Horse Chestnut (horse)

Horse Chestnut
Sire	Fort Wood
Grandsire	Sadler's Wells
Dam	London Wall
Damsire	Col Pickering
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1995
Country	South Africa
Colour	Chestnut
Breeder	Harry F. Oppenheimer
Owner	Harry & Bridget Oppenheimer
Trainer	Michael de Kock
Record	10: 9-0-1
Earnings	$474,036
Major wins
J&B Metropolitan Stakes (1999) South African Derby (1999) South African Classic (1999) Broward Handicap (2000)
Awards
South African Horse of the Year (1999)
Last updated on 11 April 2007

Horse Chestnut (foaled 19 August 1995) is a champion thoroughbred racehorse bred in South Africa by Harry F. Oppenheimer at his Mauritzfontein Stud in Kimberley. Sired by Fort Wood who, as of 2007, has sired ten Group One winners, including Dynasty, the 2003 South African Horse of the Year. Fort Wood is a son of the British champion sire, Sadler's Wells.

Horse Chestnut was raced by Oppenheimer and his wife, Bridget. The colt won the South African Triple Crown and was awarded both the Equus Award for Horse of the Year and Champion 3-year-old Colt at three. He ran 10 races, winning 9 and being placed 3rd once. Some notable wins include the Group One J&B Metropolitan Stakes over 2000m by 8¼ lengths, the Group I South African Derby over 2450m by 10 lengths and the Group I South African Classic over 1800m by 4 lengths.

Sent to race in the United States, he won the Grade III Broward Handicap at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida over 1700m by five-and-a-half lengths. During his preparation for the Grade I Donn Handicap, Horse Chestnut fractured a piece of his splint bone on his near-foreleg, resulting in his early retirement from racing. The Oppenheimer's subsequently sold the majority of shares in Horse Chestnut to Seth Hancock's Claiborne Farm in Kentucky where he went to stud.

At stud, some of Horse Chestnut's most notable offspring include Lucifer's Stone, Spanish Chestnut, Smart Enough and Fete.

Horse Chestnut died on 19 February 2015 in his stall at Drakenstein Stud in South Africa. Autopsy revealed that heart failure was the cause of his death.

See also

• List of leading Thoroughbred racehorses

References

• Horse Chestnut: The Story of a Legend by Mike de Kock (paperback)
• http://www.stallionregister.com/sr_sire_page.asp?refno=4469455
• http://www.claibornefarm.com/stallions/horse-chestnut.shtml
• http://www.aro.co.za/aroHorseProfiles/HORSE%20CHESTNUTSAF1995.htm
• http://www.aro.co.za/Source/demo/Pedigrees/HorseChestnut.htm
• http://www.aro.co.za/Source/demo/Race/HorseChestnut.htm
• http://www.aro.co.za/hchestnutequibaseart.htm
• http://www.mikedekockracing.com/Default.aspx?tabid=35
• http://www.racingsouthafrica.com/SASuccess.htm
• http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/stallion-directory/stallion.aspx?stallion_no=4469455
• Horse Chestnut's pedigree and partial racing stats
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