Einstein (October 23, 2002 - October 28, 2020) was a

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 who competed in the

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Background

Einstein was a dark bay or brown horse bred in Brazil by Fazenda Mondesir. He was sired by the 1985 American Horse of the Year, Spend A Buck. His dam, Gay Charm, was the 1988 Brazilian Champion Three-Year-Old Filly. His damsire was Ghadeer, a son of Lyphard and an influential stallion in Brazil who sired twenty-five Group One winners. When he was brought to the United States, Einstein's new owners entrusted his race conditioning to Helen Pitts, who had taken over their stable upon the retirement of

Kenneth McPeek Kenneth G. McPeek (born August 2, 1962 in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Life and career Kenneth G. "Kenny" McPeek was born August 2, 1962 in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. ...

Racing career

Einstein made his American debut on February 25, 2006 at

Gulfstream Park Gulfstream Park, owned by The Stronach Group, is a Thoroughbred race track, casino and outdoor entertainment and shopping destination in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Thoroughbred horse racing occurs year-round, defined by three distinct race meets ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, where he won the first of his two

Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap The Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race, by invitation for four-year-olds and older over a distance of one and one-eighth miles on the turf track, held annually in late January or early February at Gulf ...

s. He went on to wins that include races on three different track surfaces: the

Turf Classic Stakes The Turf Classic Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for open to horses aged four and older, over a distance of one and one-eighth miles, on the turf held annually in early May on the Kentucky Derby day meeting at Churchill Down ...

turf Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricult ...

and the

Clark Handicap The Clark Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late November at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Among the oldest races in the United States, it was first run in 1875, the year the racetrack opened for business. C ...

on dirt, both in 2008 at Churchill Downs, and in 2009,

California's California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

richest race, the

Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up and was once considered the most important race for o ...

on Pro-Ride synthetic dirt. Einstein successfully defended his title in the Grade I

Woodford Reserve Woodford Reserve is a brand of premium small batch Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey produced in Woodford County, Kentucky, by the Brown-Forman Corporation. It is made from a mixture of copper pot still spirits produced at the company's Wood ...

-sponsored

on May 2, 2009. on June 13 he was going for a world record, trying to be the first horse to win Grade 1 races on all three surfaces in the same year, first in the Santa Anita, then in the Woodford, and lastly on dirt in the race he got second in before, the

Stephen Foster Handicap The Stephen Foster Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three and older over a distance of miles on the dirt run annually in mid-June at Churchill Downs Spring Meet in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is named in ...

. In the Stephen Foster, he struggled to obtain a clear run and was repeatedly blocked before finishing third to

Macho Again Macho Again (foaled 2005 in Florida) is a retired American thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was sired by the 2000 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt Macho Uno, who in turn was a son of leading sire Holy Bull. He is out of the mare Go Donna ...

. Next, he ran in the

Arlington Million The Arlington Million is a Grade 1 flat horse race in the United States for thoroughbred horses aged three years and upward on the turf. It was originally raced at the now-closed Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois over a distance of ...

, a race he placed badly in 2008. He went up against the world's top turf horses, including American stars

Gio Ponti Giovanni "Gio" Ponti ( ͡ʒo18 November 1891 – 16 September 1979) was an Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, teacher, writer and publisher. During his career, which spanned six decades, Ponti built more than a ...

and Presious Passion and International turf horses Gloria De Campeao (the French horse who placed second in the 2009

Dubai World Cup The Dubai World Cup (Arabic: كأس دبي العالمي) is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 and contested at the Meydan Racecourse (Arabic: ميدان) which in Arabic suggests a place wh ...

), Cima de Triomphe, and Stotsfold. Other American entries were Mr. Sidney, Just As Well, and

Recapturetheglory Recapturetheglory (foaled February 11, 2005) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Recapturetheglory is a bay horse bred by Charles Jacobi. He was sired by the Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Cherokee Run is out of the mare Cold Awakening, by Deh ...

, who placed fifth in the 2008 Kentucky Derby. Einstein ran a bad race, and never showed the late kick he usually had, coming in sixth to rising star

. On September 3, 2009, it was announced that Frank Stronach purchased the horse from Midnight Cry Stables. Einstein ran in the Pacific Classic Stakes at

Del Mar Racetrack The Del Mar Fairgrounds is a event venue in Del Mar, California. The annual San Diego County Fair is held here, which was called the Del Mar Fair from 1984 to 2001. In 1936, the Del Mar Racetrack was built by the Thoroughbred Club with foundi ...

in California but was beaten by a neck by longshot Richard's Kid. His next race was the

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late October ...

on November 7. He had already won on the same track at the same distance over the same surface, but due to the entries of

Rip Van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Dutchmen, imbibes their liquor and falls aslee ...

and the top mare in the country

Zenyatta Zenyatta (foaled April 1, 2004) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Breeders' Cup Classic and Breeders' Cup Distaff and 19 of her 20 starts. She was the 2010 American Horse of the Year, and Champion Older Female in 2008, ...

, he was not a favorite. "It's the biggest race of his life, I want him to come in fresh," trainer Helen Pitts sai

Einstein proved to be one of the major disappointments in the race, finishing 11th out of 12 runners. On November 27 at Churchill Downs Einstein ran in the Grade II Clark Handicap and, carrying the high weight of the race, finished a game third after starting from the outside gate (14th Post Position) and being blocked in the stretch. In 2006, Einstein was rated 117 (tied for 72nd) in the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings. In 2007, Einstein was rated 117 (tied for 79th) in the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings. In 2008, Einstein was rated 118 (tied for 80th) in the World Thoroughbred Rankings. In 2009, Einstein was rated 120 (tied for 43rd) in the World Thoroughbred Rankings.

Racing statistics

An asterisk after the odds means Einstein was the post time favorite.

Stud career

Einstein was retired to stand stud at Stronach's Adena Springs farm near

Paris, Kentucky Paris is a home rule-class city in Bourbon County, Kentucky. It lies northeast of Lexington on the Stoner Fork of the Licking River. Paris is the seat of its county and forms part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. As ...

for a stud fee of $7,500 in 2010. In 2015, he was moved to Adena Springs' Canada location. He stood at Magali Farms in 2016 and Daeling Ranch in 2017 and 2018. His progeny include graded stakes placed horses Rankhasprivileges, Scholar Athlete, Seeking Albert, and Iranistan. He was pensioned to Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm in Georgetown, Kentucky on March 11, 2019. He was euthanized at the age of 18 on October 28, 2020, after suffering complications from cancer.

Pedigree

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Einstein (Horse) 2002 racehorse births 2020 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Brazil Racehorses trained in the United States American Grade 1 Stakes winners Thoroughbred family 3-c