Hold That Tiger (horse)
Encyclopedia
Hold That Tiger is a retired 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 and active sire who was bred in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and trained 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...

. He is best known for winning the 2002 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère and being named European Champion Two-Year-Old at the Cartier Racing Awards.

Background

Hold That Tiger, is a dark-coated "liver" chestnut, bred in Kentucky by Ten Broeck Farm Inc. He was sired by the two-time American Champion sire
Leading sire in North America
The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won by the sire's progeny during the year...

 Storm Cat out of Beware of the Cat, making him a half-brother to the Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...

 winner Editor's Note
Editor's Note
Editor's Note is an American thoroughbred Stallion racehorse. He was sired by 1992 U.S. Champion 2 YO Colt Forty Niner, who in turn was a son of Champion sire Mr. Prospector and out of the mare, Beware Of The Cat.Trained by D...

 and a close relative of the Hopeful Stakes winner Hennessy. He was sent as a weanling
Weanling
A weanling is an animal that has just been weaned. The term is usually used to refer to a type of young horse, a foal that has been weaned, usually between the ages of 6 months and a year. Once a year old, the horse is referred to as a yearling.-References:...

 to the Keeneland November Sale
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...

 where he was sold for $1,100,000 to the Irish bloodstock agent Dermot "Demi" O'Byrne, acting on behalf of Michael Tabor
Michael Tabor
Michael B. Tabor is a businessman and owner of Thoroughbred racehorses.-Thoroughbred racing career:...

. He was sent to Ireland and went into training with Aidan O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan Patrick O'Brien is an Irish horse racing trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables near Cashel in County Tipperary for John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud associates....

 at Ballydoyle
Ballydoyle
Ballydoyle is a racehorse training facility located in County Tipperary in Ireland. It is a sister thoroughbred facility to Coolmore Stud, and both are owned by John Magnier...

.

2002:two-year-old season

Hold That Tiger began his career in June 2002 by winning a maiden race at Leopardstown
Leopardstown Racecourse
Leopardstown Racecourse is an Irish horse-racing venue. Like the majority of Irish courses, it hosts both National Hunt and Flat racing. Located in Leopardstown, County Dublin, 8km south of the Dublin city centre. The course was built by Captain George Quin and modeled on Sandown Park Racecourse...

 by two lengths as 6-4 favourite. He was immediately moved up to Group race class in the Railway Stakes at the Curragh two weeks later, where he defeated the Coventry Stakes
Coventry Stakes
The Coventry Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June....

 runner-up Pakhoes by a neck. Immediately after the race he was offered at odds of 14-1 for the following year's 2000 Guineas.

In August there was an outbreak of coughing amongst the Ballydoyle horses, but Hold That Tiger was nevertheless made 11-10 favourite for the Group One Phoenix Stakes
Phoenix Stakes
The Phoenix Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July or August.-History:...

, only to finish last of the nine runners, showing clear signs of "respiratory distress". He took time to recover and did not re-appear for almost two months.

At Longchamp on Arc
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...

 day Hold That Tiger was part of a four-horse O'Brien entry in the Grand Critérium (since re-named the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère). He started slowly and entered the straight last of the fourteen runners, but then moved to the outside and accelerated past the entire field to win by half a length from the previously undefeated Italian colt Le Vie Dei Colori, with the future Eclipse Award
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...

 winner Intercontinental
Intercontinental (horse)
Intercontinental is a Thoroughbred Champion filly racehorse who competed in England, France, and the United States.Bred and raced by Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms, she was sired by Danehill, a multiple Champion sire in England, Ireland, and France and the most successful sire in the history of...

 in third. It was a performance that was compared by one commentator to that of Dancing Brave
Dancing Brave
Dancing Brave was a thoroughbred racehorse, foaled in 1983, a bay colt sired by Lyphard out of Navajo Princess. He was purchased as a yearling by Khalid Abdullah for US$200,000 in Kentucky....

 in the 1986 Arc
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...

.

Although Hold That Tiger, who by now was regarded as the best of O'Brien's many good two-year-old colts, was entered in the Racing Post Trophy
Racing Post Trophy
The Racing Post Trophy is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late October....

, his trainer had more ambitious plans. On his final start of the year, Hold That Tiger traveled to Arlington Park
Arlington Park
Arlington Park is a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago region has been a popular sport since the early days of the city in the 1830s, and at one time Chicago had more horse racing tracks than any other major metropolitan area...

, Chicago to challenge for 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....

