Woodcarver (April 9, 1996 - September 10, 1999) was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1999 won Canada's most important race, the

Queen's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of ...

, and was voted the

Sovereign Award {{refimprove, date=October 2021 The Sovereign Award is given annually since 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada to the outstanding horses and people in Canadian Thoroughbred racing. The most prestigious award for horses is Sovereign Horse of the Y ...

as that year's Canadian Champion 3-Year-Old Colt. Bred by Gus Schickedanz at his farm near

Nobleton, Ontario Nobleton (2021 population 6,507) is an unincorporated community in southwestern King, Ontario, Canada. It is the third-largest community in the township, after King City and Schomberg. Located south of the Oak Ridges Moraine, Nobleton is surroun ...

, Woodcarver was raced by his owner. His sire was Woodman, a Champion 2-year-old colt in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

who was a son of the influential American Champion sire, Mr. Prospector. Woodman also sired

Preakness Preakness may refer to: * The Preakness or Preakness Stakes, an American flat thoroughbred horse race held in Baltimore, Maryland * Preakness (horse), an American thoroughbred racehorse from Preakness Stables * Preakness, New Jersey, a section of W ...

and Belmont Stakes winner

Hansel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hanse ...

as well as

Breeders' Cup Juvenile The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually in late October or early November at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup W ...

and Preakness Stakes winner,

Timber Country Timber Country (foaled April 12,1992 in Kentucky - February 24, 2016) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first horse to ever win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and American Triple Crown Classic Race when he won the 1995 Preakness St ...

. Trained and ridden by future Hall of Fame inductees, Woodcarver was race conditioned by Michael Keogh and had Mickey Walls aboard for his wins in the

Queenston Stakes The Queenston Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Run in early May, the stakes race is open to three-year-old horses who were foaled in the Province of Ontario. Raced over a distan ...

and the

. On September 10, 1999, Woodcarver had to be humanely euthanized after taking a misstep during a morning workout which resulted in a badly broken leg.

Pedigree

References

{{reflist 1996 racehorse births 1999 racehorse deaths Thoroughbred racehorses Racehorses bred in Canada Racehorses trained in Canada Canadian racehorses Thoroughbred family 25