Wilko (horse)
Encyclopedia
Wilko is a Thoroughbred
racehorse
who competed in the United Kingdom
and in the United States
. Sired by Awesome Again
, winner of the 1998 Breeders' Cup Classic
, he was out of the mare
, Native Roots. His damsire was the British horse Indian Ridge, a sire of Breeders' Cup Mile
winners Domedriver
and Ridgewood Pearl
, the latter also voted the 1995 European Horse of the Year
. Bred by Rosendo Parra, Wilko was purchased by Mrs. Susan Roy at the September 2003 Keeneland Sales
for $75,000, an amount that in Thoroughbred racing is very small.
Susan Roy raced Wilko as a two-year-old in the United Kingdom
, where he won two races and had his best result in a stakes
race with a second place finish in the Vintage Stakes
to Shamardal
who would become that year's European Two-Year-Old Champion
. Wilko also ran third in the Superlative
, Royal Lodge
and Chesham Stakes
. At the beginning of October 2004, American businessman J. Paul Reddam
purchased a 75% interest in the colt and brought him to the United States
to run in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile
, held that year at Lone Star Park
in Grand Prairie, Texas
.
Racing on dirt for the first time in his career, Wilko was ridden by British jockey Frankie Dettori
in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. The field included the betting
favorite Roman Ruler, a son of Fusaichi Pegasus
who had won the Best Pal
and Norfolk Stakes, plus Afleet Alex
who had won the Sanford Stakes
and the Grade I Hopeful Stakes. Given little consideration by bettors, Wilko was sent off as a 28-1 long shot but ran the race of his life and came home a winner by a length over Afleet Alex. It would turn out to be the colt's last win but he proved to be a durable horse and in his next start, and the last of 2004, he ran third in the Hollywood Futurity
behind runner-up Giacomo
and winner Declan's Moon
who would be voted that year's American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt.
In 2005, Wilko made six starts without a win then in 2006 went winless again but finished a solid second to Electrocutionist
in the Dubai World Cup
. He returned to racing in 2007 but fared poorly and was retired in August. In September, Wilko was acquired by Frank Stronach's
Adena Springs breeding operation and will stand at stud
at their Ocala, Florida
facility where his sire Awesome Again is also located.
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 the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Sired by Awesome Again
Awesome Again
Awesome Again is an Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. Owned and bred by Frank Stronach of Newmarket, Ontario, Awesome Again was sired by Deputy Minister and out of the 2000 Broodmare of the Year Primal Force....
, winner of the 1998 Breeders' Cup Classic
Breeders' Cup Classic
The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 year olds and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships...
, he was 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...
, Native Roots. His damsire was the British horse Indian Ridge, a sire of Breeders' Cup Mile
Breeders' Cup Mile
The Breeders' Cup Mile is a Grade 1 Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up, run on a grass course. It has been conducted annually as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships since the event's inception in 1984...
winners Domedriver
Domedriver
Domedriver is a Thoroughbred racehorse owned and raced in France by the Stavros Niarchos family. Out of the mare, Napoli, his sire was Indian Ridge who also sired Breeders' Cup winner and 1995 European Horse of the Year, Ridgewood Pearl and Relaxed Gesture, winner of the $2 million Canadian...
and Ridgewood Pearl
Ridgewood Pearl
Ridgewood Pearl was an Irish-based Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1995 won four Group/Grade 1 races in four different countries including over male horses in the Breeders' Cup Mile at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York....
, the latter also voted the 1995 European Horse of the Year
European Horse of the Year
European Horse of the Year is an award in European Thoroughbred horse racing. Since 1991 the honor has been part of the Cartier Racing Awards. It is presented annually by Cartier SA to a horse of any age racing in Europe.-Honorees:...
. Bred by Rosendo Parra, Wilko was purchased by Mrs. Susan Roy at the September 2003 Keeneland Sales
Keeneland Sales
The Keeneland Sales is an American Thoroughbred auction house in Lexington, Kentucky founded in 1935 as a nonprofit racing/auction entity on 147 acres of farmland west of Lexington, which had been owned by Jack O. Keene...
for $75,000, an amount that in Thoroughbred racing is very small.
Susan Roy raced Wilko as a two-year-old in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where he won two races and had his best result in a stakes
Conditions races
Conditions races are horse races where the weights carried by the runners are laid down by the conditions attached to the race. Weights are allocated according to; the sex of the runners, with female runners carrying less weight than males; the age of the runners, with younger horses receiving...
race with a second place finish in the Vintage Stakes
Vintage Stakes
The Vintage Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 7 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late July or early August.-History:...
to Shamardal
Shamardal
Shamardal is a Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in the United Kingdom and in France and was voted the 2004 European Champion Two-Year-Old.-Background:...
who would become that year's European Two-Year-Old Champion
Cartier Racing Award
The Cartier Racing Awards are awards in European horse racing, founded in 1991, and sponsored by Cartier jewelers. The award winners are decided by points earned in group races plus the votes cast by British racing journalists and readers of the Racing Post and Daily Telegraph newspapers.Eight...
