Basqueian is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 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

Horse racing

Horse 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...

 best known for winning two of the 1994 Canadian Triple Crown

Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing

The Canadian Triple Crown is a series of three Thoroughbred horse races run annually in Canada which is open to three-year-old horses foaled in Canada...

 races.

Basqueian was bred and raced by prominent businessman and major stable owner, Frank Stronach

Frank Stronach

Frank Stronach, CM is an Austrian-Canadian businessman. He is the founder of Magna International, an international automotive parts company based in Aurora, Ontario, Canada, and Magna Entertainment Corp., which specializes in horse-racing entertainment...

. Racing at age three in 1994, at Toronto's

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack is a Canadian racetrack for Thoroughbred horse races located at 555 Rexdale Blvd. in the city of Toronto, Ontario. It is the only horseracing track in North America which stages, or is capable of staging, thoroughbred and standardbred horseracing programs on the same day...

 Basqueian finished second by less than a nose to Bruce's Mill in the 1994 Plate Trial Stakes

Plate Trial Stakes

The Plate Trial Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred flat horserace for three-Year-Olds, foaled in Canada run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario...

. The two horses then reversed their positions in Canada's most prestigious race, the Queen's Plate

Queen's Plate

The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...

. The win was the first in the Queen's Plate for trainer Dan Vella

Daniel J. Vella

Daniel J. "Dan" Vella is a Canadian Champion Thoroughbred racehorse trainer.Dan Vella was introduced to Thoroughbred horse racing by an uncle who owned horses and, after graduating from High School, went to work at a racetrack in his native Toronto...

 and the second for jockey Jack Lauzon

Jack M. Lauzon

Jack M. Lauzon is a retired Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing jockey whom The Blood-Horse magazine called "one of the most respected riders in Canada."...

. The two horses again ran one-two in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales Stakes

Prince of Wales Stakes

The Prince of Wales Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Fort Erie Race Track in Fort Erie, Ontario. Restricted to three-year-old horses bred in Canada, it is contested on dirt over a distance of a mile and three sixteenths . In 1959, the Prince of Wales Stakes became the...

, and this time Bruce's Mill came out on top. In the final leg of the series, Basqueian showed his versatility with a victory on turf

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

 in the Breeders' Stakes

Breeders' Stakes

The Breeders' Stakes is a Canadian stakes race for Thoroughbred race horses first run in 1889. Since 1959 it has been the third race in the Canadian Triple Crown for three-year-olds...

. That same year, he won the first of three straight editions of the Durham Cup

Durham Cup Stakes

The Durham Cup Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Run in mid October, the Grade III race is open to horses age three and older. Raced over a distance of 1⅛ miles on Polytrack synthetic dirt, it currently offers a purse of...

.

Basqueian went on to race in both Canada and the United States. In 1995 he won his second Durham Cup and at the Hawthorne Race Course

Hawthorne Race Course

Hawthorne Race Course is a race track for horse racing in Stickney/Cicero, Illinois, near Chicago.The oldest continually-run family-owned racetrack in North America, in 2009 the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced a rating system for 65 Thoroughbred racetracks in North America...

 near Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 ran second in the Hawthorne Gold Cup. His performances that year were good enough to earn him the 1995 Sovereign Award for Champion Older Male Horse

Sovereign Award for Champion Older Male Horse

The Canadian Champion Older Male Horse is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing honor. Created in 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada, it is part of the Sovereign Awards program and is awarded annually to the top horse four years or older competing in Canada....

. In 1997 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey

Oceanport, New Jersey

Oceanport is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 5,832.Oceanport was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 6, 1920, from portions of Eatontown Township , based on the results of a...

 Basqueian won the Red Bank Handicap

Red Bank Stakes

The Red Bank Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually since 1974 at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. A Grade III event raced in late August/early September, it is open to horses age three and older and is contested at a distance of one mile on turfInaugurated in...

 and Longfellow Stakes

Longfellow Stakes

The Longfellow Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run each year in early June at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. A six furlong sprint for either gender aged three and up, the ungraded Longfellow offers a purse of $70,000 and a trophy.The race, inaugurated in 1952,...

Retired from racing with earnings in excess of $1 million, Basqueian, a gelding

Gelding

A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. Castration, and the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday...

, now serves as one of the important pony horses used to calm the young colt

Colt (horse)

A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....

s and fillies

Filly

A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....

 undergoing race training at owner Frank Stronach's Adena Springs South in Williston, Florida

Williston, Florida

Williston is a city in Levy County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,297 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, the city had a population of 2,467.-Geography:Williston is located at ....

.