El Bodegon (foaled 26 April 2019) is an Irish-bred, British-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 c ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

. He was one of the best European two-year-olds in 2021 when he won three of his five races including the Prix de Conde and the

Criterium de Saint-Cloud A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time, ...

Background

El Bodegon is a bay colt with a white

star and snip Markings on horses are usually distinctive white areas on an otherwise dark base coat color. Most horses have some markings, and they help to identify the horse as a unique individual. Markings are present at birth and do not change over the co ...

and two white

socks A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. In the late ...

bred in Ireland by Cecil & Martin McCracken. As a

yearling Yearling may refer to: *Yearling (horse), a horse between one and two years old *''The Yearling ''The Yearling'' is a novel by American writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, published in March 1938. It was the main selection of the Book of the Mo ...

in October 2020 he was consigned to the

Tattersalls Tattersalls (formerly Tattersall's) is the main auctioneer of race horses in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founding It was founded in 1766 by Richard Tattersall (1724–1795), who had been stud groom to the second Duke of Kingston. T ...

sale and was bought for 70,000

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 ...

by the trainer John Ferguson. He entered the ownership of the Nas Syndicate & A F O'Callaghan and was taken into training by Ferguson at

Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Located (14 miles) west of Bury St Edmunds and (14 miles) northeast of Cambridge. It is considered the birthplace and global centre of thoroughbred hor ...

. He was sired by Kodiac, a sprinter who won four minor races from twenty starts and finished second in the

Hackwood Stakes The Hackwood Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Newbury over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is sche ...

and fourth in the

Prix Maurice de Gheest The Prix Maurice de Gheest is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,300 metres (about 6½ furlongs), and it is sched ...

. Like his full-brother

Invincible Spirit Invincible Spirit (foaled 17 February 1997) is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. After winning two of his four races as a two-year-old, he only raced twice as a three-year-old, losing on both occasions. In 2001 he won twice ...

, he became a very successful breeding stallion, siring many major winners including

Tiggy Wiggy Tiggy Wiggy (foaled 7 March 2012) is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. In 2014, she won six out of eight races including the Weatherbys Super Sprint, Lowther Stakes and Cheveley Park Stakes and was voted Cartier Champion Tw ...

Fairyland Fairyland (''Faerie'', Scottish ''Elfame'', c.f. Old Norse ''Álfheimr'') in English and Scottish folklore is the fabulous land or abode of fairies or ''fays''. Old French (Early Modern English ) referred to an illusion or enchantment, the land ...

and Hello Youmzain. El Bodegon's dam Al Andalyya showed little racing ability, failing to win in five attempts, but did better as a broodmare, producing the

Caulfield Cup The Caulfield Cup is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held under handicap conditions, although the Melbourne Racing Club is in the process of turning the race into weight for age (WFA) conditions. This is for all horses ...

winner Best Solution. Her dam Kushnarenkovo was a daughter of the

Park Hill Stakes The Park Hill Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 115 yards (2,9 ...

winner Eva Luna, whose other foals included

Brian Boru Brian Boru ( mga, Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig; modern ga, Brian Bóramha; 23 April 1014) was an Irish king who ended the domination of the High King of Ireland, High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill and probably ended Viking invasion/domi ...

Sea Moon Sea Moon (foaled 6 March 2008) is a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. He was initially trained in Britain and as a three-year-old in 2011 he won the Great Voltigeur Stakes, was runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Turf and finished third in the S ...

and the dam of

Workforce The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the Pooling (resource management), pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single types of companies, company or ...

Racing career

2021: two-year-old season

El Bodegon began his racing career in 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 six

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 ...

on soft ground at

Windsor Racecourse Windsor Racecourse, also known as Royal Windsor Racecourse, is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Windsor, Berkshire, England. It is one of only two figure-of-eight courses in the United Kingdom, the other being at Fontwell Park. Desc ...

on 5 July when he started at odds of 11/1 and finished second to Fast Response, beaten half a

length 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 Interna ...

by the winner. Later that month the colt started at 13/2 for a novice race (for horses with no more than two previous wins) over seven furlongs

Sandown Park Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt races and one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse racing ...

and was ridden as on his debut by Daniel Muscutt. Racing on heavy ground and in driving rain, El Bodegon raced in second place before taking the lead approaching the final furlong and drew away in the closing stages to win by two lengths. For the rest of the season, El Bodegon was campaigned in France. Ryan Moore took the ride when the colt was stepped up in class and started a 16/1 outsider for the

Group 3 Group 3 may refer to: *Group 3 element, chemical element classification *Group 3 (racing), FIA classification for auto racing *Group 3, the third tier of races in worldwide Thoroughbred horse racing * Group 3 image format, Group 3 & Group 4 are d ...

Prix La Rochette The Prix La Rochette is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,400 metres (about 7 furlongs), and it is scheduled to take place ...

over 1400 metres at

Longchamp Racecourse The Longchamp Racecourse (french: Hippodrome de Longchamp) is a 57 hectare horse-racing facility located on the Route des Tribunes at the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, France. It is used for flat racing and is noted for its variety of interlaced tr ...

on 5 September. In a change of tactics he led from the start but was overtaken in the last 50 metres and came home third behind Acer Alley and Making Moovies '' ic', beaten half a length and a short neck. Twenty four days later El Bodegon was moved up in distance for the Group 3 Prix de Conde over 1800 metres at

Chantilly Racecourse Chantilly Racecourse (In French: "Hippodrome de Chantilly") is a Thoroughbred turf racecourse for flat racing in Chantilly, Oise, France, about north of the centre of the city of Paris. Chantilly Racecourse is located in the country's main hors ...

and went off the 7.9/1 fourth choice in a six-runner field. Ridden by

Ioritz Mendizabal Ioritz Mendizabal (born 5 May 1974 in Oiartzun) is a Spanish Basque flat racing jockey, who is long-term based in France. He won his first race in 1990 and joined the stable of Jean-Claude Rouget the following year. Mendizabal is a four-time Fr ...

he raced just behind the leaders before overtaking the front-running True Testament 200 metres from the finish and "kept on well" to win by one and a quarter lengths. Mendizabal was again in the saddle when El Bodegon started the 9.2/1 fifth choice in the betting for the Group 1

over 2000 metres on heavy ground at

Saint-Cloud Racecourse Hippodrome de Saint-Cloud is a grass race course for Thoroughbred flat horse racing opened in 1901 at 1 rue du Camp Canadien in Saint-Cloud near Paris, France. During World War 1, the race course site housed the No. 4 Canadian Stationary Hospital ...

on 23 October. The

Zetland Stakes The Zetland Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres), and ...

winner Goldspur went off favourite, while the other seven runners included Unconquerable (second in the Zetland), Martel (Prix Tanerko) and Dreamflight (

Prix Thomas Bryon The Prix Thomas Bryon is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Saint-Cloud over a distance of 1,400 metres (about 7 furlongs), and it is scheduled to take pl ...

). El Bodegon led from the start, drew clear of his opponents 300 metres from the finish and came home a length and a half clear of Stone Age despite being eased down by Mendizabal in the final strides. After the race Ferguson said "We love the horse and from his last win we planned this is where we wanted to go. But leading with a furlong to go wasn't really part of my planning... He's improved with every run and mentally as well, he takes his traveling very well... He's not overly big but there's a lot of presence about him and it's very exciting to wonder what we might have next year. I can't see him not improving. You have to aim high when you have a horse like this."

Pedigree

* El Bodegon was

inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...

4 × 4 to Northern Dancer, meaning that this stallions appears twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.

References

{{Reflist 2019 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 14-c