Bering (20 March 1983 – 16 December 2011) was a

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- bred, French- trained

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 won five of his seven starts, including the

Prix du Jockey Club The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly over ...

in 1986. On his final start he finished second to

Dancing Brave Dancing Brave (11 May 1983 – 2 August 1999) was an American-bred, British-trained thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career which lasted from the autumn of 1985 until October 1986, he ran ten times and won eight races. Dancing Brave was the ou ...

in the

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, France, over a distance ...

. He was bred and owned by Alec Head, and trained by his daughter

Criquette Head Christiane "Criquette" Head (born 6 November 1948 at Marly-le-Roi, near Maisons-Laffitte, France) is a retired French racehorse trainer. Known as Criquette, she was born into the Thoroughbred horse racing business. Her great grandfather was a j ...

. After retiring from racing Bering had some success as a stallion, with his progeny including

2000 Guineas Stakes The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year ...

winner

Pennekamp Pennekamp (foaled 26 March 1992) was an American-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was the highest-rated French two-year-old of 1994, when his wins included the Prix de la Salamandre and the Dewhurst Stakes. In May 1995 he ...

and

Poule d'Essai des Poulains Molof (Ampas, Poule, Powle-Ma) is a poorly documented Papuan language spoken by about 200 people in Molof village, Senggi District, Keerom Regency. Classification Wurm (1975) placed it as an independent branch of Trans–New Guinea, but Ros ...

winner American Post.

Background

Bering was a chestnut colt bred by Alec Head and foaled in 1983. He was sired by Arctic Tern, who won the

Prix Ganay The Prix Ganay is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run over a distance of 2,100 metres (about 1 mile and 2½ furlongs) at Long ...

in 1977. His

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

was Beaune, a stakes winning daughter of Lyphard.

Racing career

1985: Two-year-old season

In his first Bering finished third in a 1,600 metre race at Longchamp on 5 October 1985. He followed this up a month later by winning a 1,700 metre race at

Maisons-Laffitte Maisons-Laffitte () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the northern Île-de-France region of France. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of northwestern Paris, from its centre. In 2018, it had a population of 23,611. Maisons-Laf ...

. He was ridden by

Freddy Head Freddy Head (born 19 June 1947, in Neuilly, France) is a retired champion jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing and currently a horse trainer. Known also as "Freddie", his grandfather was a jockey as was his father Alec Head who also became a succes ...

on both of his races as a two-year-old.

1986: Three-year-old season

Bering started the 1986 season by winning the Prix Noailles by eight lengths from Point D'Artois in April. In May he then took the Prix Hocquart, again beating Point D'Artois, this timeby two lengths. After these two victories he was sent off as the odds-on favourite for the

over 2,400 metres at

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city located in the Oise department **US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly, a historic château located in the town of Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missou ...

. Art Francais set off in the lead at a fast past, at one point being ten lengths clear of the rest of the field. As they entered the finishing straight, Pradier took the lead, whilst Bering was moving through into third position. Bering took the lead with about 400 metres left to run and was never caught, winning by one and a half lengths from Altayan. Bering ran the race in a time of 2 minutes and 24.10 seconds, which beat the race record set by

Top Ville Top Ville (5 April 1976 – November 13, 1998) was an Irish-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In the autumn of 1978, the colt established himself as one of the leading two-year-old colts in France with wins in the Prix ...

in 1979 by 1.2 seconds. Gary Moore said after the race "''I knew we were going to win 400m-600m out and all he needed was a couple of smacks.''" As preparation for the

Bering raced in the

Prix Niel The Prix Niel is a Group 2 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 it is scheduled ...

at Longchamp, which he won by two and a half lengths from Malakim. In his final race Bering took on a strong field in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. He was ridden by Gary Moore, as he had been throughout his three-year-old career. Bering was leading the race well into the closing stages until he was overtaken by

with about 100 metres left to run. Dancing Brave won the race by one and a half lengths from Bering. Bering finished one and a half lengths ahead of

Triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided ...

, who just beat Shahrastani for third place.

Assessment

Timeform Timeform is a sports data and content provider located in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1948, it provides systematic information on form to punters and others involved in the horse racing industry. The company was purchased by t ...

rated Bering at 136, making him the second highest rated three-year-old of 1986, behind only Dancing Brave (rated 140).

Stud career

After the 1986 season Bering was retired to stud. He initially stood at Walmac International for a fee of $75,000. In 1992 he moved back to France to stand at Haras du Quesnay near

Deauville Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film F ...

. Bering retired from stud duty in 2009 and died on 16 December 2011, aged 28. At the time of his death he had sired 77 winners of stakes races. His most notable progeny are listed below.

Notable progeny

''s = stallion, m =

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than fo ...

, g = gelding'' Bering was also the damsire of

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, who in 2010 was rated as the best horse in the world in the

World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings The Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings (LWBRR), known as World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings (WTRR) before 2012, are horseracing's equivalent to World Rankings by other major sporting organizations such as ATP Tennis Rankings, World Golf R ...

Pedigree

''Note: b. = Bay, br. =

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

, ch. = Chestnut''

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em 1983 racehorse births 2011 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in France Thoroughbred family 7-f