Dark Angel (foaled 4 April 2005) is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and

sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" a ...

. He raced only as a two-year-old, winning four of his nine races including the St Leger Yearling Stakes,

Mill Reef Stakes The Mill Reef Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-olds. It is run at Newbury over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled ...

and

Middle Park Stakes The Middle Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is s ...

. He was retired to stud as a three-year-old and became a very successful breeding stallion.

Background

Dark Angel is a grey horse bred in Ireland by the

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

based Yeomanstown Stud. He was from the first crop of foals sired by Acclamation, a high-class sprinter who won the Diadem Stakes in 2003. The best of his other progeny was Equiano, a dual winner of the

King's Stand Stakes The King's Stand Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 5 furlongs (1,006 metres), and it is scheduled ...

. Dark Angel's dam Midnight Angel was an unraced daughter of

Machiavellian Machiavellianism or Machiavellian may refer to: Politics *Machiavellianism (politics), the supposed political philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli *Political realism Psychology *Machiavellianism (psychology), a personality trait centered on cold an ...

. She was a female-line descendant of the

Irish Oaks The Irish Oaks is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs (2,414 metres), and it i ...

winner Agars Plough, the ancestor of many other major winners including Halling,

Mastery A skill is the learned ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of w ...

and

Balla Cove Balla Cove (foaled 18 March 1987) was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire who competed in Britain and the United States. He was at his best as a two-year-old in 1989 when he was placed in the Bernard Van Cutsem Stakes and the Solario ...

. During his racing career Dark Angel was owned by Mrs J M Corbett & Chris Wright and was trained by

Barry Hills Barry Hills (born 2 April 1937) is a retired British thoroughbred horse trainer. He lives in Lambourn, England. Biography Barry Hills had three sons in his first marriage, to Maureen Newson: John, Michael, and Richard. John (died 2014) was a ho ...

Lambourn Lambourn is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It lies just north of the M4 Motorway between Swindon and Newbury, and borders Wiltshire to the west and Oxfordshire to the north. After Newmarket it is the largest centre of ra ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. He was ridden in all of his races by his trainer's son

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

Racing career

2007: two-year-old career

Dark Angel began his racing career by finishing second to Spirit of Sharjah in a race over five

furlongs A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hors ...

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...

on 18 April. Three weeks later at

Chester Racecourse Chester Racecourse, also known as the Roodee, is a racecourse located in Chester, England. The horse racing venue is officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the "oldest racecourse still in operation". Horse racing in Chester dates ...

he started 2/5 favourite for a

maiden race In horse racing a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won a race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the se ...

over the same distance and recorded his first success, taking the lead a furlong out and winning by two

lengths Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Intern ...

from Eileen's Violet. The colt was then stepped up in class for the Windsor Castle Stakes at

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...

and finished unplaced behind Drawnfromthepast. On 12 July Dark Angel started a 20/1 outsider for the

July Stakes The July Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and geldings. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it ...

at Newmarket. He led until the final furlong before finishing fourth behind Winker Watson, River Proud and Swiss Franc, beaten just over two lengths by the winner. On his next appearance the colt started 5/2 favourite in a twenty-runner field for the £300,000 St Leger Yearling Stakes at

York Racecourse York Racecourse is a horse racing venue in York, North Yorkshire, England. It is the third biggest racecourse in Britain in terms of total prize money offered, and second behind Ascot Racecourse, Ascot in prize money offered per meeting. It att ...

on 23 August. He tracked the leaders before going to the front two furlongs out and won by two lengths from the Richard Hannon, Sr.-trained Gypsy Baby with Drawnfromthepast unplaced. Dark Angel was moved up in class on 14 September for the Group Two

Flying Childers Stakes The Flying Childers Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 5 furlongs and 3 yards (1,008 metres), and it is sched ...

Doncaster Racecourse Doncaster Racecourse (also known as the Town Moor course) is a racecourse in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It hosts two of Great Britain's 36 annual Group 1 flat races, the St Leger Stakes and the Racing Post Trophy. History Doncas ...

. He started the 5/1 third favourite in an eight-runner field but finished seventh behind the

filly A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

Fleeting Spirit Fleeting Spirit is a retired, Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who was trained in the United Kingdom during a racing career which lasted from 2007 to 2010. She was a specialist sprinter, running all of her races over five and six furlongs. Fle ...

. Eight days after his defeat at Donacster, Dark Angel started the 9/4 favourite for the Group Two Mill Reef Stakes over six furlongs at Newbury in which his opponents included the

Richmond Stakes The Richmond Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and geldings. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is sch ...

winner Strike The Deal and the

Sirenia Stakes The Sirenia Stakes is a Group races, Group 3 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run at Kempton Park Racecourse, Kempton Park over a distanc ...

winner Philario. He led from the start and fought off several challenges in the closing stages to win by a neck, three quarters of a length and a head from Strike The Deal, Berbice and Philario. On 5 October, Dark Angel was stepped up to Group One class for the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket. The

Gimcrack Stakes The Gimcrack Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and geldings. It is run at York over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to ...

winner Sir Gerry was made the 2/1 favourite with Dark Angel on 8/1 whilst the other runners included Tajdeef (also trained by Barry Hills), Strike The Deal, Dream Eater and Achilles of Troy. Dark Angel took the early lead before settling in second behind the outsider Proud Linus. He regained the advantage at half way and ran on well despite hanging to the right and won by half a length from Strike The Deal with Tajdeef a neck away in third. After the race Barry Hills said "I think he'll be a sprinter next year. I can't see him getting a mile but who knows". On his final appearance, Dark Angel was moved up in distance for the

Dewhurst Stakes The Dewhurst Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), ...

over seven furlongs two weeks later. He led for the first half mile but then dropped away quickly to finish ninth of the ten runners behind

New Approach New Approach (foaled 18 February 2005) is a retired Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and active stallion. In a racing career which lasted from July 2007 to October 2008 he ran eleven times and won eight races. He was undefeated in five races as a tw ...

Stud career

At the age of three, Dark Angel was retired from racing to become a breeding stallion at the Morristown Lattin Stud in County Kildare.

Notable progeny

'c =

colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: *Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People * Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places *Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States ...

, f =

'', g =

gelding A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, makin ...

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 2005 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 10-c