Eight Carat (GB) (1975–2000) was a British-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 c ...

broodmare 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 four ...

. in

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

. She produced five individual

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

winners, including

Octagonal In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...

Mouawad Mouawad is a family-owned international company of Lebanese origin that makes and sells jewelry, objects of art, and luxury watches. The firm has headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, with a Middle East headquarters at Jumeirah Lakes Towers in Dub ...

, Kaapstad, Diamond Lover and (Our) Marquise who had 28 stakes wins between them.

Background

Eight Carat was a black or brown mare bred in Britain. She was sired by the

Eclipse Stakes The Eclipse Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown P ...

winner Pieces of Eight out of Klairessa. Klairessa had little success as a racehorse, but was a sister to both the King's Stand Stakes winner D'Urberville and the mare Lora who produced the 1000 Guineas winner On the House. In addition to Eight Carat, Klairessa also produced a colt by

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

named Knesset, who won the

Ballyogan Stakes The Ballyogan Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at The Curragh over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to t ...

in 1988 and

Habibti Habibti (foaled 1980) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare who was one of the highest-rated sprinters in European racing history. Habibti was unbeaten as a two-year-old, winning the Group Two Lowther Stak ...

, the British champion sprinter and Horse of the Year in 1983.

Racing career

Eight Carat raced for three seasons in England in the late 1970s but showed no discernible ability, failing to win in five races. She was sold for 9,400

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...

in December 1979.

Breeding record

During her career as a broodmare, Eight Carat produced five Group One winners: *Diamond Lover (1982, by Sticks and Stones), won

Railway Stakes (New Zealand) The Railway Stakes is a Group One New Zealand horse race. Held at Ellerslie on New Year's Day, it is held over 1200 metres, and is one of New Zealand's feature sprint races. Among its most notable winners are: * Avantage, the winner of the 20 ...

*Kaapstad (1984, by

Sir Tristram Sir Tristram (IRE) (7 April 1971 – 21 May 1997) was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who stood at stud in New Zealand, where he sired an extraordinary 45 Group One winners, including three Melbourne Cup winners. His progeny earned him 17 ...

), won

VRC Sires Produce Stakes The Sires' Produce Stakes is a Victoria Racing Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-olds, run at set weights, over a distance of 1400 metres, at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in March during the VRC Autumn Racing Carn ...

*Marquise (1991, by Gold and Ivory), won

Captain Cook Stakes The Captain Cook Stakes is a Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race run at weight-for-age over a distance of 1,600 metres (1 mile) at Trentham Racecourse in Wellington, New Zealand. Over the years the race has been won by great New Zealand racehorses suc ...

(1992, by

Zabeel Zabeel (25 October 1986 – 25 September 2015) was a New Zealand-bred racehorse who predominantly raced in Australia. He was retired to stud and became a champion sire. He is a bay son of Sir Tristram (IRE) from the Nureyev mare Lady Gisell ...

), won ten Group Ones including

Cox Plate The W. S. Cox Plate is a Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and over under Weight for age conditions, over a distance of 2040 metres (approximately 1m 2f), that is held by the Moonee Valley Racing Club at Moo ...

Chipping Norton Stakes The Chipping Norton Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older, run at weight for age, over a distance of 1600 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in February or March. Prizem ...

*Mouawad (1993, by

), won

George Ryder Stakes The George Ryder Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and over at Weight for age conditions, over a distance of 1500 metres at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in March or April. It i ...

Futurity Stakes (Australia) The Futurity Stakes is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 1 weight-for-age Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older, over a distance of 1400 metres held at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, in late February. Total prize ...

Australian Guineas The Australian Guineas is a Victoria Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds, run at set weights, over a distance of 1600 metres at Flemington Racecourse, in Melbourne, Australia in March during the VRC Autumn Racing Carni ...