, a race which O'Brien had won a year previously with Johannesburg
Johannesburg (horse)
Johannesburg is a Kentucky-bred United States and European Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was trained by Aidan O'Brien at Ballydoyle, and now stands at stud at Ashford Stud near Versailles, Kentucky, the American arm of the giant Irish breeder Coolmore Stud...

. He broke slowly again and spent most of the race towards the back of the field, but then moved up quickly on the outside and stayed on to take third place behind Vindication
Vindication (horse)
Vindication was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. Bred by Payson Stud Inc., he was sired by 1977 U.S. Triple Crown Champion Seattle Slew...

. O'Brien observed that, "he flew home and could be a (Kentucky) Derby horse."

2003:three-year-old season

In early spring, O'Brien did seem to be considering a bid for the Kentucky Derby, but Hold That Tiger was instead sent straight for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, for which he was made 4-1 favourite. He made no show, finishing seventeenth of the twenty runners behind Refuse To Bend
Refuse To Bend
Refuse To Bend is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse. He was owned by Swiss businessman Walter Haefner and was bred at his Moyglare Stud Farm near the town of Maynooth, County Kildare, in Ireland...

. At Royal Ascot he finished fourth in the St. James's Palace Stakes
St. James's Palace Stakes
The St. James's Palace Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June....

, but had excuses, having been unable to find space for a clear run when traveling well.. He was well beaten behind Falbrav
Falbrav
Falbrav is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire, bred in Ireland but trained in Italy and the United Kingdom during his racing career which ran from 2000 to 2004...

 in the Eclipse Stakes
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...

 before being campaigned again in North America.

In September at Belmont Park
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...

 he produced his best performance of the year by finishing second to the American Horse of the Year Mineshaft
Mineshaft (horse)
Mineshaft was a multi-millionaire American thoroughbred racehorse and successful stallion. He was sired by 1992 U.S. Horse of the Year and U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee A.P. Indy, who in turn was a son of 1977 U.S. Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. His dam, Prospectors Delite, is by the...

 in the Woodward Stakes
Woodward Stakes
The Woodward Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race and is one of the premier races for older thoroughbred horses in the United States. Named for prominent racehorse owner, George Nicholas Woodward, it is run at 1⅛ miles on the dirt for a purse of $750,000.The Woodward was run as a handicap in...

. His jockey, Edgar Prado was impressed, saying that "he wins the Woodward any other year". Hold That Tiger was retired after finishing fifth of the ten runners behind Pleasantly Perfect
Pleasantly Perfect
Pleasantly Perfect is a Thoroughbred racehorse who retired as the fourth richest American horse in career earnings. A son of Pleasant Colony, winner of the 1981 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, he was out of the mare Regal State who won the 1985 Group One Prix Morny in France. His damsire was...

 in the 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...

.

Race record

Date Race Dist (f) Course Class Prize (£K) Odds Runners Placing Margin Time Jockey Trainer
EBF Maiden 6 Leopardstown
Leopardstown Racecourse
Leopardstown Racecourse is an Irish horse-racing venue. Like the majority of Irish courses, it hosts both National Hunt and Flat racing. Located in Leopardstown, County Dublin, 8km south of the Dublin city centre. The course was built by Captain George Quin and modeled on Sandown Park Racecourse...

M 7 6/4 9 1 2 1:20.40 Michael Kinane
Michael Kinane
Michael J. Kinane is a former flat racing jockey. He had a 34-year career, retiring on 8 December 2009....

Aidan O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan Patrick O'Brien is an Irish horse racing trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables near Cashel in County Tipperary for John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud associates....

Railway Stakes
Railway Stakes
Railway Stakes may refer to:*Railway Stakes , a horse race held at Ascot Racecourse in Australia*Railway Stakes , a horse race held at the Curragh in Ireland...

6 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 :...

3 39 5/4 4 1 Neck 1:17.00 Michael Kinane
Michael Kinane
Michael J. Kinane is a former flat racing jockey. He had a 34-year career, retiring on 8 December 2009....

Aidan O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan Patrick O'Brien is an Irish horse racing trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables near Cashel in County Tipperary for John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud associates....

Phoenix Stakes
Phoenix Stakes
The Phoenix Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July or August.-History:...

6 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 :...

1 104 11/10 9 9 11 1:15.10 Michael Kinane
Michael Kinane
Michael J. Kinane is a former flat racing jockey. He had a 34-year career, retiring on 8 December 2009....

Aidan O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan Patrick O'Brien is an Irish horse racing trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables near Cashel in County Tipperary for John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud associates....

Grand Criterium
Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère
The Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early October.It is the oldest and most prestigious race in France...

