Jambalaya (foaled April 16, 2002 in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

) is a Canadian

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 ...

gelding racehorse. He was sired by Langfuhr, a

Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 to honour those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and Thoroughbred horse racing in Canada. It is located at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. The ...

inductee. Langfuhr also sired Wando, the 2003 Canadian Triple Crown Champion and

Canadian Horse of the Year The Canadian Horse of the Year is a thoroughbred horse racing honour given annually since 1951 by the Jockey Club of Canada. It is the most prestigious honour in Canadian thoroughbred horse racing. Part of the Sovereign Awards program since 1975, ...

as well as a leading older horse in the United States in his 2007 campaign, Lawyer Ron.

Background

Bred by renowned Canadian horseman Gus Schickedanz, Jambalaya was purchased by trainer

Catherine Day Phillips Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Chris ...

and her husband Todd for the bargain price of $2,500 at the 2003 September Keeneland yearling sale.

Racing career

Based at Toronto's

Woodbine Racetrack Woodbine Racetrack is a race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Woodbine Entertainment Group, Woodbine Racetrack manages and hosts Canada's most famous race, the King's Plate. The tra ...

he raced once at age two, finishing third. In 2005, during a mediocre three-year-old season racing on dirt, he was switched to

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 ...

. Jambalaya responded with a win and then in the most important grass race for Canadian-bred horses, the

Breeders' Stakes The Breeders' Stakes is a stakes race for Thoroughbred race horses foaled in Canada, first run in 1889. Since 1959, it has been the third race in the Canadian Triple Crown for three-year-olds. Held annually in August at Woodbine Racetrack in T ...

, he ran away from the field, winning by eight lengths. Sent to run at

Saratoga Race Course Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting venue of any kind in the country, but is actu ...

he won again on turf, capturing the

Saranac Handicap The Saranac Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The Grade III stakes is open to three-year-old horses and is raced on turf over a distance of 1 mile. The event, currentl ...

. Racing in 2006 at age four, Jambalaya won the 1½ mile Singspiel Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack and had two third-place finishes in Grade II races and was second to

Better Talk Now Better Talk Now (February 25, 1999 – June 27, 2017) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Breeders' Cup Turf in 2004. His racing career stretched over nine seasons, during which he won 14 times, five of them Grade ...

in the

Sky Classic Stakes The Sky Classic Stakes is a Grade II Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Raced in mid to late August on turf over a distance of miles (10 furlongs), it is open to horses three years of age and ol ...

. At age five, Jambalaya is one of the leading turf horses in North America, winning the 2007 Grade I Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Turf Stakes and defeated The Tin Man to win 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 ...

. Jambalaya's win in the Million was the first by a Canadian-bred horse and the victory guaranteed him a start in the 2007 Breeders' Cup Turf. In mid September, the horse's handlers announced that Jambalaya's 2007 racing campaign was over following an

MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...

that revealed an acute bone bruise at the end of a

cannon bone Good conformation in the limbs leads to improved movement and decreased likelihood of injuries. Large differences in bone structure and size can be found in horses used for different activities, but correct conformation remains relatively simil ...

.http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/breederscup07/news/story?id=3027305 ESPN Arlington Million winner Jambalaya injured Because it was caught early, the gelding is expected to recover fully in time to compete in 2008.

References

{{reflist 2002 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Ontario Racehorses trained in Canada Thoroughbred family 4-m