At Talaq (6 March 1981 – 1995) was an American-bred

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse. He had success racing in Europe but had his greatest success after being exported to Australia where he won the

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melb ...

in 1986.

Background

At Talaq was sired by

Roberto The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

out of the mare My Nord (by Vent du Nord). As a yearling he was bought by Hamdan Al-Maktoum for $US800,000 at the Fasig Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale and sent to England to be trained by

Harry Thomson Jones Harry Thomson Jones (1925 – 5 December 2007), often known as "Tom Jones", was a British racehorse trainer whose career lasted from 1951 to 1996. He was successful in National Hunt racing, training the winners of 12 Cheltenham Festival races ...

Racing career

At Talaq won one of his two races as a two-year-old. The following year he finished fourth to

Secreto Secreto (1981–1999) was a Maryland-bred Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that consisted of only four races, he won three times. His most important success came in June 1984 when he won the Derby. Background Secr ...

in The Derby before winning the

Grand Prix de Paris The Grand Prix de Paris is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and i ...

at Longchamp. He also finished second, beaten a short head in the

Grosser Preis von Berlin The Großer Preis von Berlin, formerly known as the Deutschland-Preis, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Hoppegarten over a distance of 2,400 metres (a ...

and third in the Derby Italiano. In 1984 he failed to reproduce his best form and finished unplaced in all three of his races. In 1986 he was sent to race in Australia where he was trained by

Colin Hayes Colin Sidney Hayes (16 February 1924 – 21 May 1999) was an Australian champion trainer of thoroughbred racehorses based in Adelaide, South Australia. During his career he trained 5,333 winners including 524 individual Group or Listed winne ...

and raced for Hamdan Al Maktoum's

Shadwell Racing Shadwell Racing is the Thoroughbred horse racing operations of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Introduced to Thoroughbred flat racing while a student in the United Kingdom, Sheikh Hamdan esta ...

. His best win came in the 1986 VRC

.1986 Melbourne Cup result
/ref> At Talaq's other significant wins included the 1986

Mackinnon Stakes The VRC Champions Stakes, registered as the ''LKS Mackinnon Stakes'', is a Victoria Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race run under Weight for Age conditions over a distance of 2000 metres at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia on ...

and the 1987 C F Orr Stakes.

Stud record

Following a successful stud career where he sired 25 stakes winners (including Skating and Al Mansour). He died in 1995 from a suspected heart attack...

Pedigree

References

1981 racehorse births 1995 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in Australia Melbourne Cup winners Thoroughbred family 1-c {{racehorse-stub