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Sassafras was an
FrenchThe 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...
Champion
ThoroughbredThe 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...
racehorseHorse 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...
.
Owned by Arpad Plesch he was trained by Francois Mathet and ridden in most of his races by
Yves Saint-MartinYves Saint-Martin is a retired champion jockey in French Thoroughbred horse racing. He is widely considered one of the greatest riders in French racing history....
. He was the champion 3-year-old colt in France, 1970. Sassafrás won six races out of 11 starts: the Prix de la Bresbe, the Prix Androcles, the
Prix La ForceThe Prix La Force is a Group 3 flat horse race in France which is open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,100 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in April.-History:...
, the
Prix Royal-OakThe Prix Royal-Oak 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 3,100 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late October.-History:The event was established in 1861, and it was initially...
, the
Prix de l'Arc de TriompheThe 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...
(Fr-I), and the
Prix du Jockey ClubThe 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...
(French Derby) (Fr-I).
He also took 2nd Place in the Prix Lagrange and 3rd Place in the
Prix LupinThe Prix Lupin was a Group 1 flat horse race in France which was open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It was run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,100 metres , and it was scheduled to take place each year in May....
. He sensationally upset the great
English Triple CrownThe 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
NijinskyThe 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...
to win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe by a rapidly narrowing head in 1970.
Sent initially to the Ballylinch Stud at Thomastown in County Kilkenny, Ireland, Sassafras was the sire of the winners over 72 races. Sassafras sired Galway Bay who was a stakes winner in Great Britain and Australia before becoming the sire of stakes winnrs. He was then exported to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for
studHorse 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...
duty.
Sassafras died in 1988 and is buried at Pillar Stud in
Lexington, KentuckyLexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
.