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Horse racing has been blessed by some of the biggest names in any sport. Including horses that have transcended the sport itself. These are famous racehorses that have made front-page news, back-page news, and also, even some that had movies made around them. Legends of the game like Secretariat, Sea Biscuit, and Pharlap have all been made into stars of the big screen.
So, what makes a horse famous? Winning a Triple Crown is normally a good place to start for a US-based runner. Amazingly, only five horses have managed it since 1948, and only two this century.
Horses that raced on the other side of the Atlantic, like the mighty Frankel, were never beaten. This was despite racing over a variety of trips, on different ground conditions, and at very different tracks. Others, like Winx, have smashed records and captured the hearts of a nation.
Whether you love horse racing or not, you’ll be inspired by our list of the 10 most famous racehorses of all time.
The Most Famous Racehorses of All Time
#10: Equinox
Equinox dazzles in 2023 Dubai Sheema Classic:
Sire: Kitasan Black
Dam: Chateau Blanche
Owner: Silk Racing Co Ltd
Trainer: Tetsuya Kimura
Jockey: Christophe-Patrice Lemaire
No. of Races Won: 8/10
Career Earnings: $15,930,077
The rise of Japan-trained horses on the global stage continued in 2023 when Equinox became only the second horse from that nation to be crowned Longines World’s Best Racehorse. A six-time Grade 1 winner in all, Equinox began that year with a stunning success in the Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan. He then ended the year with an equally brilliant 4-length victory over Liberty Island in the Japan Cup.
Equinox was a horse that shone no matter what the circumstances. He was equally impressive whether asked to make his own running, as he did in the aforementioned Sheema, or being asked to unleash his scintillating turn of foot from off the pace. It’s a shame we never got to see him in a Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Other than that, it’s otherwise impossible to knock a CV that earned him over 15 million dollars in prize money.
#9: Phar Lap
Watch Phar Lap win the 1930 Melbourne Cup (taken from the movie):
Sire: Night Raid
Dam: Entreaty
Owner: David Davis & Harry Telford
Trainer: Harry Telford
Jockey: James Munro/Jim Pike/Billy Elliot
No. of Races Won: 37/51
Career Earnings £A66,738
In short, Phar Lap is Australia’s most famous horse. Phar Lap was winning races and breaking records when times were tough. The stock market collapse of 1929 led to a huge rise in unemployment across the country. However, Phar Lap was a shining light in a time of great depression.
In a three-year period beginning in 1929, Phar Lap won a remarkable 36 races out of 41. These races ranged from distances of 7f to 2m. Phar Lap was so good that officials decided to change the weight-for-age scale in order to give his rivals a better chance of beating him.
Phar Lap beat the best of the American horses in the 1932 Agua Caliente Handicap. Sadly, Australia’s euphoria quickly turned to disbelief days later, as it was announced that the great horse had died suddenly.
#8: Seabiscuit
Watch Seabiscuit’s final race (from the movie):
Sire: Hard Tack
Dam: Swing On
Owner: Charles Howard
Trainer:‘Sunny Jim’ Fitzsimmons/Tom Smith
Jockey: Red Pollard
No. of Races Won: 33/89
Career Earnings $437,730
In this list of famous racehorses with star names, Seabiscuit, the legendary horse, surpasses all in the number of books and films made about him.
Seabiscuit’s story starts slow. He had a modest beginning in his racing career, which led Charles Howard, an entrepreneur, to purchase him for a mere $8,000. Howard promptly sent the horse for training under Tom Smith.
From then on, Seabiscuit’s performance improved significantly, and he began climbing the ranks. He won many of the most prestigious races in the US. In 1938, he earned the title of Horse Of The Year. In the same year, he defeated War Admiral, the 1937 Triple Crown winner, in the much-hyped ‘Match of the Century’ at Pimlico.
About 40 million people are estimated to have listened to the race’s commentary on the radio. Despite starting as the underdog, Seabiscuit swept to a four-length victory.
