Dundeel, or It’s A Dundeel as he was registered for racing in Australia, is a champion New Zealand

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

. He is the fifth and most recent winner of the Australian Triple Crown. In 2025 Dundeel was inducted into the

New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame The New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame recognises and honours those whose achievements have enriched the New Zealand thoroughbred horse racing industry. History The Hall of Fame's first group of honorees were inducted in 2006, and inductions are h ...

Background

Dundeel is a bay colt trained by

Murray Baker Murray Baker (born 21 April 1946) is a New Zealand thoroughbred racehorse trainer and former representative cricketer. Cricket Baker played in one List A and seventeen first-class matches for Central Districts and Northern Districts from 1966 ...

and Andrew Forsman at Murray's Cambridge stables. When in Australia Dundeel was managed by son Bjorn Baker at his Warwick Farm stables. The story of his life is provided on hi
website
His sire

High Chaparral High Chaparral (1 March 1999 – 21 December 2014) was an Irish Thoroughbred Horse racing, racehorse and Horse breeding#Terminology, sire. In a career that lasted from September 2001 to October 2003, he ran 13 times and won 10 races. His w ...

won

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, more commonly known as the Derby and sometimes referred to as the Epsom Derby, is a Group races, Group 1 flat Horse racing, horse race in England open to three-year-old Colt (horse), colts and Filly, fillies. It is run at Ep ...

in 2002 and the

Breeders' Cup Turf The Breeders' Cup Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for three-year-olds and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The race's current ...

in 2002 and 2003. As a stallion, he is best known as the sire of

So You Think So You Think (foaled 10 November 2006) is a New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse, now majority owned by Coolmore Stud of Ireland. So You Think came to prominence through winning the 2009 and 2010 Cox Plates, Australia's premier weight for age ...

among 23 Group 1 winners.

Racing career

Dundeel started his racing career with five straight wins culminating in the 2012

Spring Champion Stakes The Spring Champion Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds at Set Weights over a distance of 2000 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in October. Prize money is A$2,000,000. History Th ...

. He had previously added to his unbeaten record with another win in the Group 3

Gloaming Stakes The Gloaming Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 3 Thoroughbred horse race, for three-year-olds, at set weights, over a distance of 1800 metres, held annually at Rosehill Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in September. Total prize money for the rac ...

(1800m) also at Randwick in Sydney. In the autumn of 2013 he became the first horse to win the coveted Australian Triple Crown since

Octagonal In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a hex ...

in 1996. He won the first leg in the 2013

Randwick Guineas The Randwick Guineas is an Australian Turf Club Group One Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds, run at set weights over a distance of 1600 metres at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia in March as a part of the Sydney Autumn Carnival. ...

(1600m). This victory was followed up by a comfortable 6.8 length win in the 2013

Rosehill Guineas The Rosehill Guineas is an Australian Turf Club Group One Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds at set weights run over a distance of 2000 metres at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney, Australia annually in March. Total prize money for t ...

(2000m). He completed the Australian Triple Crown in style with a 6 length win in the

Australian Derby The Australian Derby is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds at set weights held at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in April, during the Autumn ATC Championships Carnival. The race is considered to b ...

(2400m) and in doing so he also became the first ever to do so since the first leg moved from the

Canterbury Guineas The Randwick Guineas is an Australian Turf Club Group One Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds, run at set weights over a distance of 1600 metres at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia in March as a part of the Sydney Autumn Carnival. ...

in 2006. He also becomes the first horse to win a clean sweep of the four major

Group 1 Group 1 may refer to: * Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Alkali metal * Group 1 (motorsport), a regulation set of the FIA for series-production touring cars used in motorsport. * Group One Thoroughbred horse races, the leading e ...

three-year-old races run in Sydney, having previously won the 2012

(2000m), an Australian Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds at

Set Weights Set Weights (SW) is a condition for a Thoroughbred horse race. Horses carry a weight based on their age and sex. In a mixed-sex race, fillies and mares will usually carry less than colts, geldings and horses. Additional weight, or penalties, can als ...

, raced at the

Randwick Racecourse Royal Randwick Racecourse is a racecourse for horse racing located in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Randwick Racecourse is Crown Land leased to the Australian Turf Club and known to many Sydney r ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

with prize money of A$400,000. His fantastic three-year-old season was recognised in receiving the 2013 NSW Champion Horse of the Year. Dundeel continued to develop as a four-year-old and created history in becoming the first horse to beat the previously unbeaten Atlantic Jewel in the

2013

Underwood Stakes The Underwood Stakes is a Melbourne Racing Club Group One, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race, run over 1800 metres under weight-for-age conditions, held at Caulfield Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in late September each year. Total prize money ...

(1800m) at Caulfield in Melbourne and then proceeded to win the richest race to ever be run on a Sydney track in the $4M Queen Elizabeth Stakes. In reflecting on Dundeel's career, his trainer Murray Baker, and champion jockey James McDonald, who has partnered him in all but one start, both described Dundeel as the best horse they had ever trained and ridden respectively. Mick Kent, trainer of the

runner-up Philippi, described Dundeel as “the best horse in Australia - as good as the mare (

Black Caviar Caviar or caviare is a food consisting of salt-cured roe of the family Acipenseridae. Caviar is considered a delicacy and is eaten as a Garnish (food), garnish or Spread (food), spread. Traditionally, the term caviar refers only to roe from w ...

)”.

's breeder Rick Jamieson has described Dundeel as a champion and "the best three-year-old we have seen for a while." His victory in the 2014 Queen Elizabeth Stakes earned him a Timeform rating of 129 at the conclusion of his racing career, which ranks him as the 21st equal highest rated Australian racehorse since the 1950s.

Stud career

On 21 April 2014, two days after his victory in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, it was announced that It's a Dundeel was to be retired to

stud Stud may refer to: Animals * Stud (animal), an animal retained for breeding ** Stud farm, a property where livestock are bred Arts and entertainment * Stud (band), a British progressive rock group * The Stud (bar), a gay bar in San Francisco * ...

. This was met with mixed reactions as his trainer Murray Baker was of the opinion that the best was yet to come from the champion colt and others were surprised that his stud fee was so modest given his achievements.
Dundeel
stands at

Arrowfield Stud John Messara is an Australian thoroughbred horse breeder and owner who served from 2011 to 2016 as the chairman of Racing New South Wales, a body established under the Thoroughbred Racing Act 1996 to control and regulate the NSW Thoroughbred Rac ...

, the largest

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n owned

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

farm.

Notable stock

''c = colt, f =

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 ...

, g =

gelding A gelding (Help:IPA/English, /ˈɡɛldɪŋ/) is a castration, castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. The term is also used with certain other animals and livestock, such as domesticated Camelidae, camels. By compa ...

Pedigree

References