Lockton (14 May 1984 – 2009) 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 ...

racehorse and

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. As a two-year-old in 1986 he won three of his five races including the

National Stakes The Vincent O'Brien National Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres ...

and finished second in the

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. In the following year he added three more victories including the

Strensall Stakes The Strensall Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile and 177 yards (1,771 metres), and it is schedu ...

and the

Joel Stakes The Joel Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is ...

as well as running second in the

Hollywood Derby The Hollywood Derby is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late November/early December. Now held at Del Mar racetrack in San Diego, California, until 2014 it was held at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. T ...

. He failed to reproduce his form when moved to the United States and failed to win a race in his last two seasons on the track. After retiring with a record of six wins from twenty-five starts he had some success as a breeding stallion in Turkey.

Background

Lockton was a "rangy, attractive" chestnut horse with a narrow white blaze and a short white

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on his left hind leg bred in England by his owner Alan Gibson. He sent into training with

Jeremy Hindley Jeremy Hindley (1 January 1944 – 7 January 2013) was an English horse trainer who trained around 700 winners in a 17-year career. He trained horses such as Protection Racket, who won the Irish St. Leger, The Go-Between, who won 11 starts ...

at his

Clarehaven Stables Clarehaven Stables is a thoroughbred horse racing stable built next to the Bury Road in the horse racing town of Newmarket. It was built early in the 20th century and was bought by the businessman and philanthropist Sir David Robinson in th ...

in Newmarket. His sire Moorestyle was an outstanding sprinter who was rated the best horse in Europe in 1980. He sired only three crops of foals before dying of a ruptured intestine caused by

grass sickness Grass sickness, alternatively termed equine dysautonomia, is a rare but predominantly fatal illness in horses. Grass sickness may affect all types of horse, pony and donkey, and has affected some well known horses including the thoroughbred stallion ...

in 1984. Lockton's dam Bridestones, a half-sister to the

Doncaster Cup The Doncaster Cup is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 2 miles 1 furlong and 197 yards (3,600 metr ...

winner Crash Course, was a useful racemare who won three times over middle distances in 1978 and added a fourth success in 1979. As a descendant of the French broodmare Phebe (foaled 1930) she was distantly related to

Ibn Bey Ibn Bey (22 March 1984 – 10 December 2012) was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire (horse), sire who won major races in the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Italy and Germany as well as competing in the United States and Japan. ...

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and Kingston Town.

Racing career

1986: two-year-old season

After finishing second 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 his racecourse debut, Lockton ran unplaced on his next start before recording his first victory in a maiden over seven furlongs at

York Racecourse York Racecourse is a horse racing venue in York, North Yorkshire, England. It is the third biggest racecourse in Britain in terms of total prize money offered, and second behind Ascot Racecourse, Ascot in prize money offered per meeting. It att ...

in July. Less than a week after his win at York, the colt followed up in a minor event over the same distance at Newmarket. He was then stepped up in class to contest 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 ...

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

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 ...

in August and finished third behind Shining Water (a

filly A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

) and Sanam, beaten three

lengths 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 Intern ...

by the winner. He looked to be a somewhat unlucky loser, having been boxed in on the inside rail and then hampered when attempting to switch to the outside. On 14 September, Lockton was sent to the

Curragh The Curragh ( ; ga, An Currach ) is a flat open plain of almost of common land in County Kildare. This area is well known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the ...

in Ireland to contest the National Stakes, a race which had been Group 1 status in 1985. With no previous Group race winners among the nine runners the field appeared to be a substandard one and Lockton was made the 7/2 third choice in the betting behind the Irish filly Flawless Image (sixth in the

Phoenix Stakes The Phoenix Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is sch ...

) and the

Ian Balding Ian Balding (born 7 November 1938) is a retired British horse trainer. He is the son of the polo player and racehorse trainer Gerald Matthews Balding and the younger brother of trainer Toby Balding. Ian Balding was born in the US, but his famil ...

-trained Morewoods (fourth in the

Gimcrack Stakes The Gimcrack Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and geldings. It is run at York over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to t ...

). Ridden by Michael Hills, Lockton tracked the leaders before moving into second place behind Baba Karam approaching the last quarter mile. The colt produced a sustained run in the closing stages and caught Baba Karam on the line to win by a head with Rock Chanteur three quarters of a length away in third place. Lockton ended his season with a trip to France for the Group 1

over 1600 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 ...

in October and produced one of his best performances, staying on strongly in the straight to finish second of the nine runners behind the

Aga Khan Aga Khan ( fa, آقاخان, ar, آغا خان; also transliterated as ''Aqa Khan'' and ''Agha Khan'') is a title held by the Imām of the Nizari Ismāʿīli Shias. Since 1957, the holder of the title has been the 49th Imām, Prince Shah Karim ...

's filly Danishkada. At the end of the season Lockton was given a rating of 120 by the independent Timeform organization, making him twelve poinds inferior to Reference Point who was their best two-year-old. He was rated eleven pounds behind the top-rated Reference Point in the official International Classification for 1986.

1987: three-year-old season

Lockton began his second season at

Thirsk Racecourse Thirsk Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, England. The course is a left handed oval of about 1 mile 2 furlongs with a 3 furlong finishing straight and a 6 furlong chute. The present course opened ...

in April and won the one mile Classic Trial by a neck from the

Barry Hills Barry Hills (born 2 April 1937) is a retired British thoroughbred horse trainer. He lives in Lambourn, England. Biography Barry Hills had three sons in his first marriage, to Maureen Newson: John, Michael, and Richard. John (died 2014) was a ho ...

-trained . In 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 ...

on 2 May he started a 22/1 outsider and came home twelfth of the fourteen runners behind Mystiko. In June he was sent to France and finished sixth to Risk Me in the

Grand Prix de Paris The Grand Prix de Paris is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it ...

over 2000 metres at Longchamp. After a second-place finish to Ascot Knight in the

Scottish Derby The Scottish Derby was a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It was run at Ayr over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres), and it was scheduled to take place each year in July. ...

he recorded his second win of the season in the Listed Strensall Stakes over nine furlongs at

in September, beating

Shady Heights Shady Heights (12 May 1984 – ca. 1997) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. In four seasons on the racecourse he competed in Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Japan and the United States, winning seven of his twenty-nine contests. He sho ...

by one and a half lengths. Later that month he ran second to Most Welcome in the Select Stakes at Goodwood before returning to winning form when beating Free Fact in the Joel Stakes over ten furlongs at Newmarket in October. For his last two races of the season, Lockton was sent to compete in the United States. He finished fifth behind the five-year-old I'm A Banker in the

Kelso Handicap The Kelso Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and older run over a distance of one mile (8 furlongs) on the dirt held annually in late October at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event offers a purse of $3 ...

Belmont Park Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905. It is operated by the non-profit New York Racin ...

and then ran second to Stately Don in a division of the

on 22 November. Timeform awarded him a rating of 115 in 1987 and described him as "tough, genuine and consistent".

1988 & 1989: four and five-year-old seasons

For the 1988 season, Lockton was transferred permanently to the United States where he was trained by Angel Penna, Jr and raced in the colours of Blue Goose Stable. He finished third in the Fort Lauderdale Handicap 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 ...

but finished no better than fifth in five subsequent starts that year. In 1989 the five-year-old failed to win or place in three starts, ending his track career by coming home fifth in the Coors Light Silver Bullet Stakes at Gulfstream on 4 March.

Stud record

Lockton was retired from racing to become a breeding stallion in Turkey. He died in Turkey in 2009.

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 1984 racehorse births 2009 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United States Thoroughbred family 12-b