King's Theatre (1 May 1991 – 13 June 2011) was an Irish-bred

Thoroughbred racehorse The Thoroughbred is a horse breed developed for 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 considered " ...

and

sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" an ...

. He was trained in the United Kingdom and the United States during a racing career which lasted from July 1993 to June 1996, winning five of his seventeen races. He is best known for winning the

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot ...

in 1994, a year in which he was named European Champion Three-year old colt. King's Theatre later became a sire of both flat racers and

jumpers Jumper or Jumpers may refer to: Clothing *Jumper (sweater), is a long-sleeve article of clothing; also called a top, pullover, or sweater **A waist-length top garment of dense wool, part of the Royal Navy uniform and the Uniforms of the United St ...

Background

King's Theatre was bred in Ireland by Michael Poland. He was from the sixth crop of the fourteen times Champion sire

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...

out of the mare Regal Beauty, making him a half-brother to the

Royal Lodge Stakes The Royal Lodge Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and geldings. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), ...

winner High Estate, who was European Champion Two-Year-Old in 1988. He was sent into training with Henry Cecil at Newmarket.

Racing career

1993: two-year-old season

King's Theatre made his first appearance in July 1993, finishing fifth in a maiden race at Newmarket. A five-length win in a Yarmouth maiden race was followed by a four-length win in the

Haynes, Hanson and Clark Conditions Stakes The Haynes, Hanson and Clark Novice Stakes is a flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and geldings. It is run at Newbury over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it ...

at Newbury. He was then moved up to the highest level to contest the

Racing Post Trophy The Futurity Trophy is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and ...

at Doncaster, in which he defeated the

Fillies' Mile The Fillies' Mile is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is sc ...

winner, Fairy Heights.

1994: three-year-old season

King's Theatre went into the winter of 1993–4 as a leading

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

candidate. On his 1994 debut, however, he proved himself to be a serious contender for the

2000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1.6 km) and scheduled to take place each yea ...

by taking a narrow victory in the

Craven Stakes The Craven Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 met ...

. Sent off as 9-2 favourite for the Guineas, he led early but faded into 13th place behind

Mister Baileys Mister Baileys (1991–2009) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from June 1993 to July 1994 he ran nine times and won four races. After winning the Vintage Stakes and the Royal Lodge Stakes as a two-year-o ...

. A well-beaten fourth place behind

Erhaab Erhaab (24 May 1991 – 22 November 2021) was a Thoroughbred race horse and sire, bred in the United States but trained in the United Kingdom. He is best known as the winner of the 1994 Epsom Derby. In 2011 he was moved from the Wood Farm ...

in the

Dante Stakes The Dante Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old horses. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 56 yards () ...

followed, and his price for the Derby drifted out to 14–1. At Epsom, however, he showed himself to be a top-class middle-distance performer, taking the lead a furlong from home and finishing second of the twenty-five runners behind

. As a result of his Epsom performance, he was sent off evens favourite for the

Irish Derby The Irish Derby ( Irish: Dearbaí na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a dista ...

and duly defeated his male rivals, but could only manage second place to the European Champion filly

Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th-century. Sty ...

. In the

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot ...

he was sent off at 12-1 and produced his best performance. Always prominent, he was taken wide to make his challenge in the straight, took the lead a furlong out, and won by one and a quarter lengths from White Muzzle, with Erhaab well-beaten in seventh. The race was marred to some extent by the performance of Ezzoud, who unseated his jockey at the start and went on to interfere with several runners. King's Theatre continued to be tried at the highest level, but never won another race. Following his victory at Ascot, he finished third to Ezzoud in the

International Stakes The International Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 56 yards ...

and tenth (beaten less than four lengths) behind Carnegie in the

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe () is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris over a distance ...

1995: four-year-old season

For the 1995 season, King's Theatre was moved to the US to be trained by Bill Mott. He failed to win in three starts, the best of them being a third place behind Kiri's Clown in the Sword Dancer Invitational Stakes at Saratoga.

1996: five-year-old season

In the winter of 1995–1996 he was transferred to Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation and was trained by Saeed bin Suroor. He made only two starts as a five-year-old, finishing second in a minor stakes race at Newbury and third of four to Strategic Choice in the Gran Premio di Milano. He was then retired to stud.

Assessment

King's Theatre was rated the third best juvenile colt in Europe in 1993. At three he was rated at 128 by

Timeform Timeform is a sports data and content provider located in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1948, it provides systematic information on form to punters and others involved in the horse racing industry. The company was purchased by th ...

and named best three-year-old colt in the

Cartier Racing Awards 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 th ...

Stud career

Retired to stand at stud in Ireland in 1997, King's Theatre had a long and reasonably successful career as a stallion. For several years he was a "shuttle" stallion- standing at the Ballylinch Stud,

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

for part of the year, before being "shuttled" to stand at the Glenlogan Stud

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season. His winners on the flat included King's Drama ( Sword Dancer Invitational Stakes), Young Mick ( Cumberland Lodge Stakes), King's Ironbridge (

Craven Stakes The Craven Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 met ...

), Royal Code ( Alister Clark Stakes) and Red Rioja ( C. L. Weld Park Stakes). Later in his stud career he became better known as the sire of several prominent

, including Riverside Theatre (

Ascot Chase The Ascot Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of about 2 miles and 5 furlongs (2 miles, 5 fur ...

, Ryanair Chase), Captain Chris (

Arkle Challenge Trophy The Arkle Challenge Trophy is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham, England, over a ...

), Menorah (

Supreme Novices' Hurdle The Supreme Novices' Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance o ...

), Wichita Lineman ( Spa Novices' Hurdle), Voler la Vedette ( Hatton's Grace Hurdle),

Cue Card Cue cards, also known as note cards, are cards with words written on them that help actors and speakers remember what they have to say. They are typically used in television productions where they can be held off-camera and are unseen by the a ...

(

Champion Bumper The Champion Bumper is a Grade 1 National Hunt flat race in Great Britain which is open to racing horses aged four to six years. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 m ...

, Ryanair Chase, Betfair Chase) and The New One ( Baring Bingham Novices' Hurdle). King's Theatre died on 13 June 2011 after suffering complications following an operation for

colic Colic or cholic () is a form of pain that starts and stops abruptly. It occurs due to muscular contractions of a hollow tube (small and large intestine, gall bladder, ureter, etc.) in an attempt to relieve an obstruction by forcing content ou ...

Pedigree

References

External links

YouTube video of 1994 King George (Japanese audio)
{{Cartier Champion Three-year-old Colt 1991 racehorse births 2011 racehorse deaths Cartier Award winners Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United States Thoroughbred family 9-b King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winners