#7: Zenyatta
Watch Zenyatta become the first female racehorse to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2009:
Sire: Street Cry
Dam: Vertigineux
Owner: Jerry & Ann Moss
Trainer:John Shirreffs
Jockey: Mike Smith
No. of Races Won: 19/20
Career Earnings $7,304,580
Zenyatta has etched her name into US racing folklore thanks to her breathtaking hold-up run style. She would often make up huge amounts of ground in the closing stages of a race.
This remarkable racemare tasted defeat just once in 20 career starts. That head defeat to Blame in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs proved to be her swansong. Zenyatta is one of a select group of horses that have won two different Breeders’ Cup races. She also holds the record for the most prize money won at the Breeders’ Cup – a cool $4,680,000.
Zenyatta’s finest hour arguably came in the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic. She became the first female ever to win the prestigious Grade 1 contest. Victory looked unlikely for much of the race after a slow start. She trailed the field by 15 lengths after two furlongs. However, the turbos kicked in off the home turn and Mike Smith galvanised her to glory on the biggest stage of all.
#6: Arkle
Watch Arkle win the 1964 Gold Cup:
Sire: Archive
Dam: Bright Cherry
Owner: Anne Grosvenor
Trainer: Tom Dreaper
Jockey: Pat Taaffe
No. of Races Won: 27/35
Career Earnings £95,198
Only a very special chaser can win a Gold Cup at Cheltenham by 30 lengths. This, though, was what Arkle did in 1966. Sent off the shortest-priced favourite in Gold Cup history (1/10), Arkle won the race without breaking a sweat, completing a treble in the festival feature. The feat earned him a place in an elite group of only four horses that have won the Gold Cup three times or more.
Arkle’s ability to carry heavy weights to success earned him a monster Timeform rating of 212, which remains the highest-ever awarded to a steeplechaser. This peaked in 1965 when he carried 12st to victory in the Irish Grand National.
Alongside those three Gold Cups and Irish Grand National, Arkle also won a King George VI Chase, two Hennessy Gold Cups, and a Whitbread Cup.
#5: American Pharoah
Watch American Pharoah complete the Triple Crown with victory in the 2015 Belmont Stakes:
Sire: Pioneerof the Nile
Dam: Littleprincessemma
Owner: Ahmed Zayat
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Victor Espinoza
No. of Races Won: 9/11
Career Earnings $8,650,300
American Pharoah is the first Triple Crown winner to make our list of famous racehorses. His 2015 campaign ended with a stunning success in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. This was a race where he smashed the track record with a time of 2:00:07. That 6 ½ length victory made him the first horse to complete the modern Grand Slam of racing. These included the three Triple Crown races along with the Breeders’ Cup showpiece.
His 2015 earnings of around $8.2 million broke all single-season records. Unsurprisingly, he was named Horse of the Year along with being crowned Champion Three-Year-Old Male.
American Pharoah’s relentless front-running racing style endeared him to the racing public. This is a trait he has passed on to his offspring since heading off to Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky.
#4: Red Rum
Watch Red Rum catch Crisp in an unbelievable finish to the 1973 Grand National:
Sire: Quorum
Dam: Mared
Owner: Noel le Mare
Trainer: Ginger McCain
Jockey: Brian Fletcher/Tommy Stack
No. of Races Won: 24/100
Career Earnings £146,409.80
Red Rum is responsible for one of, if not the, most iconic moments in Grand National history. In 1973, it looked for all the world like the front-running Crisp had stolen the race under Richard Pitman. A lead of over 30 lengths going onto the second circuit looked too big a gap to bridge. However, the leader’s stride began to shorten approaching the home turn, and Red Rum began to charge home.
That was his first of three Grand National wins, along with two second placings in the world’s most famous steeplechase.
Red Rum’s trainer, Ginger McCain, quickly became an iconic figure in the sport. This was thanks to his unusual training methods with Red Rum, who would often gallop through seawater on the beach at Southport.
