Kotashaan
Kotashaan (foaled May 4, 1988 in Orne

Orne

Orne is a department in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne.- History :Orne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Normandy and Perche.- Geography :Orne is in the region of...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

) was an 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...

 who competed in France and earned Champion

Eclipse Award

The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...

 honors in the United States. He was bred and raced by brothers Alain

Alain Wertheimer

Alain Wertheimer is a Jewish French businessman based in France who, with his brother Gerard own the controlling interest in the House of Chanel. The son of Jacques Wertheimer and Eliane Fischer, it was his grandfather Pierre who co-founded the Chanel business...

 and Gerard Wertheimer

Gerard Wertheimer

Gerard Wertheimer is a Jewish French businessman based in France who owns and controls the House of Chanel perfume company in partnership with his brother, Alain....

, owners of the House of Chanel

Chanel

Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. Kotashaan was sired by Darshaan

Darshaan

Darshaan was an French Thoroughbred racehorse and a Champion sire and broodmare sire. Bred and raced by the Aga Khan IV, he was out of the French mare, Delsy, a daughter of the 1961 Grand Critérium winner, Abdos...

, winner of the 1984 French Derby

Prix du Jockey Club

The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...

 and the Leading sire in France

Leading sire in France

The list below shows the leading Thoroughbred sire of racehorses in France for each year since 1887. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won by the sire's progeny during the season .-----References:* -See also:*...

 in 2003. His dam was Haute Autorite, a daughter of the American runner Elocutionist

Elocutionist (horse)

Elocutionist was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series. Bred by Josephine Abercrombie's Pin Oak Stud and foaled at her Versailles, Kentucky farm, his sire was the multiple stakes winner, Gallant Romeo, a son of U.S. Racing Hall of...

 who in 1976 won the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown

United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing

In the United States, the "Triple Crown" is usually the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, a series of three Thoroughbred horse races for three-year-old horses run in May and early June of each year consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.While Daily Racing Form...

 series, the Preakness Stakes

Preakness Stakes

The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

.

Racing in France

Trained by Criquette Head-Maarek

Criquette Head-Maarek

Christiane "Criquette" Head is considered to be the leading female racehorse trainer in the world.Known as Criquette, she was born into the Thoroughbred horse racing business...

, the world's most successful female trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

, Kotashann made his racing debut on November 16, 1990. He finished second in a maiden race at Saint-Cloud Racecourse

Saint-Cloud Racecourse

Hippodrome de Saint-Cloud is a grass race course for Thoroughbred flat horse racing opened in 1901 at 1 rue du Camp Canadien in Saint-Cloud near Paris, France...

 then two weeks later got his first win at Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse

Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse

The Hippodrome de Maisons-Laffitte at 1 avenue de la Pelouse in the northwestern Parisian suburb of Maisons-Laffitte in France is a turf horse racing facility and track for Thoroughbred flat racing...

. At age three in 1991, he debuted in April with a fifth place finish in the Prix Noailles

Prix Noailles

The Prix Noailles is a Group 2 flat horse race in France which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,000 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in April.-History:...

 then won his next two starts, capturing the listed Prix de Courcelles and the Group 3 Prix La Force

Prix La Force

The Prix La Force is a Group 3 flat horse race in France which is open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,100 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in April.-History:...

. Kotashann contested his first Group One

Group One

Group One or Group 1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. Group One races may be run under handicap conditions in Australia but in Europe weight-for-age conditions always apply. Races may be also restricted to age groups or a...

 race on June 23, 1991, finishing third to Subotica

Subotica (horse)

Subotica is a French Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred by Paul de Moussac at his Haras du Mezeray in Lower Normandy. Through his sire Pampabird, owned by de Moussac, Subotica is a descendant of the great Nearco...

 in the Grand Prix de Paris

Grand Prix de Paris

The Grand Prix de Paris is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July.-History:...

