Landseer was a 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...

. A son of Champion sire Danehill

Danehill (horse)

Danehill was a Thoroughbred racehorse who was bred in the United States. During his phenomenal stud career Danehill became a champion sire on both sides of the Equator...

, he was out of the mare

Mare (horse)

A mare is an adult female horse or other equine.In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse age three and younger. However, in Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old; in harness racing a mare is a...

, Sabria, whose sire Miswaki

Miswaki

Miswaki was an American bred Thoroughbred racehorse who was a Group 1 winner in France as well as a stakes race winner in the United States...

 was the sire of the great filly Urban Sea

Urban Sea

Urban Sea was a French Thoroughbred racemare best known for winning France's most prestigious race in 1993 and for her importance as a world class broodmare. She is one of only two mares to ever produce two Epsom Derby winners, namely Galileo and Sea the Stars...

. Owned and raced by Michael Tabor

Michael Tabor

Michael B. Tabor is a businessman and owner of Thoroughbred racehorses.-Thoroughbred racing career:...

 & Sue Magnier, the colt was conditioned by the legendary Irish trainer, 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....

.

Sent to the track at age two, in June 2001 Jamie Spencer

Jamie Spencer

Jamie Spencer is an Irish flat racing jockey currently riding in the UK. He has been champion jockey in both Ireland and Britain and has won four classics, two in each country. Spencer is widely regarded as one of the best, and most naturally talented, UK-based jockeys - despite not having a...

 rode Landseer to victory in the then Group III

Conditions races

Conditions races are horse races where the weights carried by the runners are laid down by the conditions attached to the race. Weights are allocated according to; the sex of the runners, with female runners carrying less weight than males; the age of the runners, with younger horses receiving...

 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....

. The colt's other notable results that year came in October when he ran second to stablemate Rock of Gibraltar

Rock of Gibraltar (horse)

Rock of Gibraltar is a Champion racehorse and stallion owned by Coolmore, for whom he currently stands in Ireland and Australia .He is named after the Rock of Gibraltar, a monolithic limestone promontory located in Gibraltar on...

 in England's Dewhurst Stakes

Dewhurst Stakes

The Dewhurst Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 7 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in October.The event was established in 1875, and it...

 at Newmarket Racecourse

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...

. He finished second again under jockey Michael Kinane

Michael Kinane

Michael J. Kinane is a former flat racing jockey. He had a 34-year career, retiring on 8 December 2009....

 in 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...

 at Saint-Cloud Racecourse

Saint-Cloud Racecourse

Hippodrome de Saint-Cloud is a grass race course for Thoroughbred flat horse racing opened in 1901 at 1 rue du Camp Canadien in Saint-Cloud near Paris, France...

 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...

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As a three-year-old, Landseer finished third in April's Prix de Fontainebleau

Prix de Fontainebleau

The Prix de Fontainebleau is a Group 3 flat horse race in France which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,600 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in April.-History:...

 at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 then won the May running of the 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...

 Poule d'Essai des Poulains

Poule d'Essai des Poulains

The Poule d'Essai des Poulains, sometimes referred to as the French 2,000 Guineas, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts...

. In June, he had another second-place finish to Rock of Gibraltar, this time 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....

 at Ascot Racecourse

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...

 in England. Landseer's next success came in October when he made his first start in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Ridden by Edgar Prado, he defeated what Thoroughbred Times described as a "quality-laden field" in capturing the Grade I

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

 Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes

Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes

The Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race run annually since 1986 at Keeneland Race Course near Lexington, Kentucky. Open to horses three-year-old and up, it is raced on turf over a distance of one mile....

 at Keeneland Race Course 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...

.

2002 Breeders' Cup Mile

Because of his strong winning performance in the Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes, Landseer was then sent 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...

 in 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...

 where he was entered as a supplemental nominee in the Breeders' Cup Mile

Breeders' Cup Mile

The Breeders' Cup Mile is a Grade 1 Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up, run on a grass course. It has been conducted annually as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships since the event's inception in 1984...

. Once again Landseer would compete against nemesis Rock of Gibraltar, the overwhelming betting

Parimutuel betting

Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vig" is removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets...

 favorite. Racing in the middle of a fourteen-horse field for the first half mile, jockey Edgar Prado made a move with Landseer but at the top of the stretch the colt went down. His injuries were such that he had to be euthanized

Animal euthanasia

Animal euthanasia is the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, an animal suffering from an incurable, especially a painful, disease or condition. Euthanasia methods are designed to cause minimal pain and distress...

. Rock of Gibraltar, who started poorly and was far back most of the way, had to swing around the fallen Landseer but made a powerful stretch run to finish second behind longshot winner, Domedriver

Domedriver

Domedriver is a Thoroughbred racehorse owned and raced in France by the Stavros Niarchos family. Out of the mare, Napoli, his sire was Indian Ridge who also sired Breeders' Cup winner and 1995 European Horse of the Year, Ridgewood Pearl and Relaxed Gesture, winner of the $2 million Canadian...

.