Mare Australis (foaled 11 March 2017) is an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. Originally trained in Germany, he won his only race as a two-year-old in 2019. In the following year he was transferred to race in France where he won the Listed Prix de l'Avre and finished second in the

Group 2 The term Group 2 may refer to: * Alkaline earth metal, a chemical element classification * Astronaut Group 2, also known as The New Nine, the second group of astronauts selected by NASA in 1962 * Group 2 (racing), an FIA classification for cars in a ...

Prix du Conseil de Paris. In the spring of 2021 he ran second in the

Prix d'Harcourt The Prix d'Harcourt is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles) at Longchamp in Apr ...

before winning the Group 1 Prix Ganay.

Background

Mare Australis is a chestnut horse with a white

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

and white socks on his hind legs bred in Ireland by Stall Ullmann. He was sent into training with Jean-Pierre Carvalho in Germany and initially raced in the colours of Gestut Schlenderhan. He was from the second crop of foals sired by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

who won the

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...

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 ...

and International Stakes in 2014. Mare Australis's dam Miramare showed good racing ability, winning one minor race in her native Germany and being placed three times in Listed class in the United Kingdom. She was a great-granddaughter of the

Preis der Diana The Preis der Diana is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Düsseldorf over a distance of 2,200 metres (about 1 mile and 3 furlongs), and it is scheduled to take pl ...

winner Majoritat whose other descendants have included Eishin Flash ( Tokyo Yushun) and Mystic Lips (Preis der Diana).

Racing career

2019: two-year-old season

Mare Australis began his track 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 1600 metres on soft ground at Munich on 3 November. Ridden by Filip Minarik he started the 11/10 favourite and won by 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 ...

from the

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 ...

Zamrud.

2020: three-year-old season

At the end of 2019 Gestut Schlenderhan closed their private training facility. For the 2020 season Mare Australis moved into the ownership of Corinna Baronin Von Ullmann and was transferred to the stable of André Fabre at

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France * Chantilly, Oise, a city located in the Oise department ** US Chantilly, a football club * Château de Chantilly, a historic château located in the town of Chantilly United States *Chantilly, Miss ...

in France. On his first appearance for his new connections Mare Australis started favourite for the Prix Tourbillon over 2100 metres at Saint-Cloud Racecourse on 12 May but finished fourth behind Port Guillaume, Gold Trip and Dawn Intello, beaten three lengths by the winner. On 14 June the colt was moved up in class and distance for the Listed Prix de l'Avre over 2400 metres at Chantilly Racecourse in which he was ridden, as in all of his 2020 starts, by

Pierre-Charles Boudot Pierre-Charles Boudot (born 21 December 1992) is a French flat racing jockey. He was French flat racing Champion Jockey in 2015, 2016 and 2020. Boudot rode Waldgeist to win Europe's biggest race the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 2019. In May 2 ...

. He started the 1.7/1 favourite and won by a short neck from Frohsim. On his only subsequent start Mare Australis contested the

Prix du Conseil de Paris on heavy ground at Longchamp Racecourse on 25 October. He was in contention from the start and stayed on well in the straight but failed by a head to overhaul the Irish-trained favourite Baron Samedi.

2021: four-year-old season

Mare Australis began his third campaign in the Group 3

over 2000 metres at Longchamp on 11 April. With Boudot in the saddle he started at odds of 7.8/1 and finished second to the six-year-old

gelding A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, makin ...

Skalleti Skalleti (foaled 25 February 2015) is a French Thoroughbred racehorse. He is a gelding who shows his best form on soft ground and usually races over distances from 1600 metres to 2000 metres. He has raced in France, England, Italy, Germany and ...

, beaten a length by the odds-on favourite. On 2 May the colt was moved up to Group 1 class for the first time to contest the Prix Ganay over 2100 metres at the same track and started the 5/2 second favourite behind

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in a seven-runner field which also included Magny Cours (

Gala Stakes The Gala Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years and over. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of 1 mile 1 furlongs and 209 yards (2,002 metres), and it is scheduled ...

), Gold Trip (

Prix Greffulhe The Prix Greffulhe is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old horses. It is run over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles) at Saint-Cloud in May. History The eve ...

), Ecrivain ( Prix des Chenes) and Wonderful Moon ( Union-Rennen). Boudot sent Mare Australis into the lead from the start and he was never seriously challenged, winning by one and three quarter lengths from Gold Trip despite being eased down in the closing stages. After the race Fabre was asked about the horse's prospects in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe over 2400 metres at the same track in October. He responded "He'll be a better horse in the autumn and I always thought he was a horse for the Arc. He's just as good over both distances. He had no issues, he was just backward. I don't know if he'll run in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud or just a prep race and then the Arc."

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 2017 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in Germany Racehorses trained in France Thoroughbred family 8-a