Thornfield is 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...

 Champion

Sovereign Award

The Sovereign Award is given annually since 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada to the outstanding horses and people in Canadian Thoroughbred racing.The most prestigious award for horses is Sovereign Horse of the Year....

 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...

. Regally bred by Steve Stavro's

Steve Stavro

Steve Atanas Stavro, CM , born Manoli Stavroff Sholdas, was a Macedonian Canadian businessman, grocery store magnate, Thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder, sports team owner, and a noted philanthropist....

 Knob Hill Farm, he was sired by Eclipse

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...

 and Sovereign Award

Sovereign Award

The Sovereign Award is given annually since 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada to the outstanding horses and people in Canadian Thoroughbred racing.The most prestigious award for horses is Sovereign Horse of the Year....

 and 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 Sky Classic

Sky Classic

Sky Classic is a Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. A son of U.K. Triple Crown champion Nijinsky, in 1989 Sky Classic won the Sovereign Award for Champion 2-Year-Old Male Horse in Canada but injuries kept him out for the most of the 1990 racing season.Back racing on grass in 1991, Sky...

, a son of the English Triple Crown

Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing

The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...

 winner, Nijinsky

Nijinsky II

The racehorse Nijinsky was one of the greatest horses in Thoroughbred horse-racing history. He won the U.K. Triple Crown of racing. Retired to stud he became the Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland and the Leading broodmare sire in North America.He was bred at E. P...

. Thornfield's dam was Alexandrina, a daughter of 1982 American Horse of the Year, Conquistador Cielo

Conquistador Cielo

Conquistador Cielo was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Purchased as a yearling for $150,000 by Henryk de Kwiatkowski, he was trained by Woody Stephens. Racing as a two-year-old, Conquistador Cielo won two races in his four starts...

.

In 1999, under trainer Phil England, five-year-old Thornfield won the Grade 2 Niagara Breeders' Cup Handicap. Ridden by Richard Dos Ramos

Richard Dos Ramos

Richard Anthony Dos Ramos is a Canadian jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. He grew up in Malton, Ontario where his family emigrated when he was young...

, they then won the $1.5 million Canadian International

Canadian International Stakes

The Canadian International Stakes is a $2 million Grade I Canadian stakes race on Turf for thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and up held annually in October at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario....

 as the longest shot in the field. http://horseracing.about.com/library/weekly/aa101799.htm The win made Thornfield the first winner sired by an International winner. His 1999 performances earned him Canadian Horse of the Year and Canadian Champion Male Turf Horse

Sovereign Award for Champion Male Turf Horse

The Canadian Champion Male Turf Horse is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing honor that is part of the Sovereign Awards program awarded annually to the top 2-Year-Old male Thoroughbred horse competing in Canada...

 honors. http://www.jockeyclubcanada.com/previous.html

Retired from racing, the gelding

Gelding

A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. Castration, and the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday...

 Thornfield now resides at Old Friends Equine

Old Friends Equine

Old Friends is a nonprofit equine retirement facility in Georgetown, Kentucky. It is the only thoroughbred retirement facility in the United States that accepts stallions....

 in Georgetown, Kentucky

Georgetown, Kentucky

Georgetown is a city in Scott County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 29,098 at the 2010 census. The original settlement of Lebanon, founded by Rev. Elijah Craig, was renamed in 1790 in honor of President George Washington. It is the home of Georgetown College, a private liberal arts...

. http://oldfriendsblog.wordpress.com/