. He followed this up with another third place effort in the August 15th G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano

Prix Guillaume d'Ornano

The Prix Guillaume d'Ornano is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 2,000 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in August.-History:...

 and a second-place finish on September 9 in the G3 La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte

La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte

La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte is a Group 3 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Maisons-Laffitte over a distance of 2,000 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.-History:The event was established in 1906, and it...

.

Racing in the United States

The Wertheimer brothers decided to send Kotashaan to compete in turf races in the United States, where they raced their horses under the name of La Presle Farm. Under California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 trainer Richard Mandella, he was limited by an injury and made just four starts in 1992, winning only one minor race. In top form in 1993, though, Kotashaan won six of ten starts with three runnerup finishes, and earned more than US$2.6 million. He won five major California races at distances from 1⅛ miles to 1¾ miles including the San Juan Capistrano Handicap in track-record time. He then capped it off with a win in the November 6, 1993, Breeders' Cup Turf

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 title sponsor is Emirates Airlines.The forerunner...

 at Santa Anita Park

Santa Anita Park

Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring. With its backdrop of the purple San Gabriel Mountains, it is considered by many as the world's most beautiful race...

. In the Turf, Kotashaan defeated a strong field that included runnerup Bien Bien

Bien Bien

Bien Bien was an American Thoroughbred racehorse bred by William S. Farish III & William S. Kilroy and raced by Trudy McCaffery and John Toffan....

, defending Breeders' Cup Turf champion, Fraise

Fraise

Fraise was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1992 Breeders' Cup Turf. Bred by Allen E. Paulson, he was sired by Strawberry Road, the 1983 Australian Horse of the Year which Paulson acquired in 1986...

 (4), Hatoof

Hatoof

Hatoof is a Thoroughbred Champion racehorse who competed internationally out of a base in Chantilly, France under trainer Criquette Head for owner Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Racing at age 2 in France, Hatoof started three times, winning once and placing second on two occasions...

 (5), King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner, Opera House

Opera House (horse)

Opera House is a retired British thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. As a racehorse, he is best known for his performances as a five-year-old in 1993, when he won three Group One races and was named European Champion Older Horse...

 (6), and French Derby

Prix du Jockey Club

The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...

 winner, Hernando (10). http://google.com/search?q=cache:45y9rzxExVIJ:sadev.select.net/news/bios/t_Mandella,_Richard.pdf+Kotashaan,+stud&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca

Following his Breeders' Cup win, Kotashaan was sold to a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese syndicate. For his new owners, he made his final start of 1993, and of his racing career, in the November 28 Japan Cup

Japan Cup

The is the most prestigious horse race run in Japan. It is contested at the end of November at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters over the grass. With a purse of ¥476 million , the Japan Cup is one of the richest races in the world.The Japan Cup is an invitational event...

. Ridden by his regular American jockey, Kent Desormeaux

Kent Desormeaux

Kent Jason Desormeaux is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who holds the U.S. record for most races won in a single year, 1989.-Brief biography:...

, Kotashaan finished second to Legacy World after Desormeaux misjudged the finish line.http://www.ntra.com/stats_bios.aspx?id=3382

Kotashaan's 1993 performances earned him the Eclipse Award

Eclipse Award

The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...

 for American Champion Male Turf Horse, plus the highest honor in United States' Thoroughbred racing, American Horse of the Year.

Retired to stud

Stud (animal)

A stud animal is a registered animal retained for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species usually imply that the animal is entire—that is, not castrated—and therefore capable of siring offspring...

 duty, he stood in Japan until 2000 when Andrew (Willy) Murphy purchased him and brought him to stand at Ballycurragh Stud in Rathoe, County Carlow

County Carlow

County Carlow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Carlow, which lies on the River Barrow. Carlow County Council is the local authority for the county...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. http://www.bloodhorse.com/articleindex/article.asp?id=7008 http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/stallion-directory/index.aspx?index_id=alpha&letter=k He has had little success as a sire.