Northern Spur was a 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 raced in 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...

 and the United States

United States

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

. Bred at Robert Sangster's

Robert Sangster

Robert Edmund Sangster was a British businessman, thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder. He was British flat racing Champion Owner five times and his horses won many major races, including two Epsom Derbys, four Irish Derbys, two French Derbys, three Prix de l'Arc de Triomphes and a Melbourne...

 Swettenham Stud in Swettenham, Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, he was a son of the champion sire

Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland

The list below shows the leading sire of racehorses in Great Britain and Ireland for each year since 1751. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the season.----- References :* -See also:...

 Sadler's Wells

Sadler's Wells (horse)

Sadler's Wells was a Thoroughbred racehorse that was later a leading sire in France, Great Britain & Ireland and North America during the 1990s. He was foaled in 1981 in the United States, but achieved most of his racing and breeding fame in Europe....

 and out of the mare

Mare (horse)

A mare is an adult female horse or other equine.In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse age three and younger. However, in Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old; in harness racing a mare is a...

, Fruition. His damsire, Rheingold

Rheingold (horse)

Rheingold was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known as the winner of France's most prestigious race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. A descendant of the extremely important sire Nearco through both his sire and his dam, Rheingold showed promise racing at age two when he finished second in the...

, won the 1973 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year, usually on the first Sunday in October.Popularly referred to as the...

.

Sent to French 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...

 Andre Fabre

André Fabre

André Fabre is a French thoroughbred horse racing trainer.The son of a diplomat, Fabre graduated from university with a law degree but then decided to pursue a career in thoroughbred horse racing. He began by working in the stables as a groom then as a schooling rider...

 for conditioning, in 1994 Northern Spur notably won the Prix du Lys

Prix du Lys

The Prix du Lys is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and geldings. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June.-History:...

 and the Prix Hubert de Chaudenay

Prix Chaudenay

The Prix Chaudenay is a Group 2 flat horse race in France which is open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 3,000 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late September or early October....

 before being sold to American

United States

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

 Charles J. Cella

Charles J. Cella

Charles J. Cella is president of Southern Real Estate and Financial Company, an executive in the American Thoroughbred horse racing industry, and a racehorse owner....

, owner of Oaklawn Park

Oaklawn Park

Oaklawn Park is an American thoroughbred racetrack in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is the home to The Racing Festival of the South.In 2009, the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced a rating system for 65 Thoroughbred racetracks in North America. Of the top Ten, Oaklawn was ranked...

 racetrack in Hot Springs, Arkansas

Hot Springs, Arkansas

Hot Springs is the 10th most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Garland County, and the principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all of Garland County...

. Brought to race in the United States, Northern Spur won the 1995 Oak Tree Invitational Stakes and capped off the year with a win in the 1½ mile 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...

. Sent back to the track at age five, Northern Spur's best result was a second-place finish in the 1996 Grade I Hollywood Turf Handicap

Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap

The Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the second week of June at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California...

. His performances in 1995 earned him the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Male Turf Horse

Eclipse Award for Outstanding Male Turf Horse

The American Champion Male Turf Horse award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor. In 1971 it became part of the Eclipse Awards program and is awarded annually to a Colt or Gelding, regardless of age, for their performance on grass race courses....

.

Retired, Northern Spur currently stands at Foggy Bottom Farm in Geneseo, New York

Geneseo, New York

Geneseo is the name of a town and its village in Livingston County in the Finger Lakes region of New York, USA, outside of Rochester, New York. The town's population is approximately 9,600, of which about 7,600 live in the village...

. To date, his offspring have met with modest racing success.