Royal Chocolate 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 and raced by Jack Stafford's Stafford Farms of King City

King City, Ontario

King City is an affluent, unincorporated village in King Township, Ontario, Canada, located just north of Toronto. It is the largest community in King Township, with 1,629 dwellings and a population of 4,902.-History:...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, he was out of the mare Rocket Shot, a granddaughter of the influential sire, Princequillo

Princequillo

Princequillo was a Thoroughbred racehorse conceived in France and born in Ireland. He is known for his performances in long-distance races and his successes as a sire.-Background:...

 who was a seven-time Leading broodmare sire in North America

Leading broodmare sire in North America

The list below shows the leading Thoroughbred sire of broodmares in North America for each year since 1924. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won during the year by racehorses which were foaled by a daughter of the sire.-----References:* *...

. Royal Chocolate was sired by Amber Morn whose French sire Ambiorix

Ambiorix (horse)

Ambiorix was a French Champion Two-Year-Old Thoroughbred racehorse who became a leading sire.-Pedigree:...

 stood at Claiborne Farm

Claiborne Farm

Claiborne Farm is a thoroughbred Horse breeding operation in near Paris, Kentucky. It was established in 1910, by Arthur B. Hancock, owner of Ellerslie Farm in Albemarle County, Virginia, and has been operated by members of his family ever since.-Owners:...

 and who was a son of the important three-time French

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...

  Champion sire

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:*...

, Tourbillon

Tourbillon (horse)

Tourbillon was an French Thoroughbred racehorse and Champion sire. He was bred and raced by one of France's most prominent horsemen, Marcel Boussac...

.

Royal Chocolate was conditioned for racing by future by Canadian 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....

 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...

, Gil Rowntree

Gil Rowntree

Gil H. Rowntree is a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer and owner.One of the most successful trainers in Canadian Thoroughbred racing history, Rowntree embarked on his racing career as a jockey in his native Toronto, riding from 1949 through 1951...

. During his career, he competed at distances from five to fourteen furlongs but is best known for winning Canada's most prestigious race in 1973, the mile and a quarter (10 furlongs) 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...

. In the ensuing second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown series, he ran third to stablemate Tara Road in the Prince of Wales Stakes

Prince of Wales Stakes

The Prince of Wales Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Fort Erie Race Track in Fort Erie, Ontario. Restricted to three-year-old horses bred in Canada, it is contested on dirt over a distance of a mile and three sixteenths . In 1959, the Prince of Wales Stakes became the...

 on the turf

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

 at Fort Erie Racetrack

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 after a successful 1976 racing season, as a sire Royal Chocolate met with reasonable success. Among his offspring, Gone To Royalty was a multiple stakes winner. His last foals were born in 1994.