Quorto (29 February 2016 – 9 July 2020) was 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. He was one of the best two-year-olds in Europe in 2018 when he was unbeaten in three races including the

Superlative Stakes The Superlative Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), and it is sc ...

and 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 ...

. Injuries prevented him from running as a three-year-old in 2019 and he suffered a fatal injury when being trained for his reappearance in 2020.

Background

Quorto was a bay colt 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 ...

bred by

Sheikh Mohammed Sheikh Muhammad (1560–1650) was a Muslim saint-poet who is venerated by Hindus. Sheikh Muhammad or alternatively Sheikh Muhammed, Sheikh Mohammad, Sheikh Mohammed may also refer to (in chronological birth order): * Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wah ...

's Godolphin organisation. He was sent into training with Charlie Appleby at Godolphin's British base in

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

Dubawi Dubawi (foaled 7 February 2002) is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. Background Dubawi is a bay horse with no white markings bred in Ireland by Sheikh Mohammed's Darley Stud. He was one of the only crop of foals sired by Dubai ...

a top-class son of Dubai Millennium, whose wins included the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the

Prix Jacques Le Marois The Prix Jacques Le Marois is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred colts and fillies aged three years or older. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile ...

. At stud, Dubawi has been a highly-successful breeding stallion, siring major winners such as Monterosso,

Al Kazeem Al Kazeem (foaled 15 April 2008) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He showed promise as a two-year-old in 2010 and became a consistently successful performer in the following year. In 2012 he won the Jockey Club Stakes on his seasonal debut bu ...

Makfi Makfi (foaled 4 March 2007) is a British-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In 2010 he won the 2000 Guineas and Prix Jacques Le Marois. Background Makfi's sire is Irish 2,000 Guineas and Prix Jacques Le Marois winner Dubawi. ...

Lucky Nine The Lucky Nine were an English rock band that features members of some other top British rock bands, for instance A, Hundred Reasons and (the now defunct) Cable and Sunna/earthtone9. Their collaboration has resulted in the record ''True Crow ...

and Night of Thunder. Quorto's dam Volume was a high-class performer who won the

Fillies' Trial Stakes The Fillies' Trial Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs () at Newbury in May. History The ...

and finished third in both the Epsom Oaks and the

Irish Oaks The Irish Oaks is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs (2,414 metres), and it is s ...

. At the end of her racing career she was auctioned at Tattersalls in December 2014 and bought for 700,000 guineas by John Ferguson Bloodstock on behalf of Godolphin. She was a granddaughter of the outstanding staying mare Victoire Bleue who won the

Prix du Cadran The Prix du Cadran is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 4,000 metres (about 2 miles), and it is scheduled to take ...

and

Prix Gladiateur The Prix Gladiateur is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 3,100 metres (about 1 mile and 7½ furlongs), and it ...

. Victoire Bleue was in turn a granddaughter of Virunga who ran third to

Allez France Allez France (24 May 1970 – 11 December 1989) was an American-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. Winner of the French 1000 Guineas, the French Oaks and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, she was one of the greatest-ever ...

and Dahlia in the Prix de Diane and was a half-sister to Vitiges.

Racing career

2018: two-year-old season

On his track debut, Quorto started at odds of 9/4 for a minor race 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 ...

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...

on 22 June. Ridden by

James Doyle James Doyle may refer to: The arts * James Francis Doyle (1840–1913), British architect * James S. Doyle (born 1935), American journalist * James William Edmund Doyle (1822–1892), English illustrator and antiquary * Jimmy Doyle (musician) (194 ...

he took the lead approaching the final furlong and won by two and three quarter

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 ...

from the John Gosden-trained

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 ...

Handmaiden.

William Buick William Buick (born 22 July 1988) is a Norwegian-British flat jockey. He shared the champion apprentice jockey title in 2008 with David Probert and won the Lester Award for Apprentice Jockey of the Year in 2007 and 2008. From 2010 to 2014 he w ...

took the ride when the colt was stepped up in class for 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 ...

Superlative Stakes over seven furlongs the same course and three weeks later and started the 5/4 favourite. After racing in second place behind the Irish challenger Cape of Good Hope for most of the way he went to the front a furlong out and went clear of his six opponents to win "very readily" by three and three quarter lengths. After the race Charlie Appleby commented "We were confident coming here today that he had come forward and that the step up in trip was going to suit. He has shown some gears there. William got off and said he has a great racing mind. He is an exciting horse, for sure". In September, Quorto was sent to Ireland to contest the Group 1 National Stakes over seven furlongs at 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 which he was again partnered by Buick. He was made the 11/8 favourite ahead of

Anthony Van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

in a seven-runner field which also included Land Force (

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

) and Christmas ( Caravaggio Stakes). He raced in third place behind Christmas and Anthony Van Dyck before taking the lead a furlong out and kept on well to win by one and a quarter lengths. He appeared to lean into the runner-up Anthony Van Dyck in the closing stages but after a stewards' inquiry the result was allowed to stand. Appleby said "He's a typical Dubawi. From the Superlative Stakes to here, he needed all of that time and he had a spell where he went a bit quiet on us, but that's typical of a Dubawi... we were all confident coming into today". In the official ratings for Irish-raced juveniles for 2018 Quorto was given a mark of 121, making him the best two-year-old of the year. He was rated the second best two-year-old in Europe behind

Too Darn Hot "Too Darn Hot" is a song written by Cole Porter for his musical ''Kiss Me, Kate'' (1948). In the stage version, it is sung at the start of Act 2, and in the 1948 original Broadway production, it was sung by Lorenzo Fuller (as Paul) and Eddie Sle ...

Death

Quorto missed the whole of the 2019 season owing to injury but was expected to return to the track as a four-year-old in 2020. In July 2020 it was reported that the colt had been fatally injured in a training gallop. Appleby commented "Quorto was a very talented colt who was absolutely brilliant when winning the National Stakes. It is a great shame that we did not get to see him on the racecourse again and he will be sorely".

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 2016 racehorse births 2020 racehorse deaths Undefeated racehorses Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 19-b