In the Celebration Mile, George Washington finished third behind Caradak and Killybegs. He missed the break badly under new jockey Michael Kinane, starting 8 lengths behind Caradak and finishing one length behind him.^{[citation needed]}

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, much 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 under jockey Michael Kinane, George Washington was victorious by a length and a quarter.

Breeders' Cup Classic

A tilt at the

stud fee. Despite being by a predominantly turf sire in Danehill, his dam was Bordighera, who also foaled Grandera, a victor of three Group 1 races.^[relevant?

] Kinane was declared to ride the horse.

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 the horse to stay in training,^{[citation needed]} 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 also by Danehill.

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

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 Derby winner Authorized. Authorized.

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

George Washington was

Monmouth Park on 27 October 2007 on very muddy dirt. 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.

Career summary

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

Offspring

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] The 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. Date With Destiny's daughter, Beautiful Morning, won the John Musker Fillies' Stakes in 2017 and the Group 3 Royal Whip Stakes in 2018.^[7]

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

^ "George Washington – Progeny". Racing Post.
^ Michelson, Miles. "George Washington Horse Pedigree". Pedigree Query.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ Racing Post
^ "Bloodstock – Thoroughbred Horse Sales". Racing Post.
^ Michelson, Miles. "Date With Destiny Horse Pedigree". Pedigree Query.
^ "Beautiful Morning". Racing Post. Retrieved 30 December 2019.

External links

[1] "George Washington – Progeny". Racing Post.

[2] Michelson, Miles. "George Washington Horse Pedigree". Pedigree Query.

[3] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[4] Racing Post

[5] "Bloodstock – Thoroughbred Horse Sales". Racing Post.

[6] Michelson, Miles. "Date With Destiny Horse Pedigree". Pedigree Query.

[7] "Beautiful Morning". Racing Post. Retrieved 30 December 2019.

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