Johannesburg is a Kentucky-bred

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an Champion Thoroughbred

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...

 racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

. He was trained by Aidan O'Brien

Aidan O'Brien

Aidan Patrick O'Brien is an Irish horse racing trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables near Cashel in County Tipperary for John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud associates....

 at Ballydoyle

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...

, and now stands at stud at Ashford Stud

Ashford Stud

Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky is the American arm of the international commercial Thoroughbred horse breeding operation Coolmore Stud of County Tipperary in the Republic of Ireland.Twelve stallions will stand at Ashford Stud in 2011....

 near Versailles, Kentucky

Versailles, Kentucky

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,511 people, 3,160 households, and 2,110 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 3,330 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 88.18% White, 8.67% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.35%...

, the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 arm of the giant Irish

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 breeder Coolmore Stud

Coolmore Stud

Coolmore Stud, in Fethard, South Tipperary in Ireland, is the world's largest breeding operation of thoroughbred racehorses. It was established in 1975....

. For a time, he shuttled between Ashford Stud and Coolmore Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 near Jerrys Plains, New South Wales for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season, but as of 2009 stands exclusively in Kentucky.

Johannesburg was unbeaten as a 2-year-old, winning 7 races, 4 of them Group 1s, including the Phoenix Stakes

Phoenix Stakes

The Phoenix Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July or August.-History:...

, Prix Morny

Prix Morny

The Prix Morny is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,200 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in August.-History:...

, Middle Park Stakes

Middle Park Stakes

The Middle Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late September or early October.The event was established...

 and Breeders' Cup Juvenile

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 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships....

, with a devastating display in the latter. For his performance in the 2001 racing season he earned the Cartier Award for Two-Year-Old European Champion Colt

Cartier Racing Award

The Cartier Racing Awards are awards in European horse racing, founded in 1991, and sponsored by Cartier jewelers. The award winners are decided by points earned in group races plus the votes cast by British racing journalists and readers of the Racing Post and Daily Telegraph newspapers.Eight...

.

He had 3 starts as a 3-year-old, none of which he was successful in, including an 8th place finish in the Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

 and 9th in the St. James's Palace Stakes

St. James's Palace Stakes

The St. James's Palace Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June....

.

Retired to stand at stud

Horse breeding

Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...

 at Ashford Stud his first crop of 2-year-olds competed in 2006, with 3 of his 14 runners winning Graded stakes race

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

s, including the Group 2 winner Hamoody and Scat Daddy

Scat Daddy

Scat Daddy is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Sired by Johannesburg and out of the mare Love Style, he was bred by Swiss book publisher and racing enthusiast, Axel Wend...

, winner of the 2007 Grade I

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

 Florida Derby

Florida Derby

The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida on the Saturday closest to the end of March or the first of April. Added to the racing schedule in 1952, the Grade 1 race is run at 1⅛ miles on the dirt...

. He also sired Group 1 AJC Oaks and Group 2 ATC Chairmans Handicap winner Once Were Wild when at stud in Australia.