Horse Chestnut (horse)

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Horse Chestnut
Sire	Fort Wood
Grandsire	Sadler's Wells
Dam	London Wall
Damsire	Col Pickering
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1995
Country	South Africa
Colour	Chestnut
Breeder	Harry F. Oppenheimer
Owner	Harry and Bridget Oppenheimer
Trainer	Michael de Kock
Record	10: 9-0-1
Earnings	$474,036
Major Racing Wins, Awards and Honours
Major Racing Wins
J&B Metropolitan Stakes (1999) South African Derby (1999) South African Classic (1999)
Racing Awards
South African Horse of the Year (1999)
Infobox last updated on: April 11, 2007.

Horse Chestnut (foaled August 19, 1995) is a champion thoroughbred racehorse bred in South Africa by Harry F. Oppenheimer at his Mauritzfontein Stud in Kimberley. Sired by Fort Wood who, as of 2007, has sired ten Group One winners, including Dynasty, the 2003 South African Horse of the Year. Fort Wood is a son of the British champion sire, Sadler's Wells.

Horse Chestnut was raced by Oppenheimer and his wife, Bridget. The colt won the South African Triple Crown and was awarded both the Equus Award for Horse of the Year and Champion 3-year-old Colt at three. He ran 10 races, winning 9 and being placed 3rd once. Some notable wins include the Group One J&B Metropolitan Stakes over 2000m by 8¼ lengths, the Group I South African Derby over 2450m by 10 lengths and the Group I South African Classic over 1800m by 4 lengths.

Sent to race in the United States, he won the Grade III Skip Away Handicap at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida over 1700m by 5-and-a-half lengths. During his preparation for the Group I Donn Handicap, Horse Chestnut fractured a piece of his splint bone on his near-foreleg, resulting in his early retirement from racing. The Oppenheimer's subsequently sold the majority of shares in Horse Chestnut to Seth Hancock's Claiborne Farm in Kentucky where he went to stud.

At stud, some of Horse Chestnut's most notable offspring include Lucifer's Stone, Spanish Chestnut, Smart Enough and Fete.

[edit] References

• Horse Chestnut: The Story of a Legend by Mike de Kock (paperback)
• http://www.stallionregister.com/sr_sire_page.asp?refno=4469455
• http://www.claibornefarm.com/stallions/horse-chestnut.shtml
• http://www.aro.co.za/aroHorseProfiles/HORSE%20CHESTNUTSAF1995.htm
• http://www.aro.co.za/Source/demo/Pedigrees/HorseChestnut.htm
• http://www.aro.co.za/Source/demo/Race/HorseChestnut.htm
• http://www.aro.co.za/hchestnutequibaseart.htm
• http://www.mikedekockracing.com/Default.aspx?tabid=35
• http://www.racingsouthafrica.com/SASuccess.htm
• http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/stallion-directory/stallion.aspx?stallion_no=4469455
• Horse Chestnut's pedigree and partial racing stats