Bago (horse)
Encyclopedia
Bago
Bago (born February 3, 2001 in France
) was the Europe
an Three-Year-Old Champion Thoroughbred
race horse in 2004. Bred by the Niarchos family, Bago is best known for winning the 2004 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
amongst his five Group One
successes.
Bago's dam Moonlight's Box, a daughter of the Champion Sire Nureyev
, who also sired Miesque
the dual Breeders' Cup
winner, she in turn is out of Group 1 winning Coup de Genie a full sister to Machiavellian. Bago's sire Nashwan
a horse who in 1989 achieved that which no other horse has yet achieved, winning the 2,000 Guineas, the Epsom Derby
, the Eclipse
and the King George VI in one season.
Trained by Chantilly
based Englishman Jonathan Pease
, also renowned for being the mentor of many top class horses including Tikkanen, Spinning World
, Act One etc, Bago was ridden during his entire career by top French jockey Thierry Gillet
. Bago won all four starts as a two-year-old, including the Critérium International
by six lengths.
Sadly for Bago, in 2004 he was hit by a virus that kept him off the track all spring and took him out of contention for the spring classics, however his return to Chantilly saw him win the Prix Jean Prat
over nine furlongs, then to Longchamp
for the Grand Prix de Paris
. Following a third place finish to another Niarchos family bred Prix du Jockey Club
winner Sulamani
at York
in the Juddmonte International
he ended his three year old career in brilliant style with his thrilling win in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
. In an amazing run, Bago stormed past his rivals in the home straight and beat Cherry Mix on the finishing line. This led to Bago being voted Cartier Three-Year-Old Champion Colt
and earning the comment from this trainer, Jonathan Pease, that he 'was the best horse that he had ever trained'.
In 2005 Bago only achieved one win out of his seven starts, however all his races were at the very highest level; they included racing in Ireland
, Great Britain
, the United States
and Japan
, as well as 3rd in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
, a 2nd in the Tattersalls Gold Cup
at the Curragh
and a 3rd in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Newbury
, 4th in the Breeders' Cup Turf
at Belmont
. In the Japan Cup
he received a severe cut and the right hind shoe was torn off during the race which explained his first performance ever out of the first four in a total of 16 race career starts. Bago was tough and consistent at the top level of international racing and capable of an impressive turn of foot, which is unique to top class thoroughbreds like him.
Bago has been retired from racing and will start his first season at stud in Japan
in 2006.
Bago (born February 3, 2001 in France
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...
) was the Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an Three-Year-Old Champion 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...
race horse in 2004. Bred by the Niarchos family, Bago is best known for winning the 2004 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year, usually on the first Sunday in October.Popularly referred to as the...
amongst his five Group One
Group One
Group One or Group 1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. Group One races may be run under handicap conditions in Australia but in Europe weight-for-age conditions always apply. Races may be also restricted to age groups or a...
successes.
Bago's dam Moonlight's Box, a daughter of the Champion Sire Nureyev
Nureyev (horse)
Nureyev was a Kentucky-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and champion sire. As a racehorse he was best known as the disqualified "winner" of the 2000 Guineas in 1980.-Background:...
, who also sired Miesque
Miesque
Miesque was a champion Thoroughbred racemare, best known as the first horse to win two consecutive Breeders' Cups and racing awards in Europe and America. She was a Group one winner at two, three and four-years-old, for a total of 10 G1 wins. She produced five stakes winners.-Breeding:Miesque was...
the dual Breeders' Cup
Breeders' Cup
The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Thoroughbred horse races, most but not all Grade I, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, it expanded to two days. The location...
winner, she in turn is out of Group 1 winning Coup de Genie a full sister to Machiavellian. Bago's sire Nashwan
Nashwan
Nashwan was a thoroughbred racehorse bred and owned by Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum.The chestnut colt was sired by the 1977 Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Blushing Groom out of Height of Fashion, a daughter of Bustino previously owned by Queen Elizabeth II. He was a thus half-brother to the Group...
a horse who in 1989 achieved that which no other horse has yet achieved, winning the 2,000 Guineas, the 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...
, the Eclipse
Eclipse Stakes
The Eclipse Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 7 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early July.-History:The event is named after Eclipse, a...
and the King George VI in one season.