Red Rum’s celebrity status was highlighted perfectly when news of his retirement in 1978 was the lead story on the BBC’s then-flagship 9 O’Clock News show. Also, this made front-page news in the following morning’s newspapers.
#3: Winx
Watch Winx’s 43rd and final race:
Sire: Street Cry
Dam: Vegas Showgirl
Owner: Magic Bloodstock Racing, R G Treweeke & D N Kepitis
Trainer: Chris Waller
Jockey: Jason Collet, Tommy Berry, James McDonald, and Larry Cassidy
No. of Races Won: 37/43
Career Earnings: A$26,421,176
Few famous racehorses have CVs to match that of Winx, an Australian superstar whose 25 Group/Grade 1 wins remain a world record. Winx is the modern-day Phar Lap – a horse that won the heart of the Australian nation.
Everything was just so effortless for Winx. Whatever the race, whatever the track, whoever the rivals, she moved through her races like the best horse, before proving exactly that with a change of gear no rival could match.
Winx earned more than 26 million dollars in a star-studded career. An achievement that saw her become just the third horse to be inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame whilst still racing. From 2016 to 2018, she was ranked the world’s best turf horse (shared the honour in 2018 with Cracksman). Then in 2018, she became the first horse ever to win the Cox Plate four times.
If only we had gotten to see her race against the next horse in this list – that had the potential to be the match-up of the century.
#2: Frankel
Watch Frankel destroy his rivals in the 2012 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot:
Sire: Galileo
Dam: Kind
Owner: Khalid Abdullah
Trainer: Sir Henry Cecil
Jockey: Tom Queally
No. of Races Won: 14/14
Career Earnings £2,998,302
For many, Frankel would be regarded as the greatest racehorse of all time. Without a doubt, we struggled to separate the unbeaten British star and our number one choice. There can be no doubt that Frankel was a one-in-a-million racehorse, indeed, no Flat horse has ever been rated higher.
Frankel was box office. His unbeaten career record only tells half the story. Sent off odds-on for every race after his debut success at Newmarket, he won eight of his remaining 13 races by 5 lengths or more. Six of which were in Group 1 company. His finest hour, for many, came in the 2012 Juddmonte International. Coincidentally, that was the first time he had raced beyond a mile. Frankel put on the show of shows, winning that Group 1 showpiece by 7 lengths from dual Group 1-winner Farhh.
However, there was a tragic backdrop to Frankel’s amazing career. His popular trainer, Henry Cecil, was battling cancer. His final days were enriched enormously by Frankel and the support he received from an adoring public, but Cecil passed away just 8 months after Frankel’s 14th and final success.
#1: Secretariat
Watch Secretariat’s record-breaking 1973 Kentucky Derby win:
Sire: Bold Ruler
Dam: Somethingroral
Owner: Meadow Stable (Christopher Chenery, Penny Chenery)
Trainer:Lucien Laurin
Jockey: “Ronnie” Turcotte
No. of Races Won: 16/21
Career Earnings $1,316,808
Given the strength of the horses on this list, it takes something out of the ordinary to be number one on the list of the greatest racehorses of all time. However, Secretariat was something out of the ordinary.
Secretariat, also known as ‘Big Red’, was the ninth Triple Crown winner. However, he stands apart from other horses that achieved that rare feat. The reason? To this day, Secretariat holds the record for the fastest time recorded in ALL THREE Triple Crown stakes races.
His record-breaking 31-length (yes, 31 lengths!) success in the Belmont Stakes is widely regarded as the standout individual performance by any famous racing horses ever.
Our Final Thoughts on Famous Racehorses
Obviously, lists of famous horses like this one are subjective, and others will have different opinions on who should be at the top of the tree. Many will have Frankel in the number one spot, and that’s perfectly reasonable – he was an undoubted superstar.
With horses from Australia, the UK, and America, as well as jumping greats like Red Rum and Arkle, we believe we’ve included the best racehorses of all time in our list.
Resources
We used the following resources to research our list of the greatest race horse ever:
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