Tamarkuz (foaled February 26, 2010) is a retired

Thoroughbred racehorse 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 ...

best known for his 2016 win in the $1,000,000

Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile The Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile is a Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up. As its name implies, it is part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the ''de facto'' year-end championship for North American t ...

hosted that year by California's Santa Anita Park.

Background

Tamarkuz is a chestnut Thoroughbred horse bred in Kentucky and purchased for $325,000 at the

Keeneland Keeneland Association, Inc. is an equine business based in Lexington, Kentucky. It includes two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex. It is also known for it ...

September Sale in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

by the Shadwell Estate. He was sired by

Speightstown Speightstown (), also known as ''Little Bristol'', is the second largest City centre of Barbados. It is situated north of the capital city of Bridgetown, in the northern parish of Saint Peter. The City is named after William Speight, a member o ...

, who also sired

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 ...

winner

Seek Again Seek Again is an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. After winning three of his seven races in the United Kingdom he was sent to California in December 2013 and won the Grade I Hollywood Derby. On August 9, 2014, Seek Again won the Grade II Fo ...

and

Belmont Derby The Caesars Belmont Derby is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred race horse run over a distance of miles on the turf at Belmont Park in July. The purse for the event is US$1,000,000. The event is the first of three of ...

winner Force the Pass,

Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap The Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of six furlongs on the dirt held annually in late July at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. History T ...

, and

Vosburgh Stakes The Vosburgh Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Run at the end of September/early October, it is open to horses three-years-old and up of either gender. A Grade II sprint race, it is ra ...

winner Rock Fall, and Jockey Club Gold Cup Winner Haynesfield. His dam Without You Babe is by Lemon Drop Kid, winner of the

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...

and the Woodward Stakes, and who sired upset Kentucky Oaks winner

Lemons Forever Lemons Forever (foaled May 24, 2003 in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Grade 1 132nd Kentucky Oaks horse race on May 5, 2006. Her win was the biggest upset in the history of the Oaks. The Kentucky Oaks ...

European career

In Europe Tamarkuz was trained by Saeed bin Suroor where he ran only in Weight-for-Age and handicap races. During this time he was raced irregularly. In three years he only ran six times with a total of three wins.

Dubai career

Tamarkuz made his racing debut under trainer Musabah Al Muhairi in 2014 at Meydan Racecourse in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

with a fifth-place finish. In his next start he failed to finish the race due to an injury that would take ten months to fully heal. He returned to racing in 2015 and won four of five starts including wins in the Firebreak Stakes and the

Burj Nahaar The Burj Nahaar, is a horse race run over a distance of 1,600 metres (one mile) on dirt in March at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. The race is named after the Burj Nahar, a fortified tower on Dubai's old city walls. The Burj Nahaar was first contest ...

. However, the highlight would be his nose victory over Sloane Avenue in the

Godolphin Mile The Godolphin Mile is a Group 2 flat Thoroughbred horse race in the United Arab Emirates for Southern Hemisphere three-year-old horses and Northern Hemisphere four-year-olds. It is contested on dirt over a distance of 1,600 metres (approximately 8 ...

American career

After success in Dubai, Tamarkuz went to America in 2015 where his race conditioning was handled by Kiaran McLaughlin. Tamarkuz began with a fourth-place finish in the

Met Mile The Metropolitan Handicap, frequently called the "Met Mile", is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance ...

, then ran sixth in the

Forego Stakes The Forego Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for horses four years old and older over the distance of seven furlongs on the dirt, scheduled annually in August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The event curr ...

, and was fourth again 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 ...

. He returned to compete in America in 2016 and ran in the same three races as before. It started with a ninth in the

. In his next two races in the Forego and the Kelso, he was second. After that he entered the

. He went off at odds of 11-1 running against Champions such as Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Runhappy and Santa Anita Derby winner

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

. Ridden by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, at the start Tamarkuz was last. Quickly he was moved up to seventh and at the three quarters pole

Gun Runner Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small ar ...

took the lead with Tamarkuz in third. Mike Smith then made his move with Tamarkuz, passing both Dortmund and

to earn an upset win in the race. Following his Breeders' Cup win Tamarkuz was retired to stand at stud at his owner's

Shadwell Farm Shadwell Racing is the Thoroughbred horse racing operations of Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Introduced to Thoroughbred flat racing while a student in the United ...

near

References

{{reflist 2010 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United States Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winners Thoroughbred family 4-c