Highland Reel

BRED ON THE Galileo-Danehill cross that has produced 15 Group 1 winners, including leading sires Frankel and Teofilo, Highland Reel has a stallion’s pedigree. His dam Hveger was third in the Group 1 Australasian Oaks and is a fullsister to Australian champion Elvstroem, who won five Group 1 races and was Group 1 placed in the northern-hemisphere.

Their half-brother Haradasun was a champion in Australia and Europe winning the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes in the northern-hemisphere and the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes and Doncaster Handicap in the southern. His second dam was also a champion – the Group 1 AJC Oaks winner Circles Of Gold, a halfsister to the second dam of Starspangledbanner.

Highland Reel’s younger full-brother Cape Of Good Hope won the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes last year, while another full-brother Idaho was successful in Royal Ascot’s Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes and the Great Voltiguer (G2) and Group 1 placed.

Highland Reel raced 27 times over five seasons, becoming the highest-earning European-trained racehorse of all time.

He ran three times as a two-year-old, winning his maiden over a mile before dropping down to 7f for the Group 2 Vintage Stakes.

The following May he took in the French Classics and finished second to New Bay in the Group 1 Prix du Jockey-Club.

Victory in the Group 3 Gordon Stakes set him back on a winning path and led to victory in the Group 1 Secretariat Stakes.

Highland Reel headed to Australia for the 1m2f Group 1 Cox Plate, a race in which he finished third to Winx, and made a stopover in Hong Kong adding a second Group 1 success in the Hong Kong Vase. His passport earned stamps in Hong Kong, Dubai, France and America as a four-year-old and his Group 1 victories came in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Turf. He was second to Found in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly, in which Aidan O’Brien saddled, and Galileo sired, the first three home.

His passport earned stamps in Hong Kong, Dubai, France and America as a four-year-old and his Group 1 victories came in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Turf. He was second to Found in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly, in which Aidan O’Brien saddled, and Galileo sired, the first three home.

At five, Highland Reel added the Group 1 Coronation Cup to the list and followed that with victory in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (G1). He was third to Cracksman in the Champion Stakes and filled the same position behind Talismanic in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, but gained his revenge in a triumphant return to Sha Tin for the Hong Kong Vase.

Highland Reel won ten races, nine Group contests with seven Group 1 triumphs and he finished in the first four in nine more Group 1 races.

He covered 163 mares in 2018 with support from Coolmore and breeders such as Kirsten Rausing, Cheveley Park and Knocktoran Stud.

Amongst them was Clodovina, a Rock Of Gibraltar three-parts sister to Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains winner and sire Clodovil. The Listed-placed mare has a yearling filly from Highland Reel’s first crop.

Flawless Beauty, a half-sister to Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) winner Wrote, produced a filly, while La Divina, a full-sister to champion Islington, Group 1 winner Greek Dance, Group 3 winner New Morning and a half-sister to Group 1 winner Mountain High, has a yearling colt.

Racing Form

27 runs, ten wins, 11 places | Best Timeform Rating: 129 | Average winning distance: 10.70f

Stakes form

AT 2 Won Veuve Clicquot Vintage Stakes, Goodwood, Gr.2, (7f. beating Tupi (IRE) and Room Key.

AT 3 Won Longines Hong Kong Vase, Sha Tin, Gr.1, (12f. beating Flintshire (GB) and Dariyan (FR)), Secretariat Stakes, Arlington, Gr.1, (10f. beating Closing Bell (USA) and Force the Pass (USA)), Neptune Investment Gordon Stakes, Goodwood, Gr.3, (11½f. beating Scottish (IRE) and Disegno (IRE)), second in Prix du Jockey Club, Chantilly, Gr.1, (to New Bay (GB)), third in William Hill WS Cox Plate, Moonee Valley, Gr.1, (to Winx (AUS)).

AT 4 Jt Champion older horse in Ireland in 2016 and 2017. Won King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Ascot, Gr.1, (12½f. beating Wings of Desire (GB) and Dartmouth (GB)), Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf, Santa Anita, Gr.1, (12f. beating Flintshire (GB) and Found (IRE)), second in Juddmonte International Stakes, York, Gr.1, (to Postponed (IRE)), Longines Hong Kong Vase, Sha Tin, Gr.1, (to Satono Crown (JPN)), Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Chantilly, Gr.1, (to Found (IRE)), Hardwicke Stakes, Ascot, Gr.2, (to Dartmouth (GB)).

AT 5 Jt Champion older horse in Ireland in 2016 and 2017, Top rated older horse in Ireland in 2017 (9.5-10.5f.). Won Investec Coronation Cup, Epsom Downs, Gr.1, (12f. beating Frontiersman (GB) and Hawkbill (USA)), Longines Hong Kong Vase, Sha Tin, Gr.1, (12f. beating Talismanic (GB) and Tosen Basil (JPN)), Prince of Wales’s Stakes, Ascot, Gr.1, (9½f. beating Decorated Knight (GB) and Ulysses (IRE)), third in Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf, Del Mar, Gr.1, (to Talismanic (GB)), Qipco Champion Stakes, Ascot, Gr.1, (to Cracksman (GB)).