Yeats is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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 who won seven

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

(G1) races and is the only horse ever to win the Ascot Gold Cup four times in succession.

Breeding

Yeats is a dark-coated bay horse with a small 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 A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. In the late ...

on his hind legs foaled on 23 April 2001 at Barronstown Stud. Yeats is by

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-sea ...

, out of Lyndonville (also owned by Barronstown Stud) by Top Ville. He is owned by

Ballydoyle Ballydoyle is a racehorse training facility located in County Tipperary in Ireland. It is a sister thoroughbred facility to Coolmore Stud, and both are owned by John Magnier, son in law to the racehorse trainer Vincent O'Brien. The current train ...

and

Coolmore Stud Coolmore Stud, in Fethard, County Tipperary, Ireland, is headquarters of the world's largest breeding operation of thoroughbred racehorses. Through its racing arm, Ballydoyle, Coolmore also has raced many classic winners and champions. The operat ...

boss

John Magnier John Magnier (born 10 February 1948; also known as "The Boss") is an Irish business magnate. He is Ireland's leading thoroughbred stud owner and has extensive business interests outside the horse-breeding industry. Magnier has also been a Sena ...

. He is named after the painter

Jack Butler Yeats Jack Butler Yeats RHA (29 August 1871 – 28 March 1957) was an Irish art The history of Irish art starts around 3200 BC with Neolithic stone carvings at the Newgrange megalithic tomb, part of the Brú na Bóinne complex which still stands ...

Racing record

2003: two-year-old season

Yeats began his racing career as a two-year-old with a win by four lengths in a maiden race, over eight furlongs, at the Curragh.

2004: three-year-old season

Yeats was unbeaten in his next two starts, including the

Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial The Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial is a Group 3 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres) ...

in May 2004, and was hot favourite for The Derby, but met with a setback just days before the race and missed the rest of the season, returning almost 1 year later, finishing 2nd in a Group 3 in Ireland on heavy ground.

2005: four-year-old season

Yeats' next start came at

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

in the

Coronation Cup The Coronation Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards (2 ...

, taking on subsequent

Japan Cup The is one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan. It is contested on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters (about miles) run under weight for age conditions with ...

winner Alkaased, Bandari and dual Coronation Cup winner

Warrsan {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Warrsan , image_name = , caption = Racing silks of Saeed Manana , sire = Caerleon , grandsire = Nijinsky , dam = Lucayan Princess , damsire = High Line , sex = Stallion , foaled = 1998 , country = Ir ...

. Jockey

Kieren Fallon Kieren Francis Fallon (born 22 February 1965 in Crusheen, County Clare, Ireland) is a retired Irish professional flat racing jockey and was British Champion Jockey six times. Career Stable jockey to Henry Cecil I ...

adopted front-running tactics on the colt, and pulled away in the final quarter-mile to win by more than 2 lengths. The win made Yeats the first Irish-based horse to win the Coronation Cup since

Roberto The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

in 1973. Yeats attempted to follow up in the Group 1

Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud The Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Saint-Cloud over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is ...

over the same distance, with new jockey

Jimmy Fortune Jimmy Fortune (born March 11, 1955) is an American country music singer from Nelson County, Virginia. Fortune sang tenor for The Statler Brothers for 21 years, and wrote the song "Elizabeth" for the group. After The Statler Brothers retired, he c ...

adopting hold-up tactics, but they failed to pay off, and Yeats trailed in 9th, 20 lengths behind the winner Alkaased. The

Irish St. Leger The Irish St Leger is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 6 furlongs (2,816 metres), and it i ...

came next, reunited with Kieren Fallon, adopting similar hold-up tactics as Fortune in Yeats' previous start, and was staying-on towards the finish to come 4th, just a length and a half behind the winner Collier Hill. His final start of the season was to be the

Canadian International Stakes The Canadian International Stakes is a Grade I stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and up on Turf. It is held annually in October at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The current purse is Since its creatio ...

Woodbine Racetrack Woodbine Racetrack is a race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Woodbine Entertainment Group, Woodbine Racetrack manages and hosts Canada's most famous race, the King's Plate. The track ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

over 12 furlongs, but he missed the break and could never recover, finishing 12 lengths behind the victor.

2006: five-year-old season

Yeats' first start of the 2006 season was at

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...

in the Ascot Gold Cup, some 247 days after the Woodbine

. Fallon adopted a prominent position towards the start, and got to the front 4 furlongs out, and was only pulling away towards the end, winning by 4 lengths from

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 ta ...

winner Reefscape. He attempted a rare double with the Goodwood Cup at the

Glorious Goodwood Goodwood Racecourse is a horse-racing track five miles north of Chichester, West Sussex, in England controlled by the family of the Duke of Richmond, whose seat is nearby Goodwood House. It hosts the annual Glorious Goodwood meeting in late ...

meeting, carrying top weight and easing to victory by 5 lengths under new jockey

Michael Kinane Michael J. Kinane (born 22 June 1959, Killenaule, County Tipperary) is an Irish former flat racing jockey. He had a 34-year career, retiring on 8 December 2009. A prolific winner of the Irish, English and French Classic race ...

, since Fallon was banned from riding in the UK. Yeats finished a disappointing 7th in the

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...

, with Kieren Fallon stating that his mount just lacked his usual finishing kick and was not suited by the stop-start pace of the race. He was forced to make a big move a mile out to get to the front, ensuring that he maintained his speed for the finishing straight. He was voted the 2006

Cartier Racing Award The Cartier Racing Awards are awards in European horse racing, founded in 1991, and sponsored by Cartier. The award winners are decided by points earned in group races (40%) plus the votes cast by British racing journalists (30%) and readers of the ...

as Top Stayer.

2007: six-year-old season

In 2007 Yeats won his second consecutive Ascot Gold Cup and followed that up by winning the Irish St. Leger on his third attempt, giving trainer Aidan O'Brien his first win in that race, and the 1-2 as stablemate

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

came a close second to Yeats.

2008: seven-year-old season

On 19 June 2008 Yeats became only the second horse in history to win the Ascot Gold Cup three times in succession, defeating Geordieland by 5 lengths. He followed this on 31 July with a second victory in the Goodwood Cup, winning by 7 lengths. Later in the year, on 26 October he won the

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

at Longchamp.

2009: eight-year-old season

On 18 June 2009, Yeats made Ascot history, becoming the first horse ever to win the Ascot Gold Cup four times in succession, ridden by

Johnny Murtagh Johnny Murtagh (born 14 May 1970) is an Irish flat racing trainer and former jockey from Bohermeen, near Navan, Kells, County Meath. As a jockey he won many of the major flat races in Europe, including all the Irish Classi ...

, and winning by 3½ lengths, making him arguably the best stayer of all time. Although many believe Ardross to be the best stayer of modern times.

Stud record

Yeats was retired to stud after his 2009 campaign. He has previously stood at Coolmore's headquarters farm 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 ...

, but now stands at the company's

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

breeding farm, also in Ireland.

Pedigree

References

External links

Yeats Pedigree
Pedigree Online
Yeats (IRE)
RacingPost.com

– ''Yeats'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Yeats (Horse) 2001 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in Ireland Cartier Award winners Irish Classic Race winners Thoroughbred family 1-m