Regal Embrace was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 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...

. Bred by E. P. Taylor

E. P. Taylor

Edward Plunket Taylor was a Canadian business tycoon and famous breeder of thoroughbred race horses. Known to his friends as "Eddie", he is universally recorded as "E. P...

 and raced under the name of his Windfields Farm

Windfields Farm

Windfields Farm is a six square kilometre thoroughbred horse breeding farm founded by businessman E. P. Taylor in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The first stable and breeding operation of E. P. Taylor originated with a property near the city of Toronto known as Parkwood Stable when it was owned by...

, he was out of the mare Close Embrace, a daughter of Nentego who was a son of Never Say Die

Never Say Die (horse)

Never Say Die was a Thoroughbred racehorse foaled at Jonabell Farm in the United States and trained in Great Britain who won the Epsom Derby in 1954....

, winner of the 1954 Epsom Derby

Epsom Derby

The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...

 and St. Leger Stakes

St. Leger Stakes

The St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...

. Regal Embrace was sired by Vice Regent, a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame

Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 at the Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario to honor those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and thoroughbred horse racing in Canada....

 inductee and a son of Northern Dancer

Northern Dancer

Northern Dancer was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and the most successful sire of the 20th Century. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association calls him "one of the most influential sires in Thoroughbred history"....

 who is regarded as the 20th century’s best sire of sires. http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/stallion-directory/reference.aspx?doc=northerndancer

Regal Embrace did not race as a two-year-old. At age three in 1978, he was conditioned for racing by future Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer Mac Benson

Macdonald Benson

Macdonald "Mac" Benson is a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer. A resident of Woodbridge, Ontario, Benson came to Canada in 1978 to train for E. P. Taylor's renowned Windfields Farm...

 who had joined Windfields Farm that year. Ridden by another Hall of Fame inductee, Sandy Hawley

Sandy Hawley

Desmond Sanford "Sandy" Hawley, CM is a Hall of Fame jockey.Sandy Hawley started out as a plumber then later decided to be a jockey. He started his career as a jockey when he was a 17-year-old boy, hotwalking horses at a Toronto racetrack...

, Regal Embrace defeated the great Overskate

Overskate

Overskate was a Canadian Thoroughbred Champion Hall of Fame racehorse. Sired by Nodouble out of the dam Overstate who was a descendant of the great sire Princequillo as well as Man o' War, Overskate was foaled at his owner's farm in Port Elgin, Ontario.A small but versatile horse, Overskate raced...

 to win the 1978 Queen's Plate

Queen's Plate

The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...

, Canada's most prestigious race and North America's oldest annually run stakes race. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=n88yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DO4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3083,2825918&dq=regal+embrace&hl=en In winning, Regal Embrace equaled the stakes record set by Victoria Park

Victoria Park (horse)

Victoria Park was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. A grandson of American Triple Crown champion Gallant Fox, he was the first Canadian-bred horse to place in an American Triple Crown race...

 in 1960. http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/11/sports/horse-racing-regal-intention-romps.html
Standing at 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...

 in 1979, Regal Embrace eventually stood at Blue Sky Farms in New York State

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. As a sire, he met with modest success.