. Wilko also ran third in the Superlative
Superlative Stakes
The Superlative Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 7 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July.-History:...
, Royal Lodge
Royal Lodge Stakes
The Royal Lodge Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and geldings. It is run at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late September....
and Chesham Stakes
Chesham Stakes
The Chesham Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 7 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June.-History:...
. At the beginning of October 2004, American businessman J. Paul Reddam
J. Paul Reddam
John Paul Reddam B.A. M.A. Ph.D. is a former professor of philosophy at California State University, Los Angeles and a businessman and Thoroughbred racehorse owner.Known by his middle name, J...
purchased a 75% interest in the colt and brought him to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to run in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile
Breeders' Cup Juvenile
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships....
, held that year at Lone Star Park
Lone Star Park
Lone Star Park is a horse racing track located in Grand Prairie, Texas.-History:Lone Star Park opened in 1997. The track offers separate meets for Thoroughbred racing and Quarter Horse racing. In October 2002, Magna Entertainment Corp. , based in Aurora, Ontario, leased the facility and acquired...
in Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Ellis, and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas and is a part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Grand Prairie is a suburb of both Dallas and Fort Worth and had a population of 175,396 at the 2010 census.- History :The city of...
.
Racing on dirt for the first time in his career, Wilko was ridden by British jockey Frankie Dettori
Frankie Dettori
Lanfranco "Frankie" Dettori, MBE is an Italian horse racing jockey and celebrity. Dettori has been Champion Jockey on three occasions and has ridden the winners of more than 500 Group races.. He has had many successes in his role of stable jockey to Godolphin Racing...
in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. The field included the betting
Parimutuel betting
Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vig" is removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets...
favorite Roman Ruler, a son of Fusaichi Pegasus
Fusaichi Pegasus
Fusaichi Pegasus was purchased as a yearling for $4 million by Fusao Sekiguchi. His name is a combination of his owner's name, "Fusao," and the Japanese word for one, "ichi," to mean #1 or the best. The second half is the winged horse of Greek mythology. Fusaichi Pegasus won the Kentucky Derby...
who had won the Best Pal
Best Pal Stakes
The Best Pal Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The race is open to horses, age two, that are willing to race six and one-half furlongs on Polytrack. A Grade II event, it carries a purse of $150,000.Inaugurated in 1967 as the...
and Norfolk Stakes, plus Afleet Alex
Afleet Alex
Afleet Alex is an American thoroughbred race horse who, in 2005, won two of America's classic races, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes...
who had won the Sanford Stakes
Sanford Stakes
The Sanford Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the third week of July at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. A six furlong sprint race, the Grade II event is open to two-year-old horses....
and the Grade I Hopeful Stakes. Given little consideration by bettors, Wilko was sent off as a 28-1 long shot but ran the race of his life and came home a winner by a length over Afleet Alex. It would turn out to be the colt's last win but he proved to be a durable horse and in his next start, and the last of 2004, he ran third in the Hollywood Futurity
Hollywood Futurity
The Hollywood Futurity is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually since 1981 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. The Grade I race is open to two-year-old horses and run over a distance of 1 1/16 miles...
behind runner-up Giacomo
Giacomo
Giacomo is a Thoroughbred stallion race horse trained by John Shirreffs who is perhaps best known for winning the 2005 Kentucky Derby in 2:02.75...
and winner Declan's Moon
Declan's Moon
Declan's Moon is a retired American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred by Brice Ridgely. Jay Em Ess Stable purchased Declan's Moon for $125,000 at the 2003 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic September yearling sale....
who would be voted that year's American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt.
In 2005, Wilko made six starts without a win then in 2006 went winless again but finished a solid second to Electrocutionist
Electrocutionist
Electrocutionist was a Thoroughbred racehorse. Electrocutionist won eight of his 12 career starts, including three Grade I's, and won more than $5.6 million. Racing four times for the operation based in both Dubai and Newmarket, he was scheduled to participate in the Emirates Airline Champion...
in the Dubai World Cup
Dubai World Cup
The Dubai World Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 and from 2010 at the Meydan Racecourse in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates...
. He returned to racing in 2007 but fared poorly and was retired in August. In September, Wilko was acquired by Frank Stronach's
Frank Stronach
Frank Stronach, CM is an Austrian-Canadian businessman. He is the founder of Magna International, an international automotive parts company based in Aurora, Ontario, Canada, and Magna Entertainment Corp., which specializes in horse-racing entertainment...
Adena Springs breeding operation and will stand at stud
Horse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...
at their Ocala, Florida
Ocala, Florida
Ocala is a city in Marion County, Florida. As of 2007, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 53,491. It is the county seat of Marion County, and the principal city of the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated 2007 population of 324,857.-History:Ocala...
facility where his sire Awesome Again is also located.