Daughters as broodmares

Her influence now extends to several generations and includes her daughters: * Diamond Lover: dam of Tristalove winner of 2 Group 1 races and Champion Race filly; Don Eduardo winner of the Group 1 AJC Derby;

Peruzzi The Peruzzi were bankers of Florence, among the leading families of the city in the 14th century, before the rise to prominence of the Medici. Their modest antecedents stretched back to the mid 11th century, according to the family's genealogist ...

multiple Group winner and Antwerp multiple Listed winner. Diamond Lover is the grand dam of Viscount (Multiple Group 1 winner and Champion 2YO); Helsinborg (Listed winner); Viking Ruler (Group 1 winner); Kempinsky (Group 2 winner); and Diamond Like (Listed winner). She is also the great grand dam of Lucida (Listed winner). Lastly, she is the great-grand dam of De Beers (Group 1 winner). * Marquise: dam of Shower of Roses, Group 1 winner. * Cotehele House (1980 by My Swanee): dam of Danewin (b. 1991), winner of 5 Group 1 races, and Champion, 3YO of his year, and Commands, the winner of a Group 3 race. Both Danewin and Commands are now at stud in Australia's Hunter Valley. Both have been successful siring Group 1 winners, including (Danewin): Elegant Fashion, Vitesse Dane, County Tyrone, Excites and Toulouse-Lautrec; and (Commands): Undue and Paratroopers. Cotehele House is the grand dam of Emerald Dream (Group 1 winner); Special Bond (Listed winner) and Taimana (Group 2 winner). She is also the great grand dam of Impaler (2x Group 2 winner) and Listen Here (Listed winner).Cotehele House is the great-great grand dam of the 2020 Caulfield Cup and 2021 Melbourne Cup winner

Verry Elleegant Verry Elleegant (foaled 12 October 2015) is a New Zealand-bred Australian-trained Thoroughbred racehorse that has won 11 Group One races. She was crowned the 2020/2021 Australian Racehorse of the Year, and was the winner of the 2021 Melbourne ...

. * La Brillante (1986 by Sir Tristram): dam of Philidor, Listed winner. * Nine Carat (1989 by Sir Tristram): dam of Court of Jewels, Listed winner.

Sons as sires

Eight Carat's sons: Octagonal, Kaapstad, Colombia and Mouawad have all stood at stud. Octagonal is currently standing at Woodlands Stud, and will be best remembered as the sire of the two brothers: - Niello and - world champion miler of 2004, Lonhro (now also at stud at Woodlands). Kaapstad stood at

Windsor Park Stud Windsor Park Stud is a New Zealand thoroughbred stud farm that was established in 1998 near Cambridge, in the Waikato region of the North Island. Windsor Park was established by Ian and Jesse Duncan. In 1971, it passed ownership to Nelson and Sue ...

in New Zealand and was a leading sire and broodmare sire until his death on 9 May 2007. At stud Kaapstad sired 40 individual stakes winners. Colombia is currently standing in New Zealand at Newmarket Lodge. Mouawad stood one season in Australia at Glenlogan Park Stud in QLD, however due to fertility problems, he was re-sold again at public auction for A$525,000 to the former Domeland Syndicate and shipped to China. Unfortunately his whereabouts are unknown due to the collapse of the Chinese racing industry in late 2005.

Honours

Eight Carat won the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Broodmare of the Year a record-equalling three times from 1995 to 1997 due to the deeds of Octagonal and Mouawad. In 1996 Eight Carat was named Broodmare of the Year by the international journal Owner-Breeder (USA).Thoroughbred Village
Retrieved 2010-3-10 Eight Carat died in 2000, aged 25 at Sir Patrick Hogan's

Cambridge Stud Cambridge Stud is a Thoroughbred stud farm established in 1976 at Cambridge, New Zealand by Sir Patrick Hogan. Stud sires It has had a number of top quality stallions including: * Sir Tristram: sire of 45 Group 1 winners and inducted into the Ne ...

. She is buried alongside

(IRE).

References

{{Reflist

External links

Stallion News: Eight Carat
* http://www.pedigreequery.com/eight+carat * http://www.studbook.org.au * http://www.ror.net.au * https://web.archive.org/web/20070615131207/http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/studs-stallions/stallions.aspx * http://www.windsorpark.co.nz 1975 racehorse births 2000 racehorse deaths New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame horses Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 9-c Blue Hen Broodmare