Kings Best (24 January 1997 – 16 April 2019) was an American-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 ...

racehorse best known for winning the

2000 Guineas Stakes The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year at ...

. He was described by his trainer

Michael Stoute Sir Michael Ronald Stoute (born 22 October 1945) is a Barbadian British Thoroughbred horse trainer in flat racing. Career Stoute, whose father was the Chief of Police for Barbados, left the island in 1964 at the age of 19 to become an assis ...

as the best miler he'd ever trained.

Background

King's Best was a bay horse bred in Kentucky by M3 Elevage. King's Best's sire,

Kingmambo Kingmambo (February 19, 1990 – January 20, 2016) was an American-bred, French-trained thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Background He was sired by the leading stallion, Mr. Prospector, who in turn was a son of Raise a Native, out of the 1999 ...

, was a highly successful breeding stallion. His progeny included the British Classic winners

Russian Rhythm Russian Rhythm is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and active broodmare who was bred in the United States but trained in the United Kingdom. During a racing career which lasted from June 2002 until May 2004 she ran ten times and won seven races. ...

Henrythenavigator Henrythenavigator (foaled February 28, 2005) is an American-bred and Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He won the 2000 Guineas, the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the St. James's Palace Stakes and the Sussex Stakes in 2008. After he finished second ...

Virginia Waters Virginia Waters (foaled 15 February 2002) is an American-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career which lasted from September 2004 to October 2005 she ran twelve times and won three races. After winning once from four star ...

and

Rule of Law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...

, as well as major winners in Japan ( El Condor Pasa), France (

Divine Proportions Divine Proportions (born 13 March 2002 in Kentucky) is a champion Thoroughbred race horse and winner of two French classics. Background Divine Proportions was bred by the Niarchos family. She was sired by the American-bred stallion Kingmambo. ...

) and the United States (

Lemon Drop Kid Lemon Drop Kid (foaled May 26, 1996) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Best known for winning the 1999 Belmont Stakes, he was also the champion older horse of 2000 after winning the Brooklyn, Suburban, Whitney Handicaps and the ...

). His dam Allegretta was a very influential broodmare who also produced the

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-winning

Urban Sea Urban Sea (18 February 1989 – 2 March 2009) was an American bred Thoroughbred racemare best known for winning France's most prestigious race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, in 1993 and for her importance as a world-class broodmare. She is one o ...

, the dam of

Sea the Stars Sea The Stars (foaled 6 April 2006) is a retired champion Irish Thoroughbred racehorse regarded as one of the greatest racehorses of all time. He won the 2000 Guineas, the Derby, the Eclipse Stakes – the first colt to accomplish this treble ...

and

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

, Allez Les Trois, the dam of the

Prix du Jockey Club The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a ...

winner

Anabaa Blue Anabaa Blue (foaled 12 April 1998) is a British-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was sired by the sprinter Anabaa out of Allez Les Trois, a mare with a very strong middle-distance pedigree. Between September 2000 and Oct ...

, Turbaine by

Trempolino Trempolino (March 17, 1984 –March 19, 2018) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the prestigious Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1987. Background He was bred by Marystead Farm, the American arm of French horseman Paul ...

dam of

Tertullian Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...

Miswaki Miswaki (February 22, 1978 – December 17, 2004) was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse that was a Group One winner in France and a stakes race winner in the United States. He was an important sire of 97 stakes race winners and was the Lead ...

and Anzille by

Plugged Nickle Plugged Nickle (March 1, 1977 – 1997 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was voted American Champion Sprint Horse in 1980. Background Bred and raced by John M. Schiff, he was trained by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame i ...

dam of Anzillero by

Law Society A law society is an association of lawyers with a regulatory role that includes the right to supervise the training, qualifications, and conduct of lawyers. Where there is a distinction between barristers and solicitors, solicitors are regulated ...

Racing career

After winning his maiden race at Newmarket he won, from the front, in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

's 1999

Acomb Stakes The Acomb Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run at York over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year ...

, a Group 3 race for juveniles. His first start as a three-year-old resulted in a second place to Umitism in the

Craven Stakes The Craven Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres ...

at Newmarket. Few horses beaten in that race go on to win the

2000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year at ...

, so it was a surprise when he claimed the first classic of the season, sprinting past

Giant's Causeway The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (5 km) northeast of ...

from off the pace. Ridden by

Kieren Fallon Kieren Francis Fallon (born 22 February 1965 in Crusheen, County Clare, Ireland) is a retired Irish professional flat racing jockey and was British Champion Jockey six times. Career Stable jockey to Henry Cecil In ...

he sprinted to a three-and-a-half length victory. King's Best true ability was never satisfactorily determined as injury in his next race, the

Irish Derby The Irish Derby (Irish: Dearbaí na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 ...

ended his career prematurely.

Stud career

Standing with

Darley Stud Darley Stud is located at Dalham Hall, the global breeding operation owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates. It is on the outskirts of Newmarket, Suffolk, the internati ...

, Kings Best sired numerous high-profile winners including

Creachadoir Creachadoir (foaled 8 February 2004) is an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was a specialist miler who won four of his fifteen races between May 2006 and March 2009. Originally trained in Ireland by Jim Bolger he showed promise w ...

, Royal Diamond, Allybar and Eishin Flash, but his most famous son is the Michael Stoute-trained

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 ...

, who won the Derby by seven lengths in 2010, followed by the

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, France, over a distance ...

. King's Best was retired from stud duties in 2019 and was Euthanized on 16 April 2019 after suffering from

colic Colic or cholic () is a form of pain that starts and stops abruptly. It occurs due to muscular contractions of a hollow tube ( small and large intestine, gall bladder, ureter, etc.) in an attempt to relieve an obstruction by forcing content out ...

Pedigree

References

{{2000 Guineas winners 1997 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 9-h Champion Thoroughbred Sires of France 2000 Guineas winners 2019 racehorse deaths