7 Longchamp 1 122 7/2 14 1 0.5 1:20.10 Kieren Fallon
Kieren Fallon
Kieren Francis Fallon is a professional flat racing jockey and has been British Champion Jockey six times....

Aidan O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan Patrick O'Brien is an Irish horse racing trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables near Cashel in County Tipperary for John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud associates....

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....

9 Arlington Park
Arlington Park
Arlington Park is a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago region has been a popular sport since the early days of the city in the 1830s, and at one time Chicago had more horse racing tracks than any other major metropolitan area...

1 381 11/2 14 3 5 1:49.61 Kieren Fallon
Kieren Fallon
Kieren Francis Fallon is a professional flat racing jockey and has been British Champion Jockey six times....

Aidan O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan Patrick O'Brien is an Irish horse racing trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables near Cashel in County Tipperary for John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud associates....

2,000 Guineas 8 Newmarket- Rowley Mile
Newmarket Racecourse
The town of Newmarket, in Suffolk, England, is the headquarters of British horseracing, home to the largest cluster of training yards in the country and many key horse racing organisations. Newmarket Racecourse has two courses - the Rowley Mile Course and the July Course. Both are wide, galloping...

1 185 4/1 20 17 10.5 1:37.98 Michael Kinane
Michael Kinane
Michael J. Kinane is a former flat racing jockey. He had a 34-year career, retiring on 8 December 2009....

Aidan O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan Patrick O'Brien is an Irish horse racing trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables near Cashel in County Tipperary for John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud associates....

St. James's Palace Stakes
St. James's Palace Stakes
The St. James's Palace Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June....

8 Ascot
Ascot Racecourse
Ascot Racecourse is a famous English racecourse, located in the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 32 annual Group 1 races...

1 156 9/1 11 4 4.5 1:39.92 Kieren Fallon
Kieren Fallon
Kieren Francis Fallon is a professional flat racing jockey and has been British Champion Jockey six times....

Aidan O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan Patrick O'Brien is an Irish horse racing trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables near Cashel in County Tipperary for John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud associates....

Eclipse Stakes
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...

10 Sandown Park 1 214 10/1 15 9 6.5 2:05.59 Michael Kinane
Michael Kinane
Michael J. Kinane is a former flat racing jockey. He had a 34-year career, retiring on 8 December 2009....

Aidan O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan Patrick O'Brien is an Irish horse racing trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables near Cashel in County Tipperary for John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud associates....

Woodward Stakes
Woodward Stakes
The Woodward Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race and is one of the premier races for older thoroughbred horses in the United States. Named for prominent racehorse owner, George Nicholas Woodward, it is run at 1⅛ miles on the dirt for a purse of $750,000.The Woodward was run as a handicap in...

9 Belmont Park
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...

1 187 17/2 5 2 4.25 1:46.21 Edgar Prado Aidan O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan Patrick O'Brien is an Irish horse racing trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables near Cashel in County Tipperary for John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud associates....

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...

10 Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring. With its backdrop of the purple San Gabriel Mountains, it is considered by many as the world's most beautiful race...

1 1300 5/1 10 5 7.5 1:59.88 Edgar Prado Aidan O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan Patrick O'Brien is an Irish horse racing trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables near Cashel in County Tipperary for John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud associates....


Assessment

Although he was named Champion Two-Year-Old Colt in the Cartier Racing Awards, Hold That Tiger was rated at 117 in the 2002 International Classification, making him only the seventh best colt of the year.

He was more highly-regarded in North America, where his rating of 119 placed him fourth in the Experimental Free Handicap.

At three he was rated at 115 by the International Classification.

Stud career

Hold That Tiger first stood as a stallion at the Ashford Stud
Ashford Stud
Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky is the American arm of the international commercial Thoroughbred horse breeding operation Coolmore Stud of County Tipperary in the Republic of Ireland.Twelve stallions will stand at Ashford Stud in 2011....

 in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 before being sold to the Swettenham Stud in 2010. He now operates as a "shuttle" stallion, standing at the Haras de la Haie Neuve in France for the first part of the year, before transferring to the Swettenham Stud's base in Nagambie, Victoria
Nagambie, Victoria
Nagambie is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Goulburn Valley Highway, north of Seymour, in the Shire of Strathbogie. At the 2006 census, Nagambie had a population of 1,383.-History:...

 for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season. He has had some success as a stallion, notably as the sire of the Eclipse Award
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...

 nominee Smiling Tiger.

Pedigree

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