Trained by Chantilly
Chantilly, Oise
Chantilly is a small city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune in the department of Oise.It is in the metropolitan area of Paris 38.4 km...
based Englishman Jonathan Pease
Jonathan E. Pease
Jonathan Edward Pease is a member of the area's prominent Pease family and a Thoroughbred racehorse trainer....
, also renowned for being the mentor of many top class horses including Tikkanen, Spinning World
Spinning World
Spinning World is a French thoroughbred racehorse who was one of the top European milers during the 1990s.After winning the 1996 Irish 2,000 Guineas at The Curragh in Ireland, and the Prix Jacques Le Marois at Deauville Racecourse in France, Spinning World finished second to Da Hoss in the...
, Act One etc, Bago was ridden during his entire career by top French jockey Thierry Gillet
Thierry Gillet
Thierry Gillet is a top French jockey who won the 2004 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe aboard Bago, a thoroughbred race horse he has ridden in 14 of his career starts. In April 2009, at age 39, Gillet announced his retirement from racing, citing recurring weight problems...
. Bago won all four starts as a two-year-old, including the Critérium International
Critérium International (horse race)
The Critérium International is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Saint-Cloud over a distance of 1,600 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late October or early November.-History:The event was introduced...
by six lengths.
Sadly for Bago, in 2004 he was hit by a virus that kept him off the track all spring and took him out of contention for the spring classics, however his return to Chantilly saw him win the Prix Jean Prat
Prix Jean Prat
The Prix Jean Prat is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 1,600 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early July.-History:...
over nine furlongs, then to Longchamp
Hippodrome de Longchamp
The Longchamp Racecourse is a 57 hectare horse-racing facility located on the Route des Tribunes in the Bois de Boulogne at Paris, France. Built on the banks of the Seine River, it is used for flat racing and is noted for its variety of interlaced tracks and a famous hill that provides a real...
for the Grand Prix de Paris
Grand Prix de Paris
The Grand Prix de Paris is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July.-History:...
. Following a third place finish to another Niarchos family bred Prix du Jockey Club
Prix du Jockey Club
The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
winner Sulamani
Sulamani
Sulamani is an Irish-bred Thoroughbred race horse who competed and won in Dubai, Europe and North America.A great-grandson of English Triple Crown champion, Nijinsky, he made his racing debut in April 2002 at age three and finished seventh. Racing in France, he went on to win the prestigious Prix...
at York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
in the Juddmonte International
International Stakes
The International Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 88 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in August....
he ended his three year old career in brilliant style with his thrilling win in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year, usually on the first Sunday in October.Popularly referred to as the...
. In an amazing run, Bago stormed past his rivals in the home straight and beat Cherry Mix on the finishing line. This led to Bago being voted Cartier Three-Year-Old Champion Colt
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...
and earning the comment from this trainer, Jonathan Pease, that he 'was the best horse that he had ever trained'.
In 2005 Bago only achieved one win out of his seven starts, however all his races were at the very highest level; they included racing in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, as well as 3rd in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year, usually on the first Sunday in October.Popularly referred to as the...
, a 2nd in the Tattersalls Gold Cup
Tattersalls Gold Cup
The Tattersalls Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 110 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in May....
at the Curragh
Curragh Racecourse
The Curragh Racecourse, usually abbreviated to The Curragh, is Ireland's most important Thoroughbred race track. It is situated on the Curragh plain near Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland.- History :...
and a 3rd in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Newbury
Newbury Racecourse
Newbury Racecourse is a racecourse in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England. It has courses for flat races and over jumps...
, 4th in the Breeders' Cup Turf
Breeders' Cup Turf
The Breeders' Cup Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for three-year-olds and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The race's current title sponsor is Emirates Airlines.The forerunner...
at Belmont
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...
. In the Japan Cup
Japan Cup
The is the most prestigious horse race run in Japan. It is contested at the end of November at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters over the grass. With a purse of ¥476 million , the Japan Cup is one of the richest races in the world.The Japan Cup is an invitational event...
he received a severe cut and the right hind shoe was torn off during the race which explained his first performance ever out of the first four in a total of 16 race career starts. Bago was tough and consistent at the top level of international racing and capable of an impressive turn of foot, which is unique to top class thoroughbreds like him.
Bago has been retired from racing and will start his first season at stud in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in 2006.