St Reims

St Reims (foaled 9 November 1999 in New Zealand)^[1] is a thoroughbred racehorse who won the New Zealand Derby in 2002.

A million-dollar yearling, big things were always expected of the son of Zabeel, and although he didn't break his maiden until his fifth start he soon started to live up to expectations. A runaway win in the Avondale Guineas at his last start before the Derby ensured that he would start favourite in the Classic, and he didn't disappoint. Given an excellent ride out in front by Greg Childs, the colt was never headed and scored a narrow but authoritative win.

After the Derby his career went downhill. After disappointing performances in an autumn Sydney campaign, St Reims failed to win a single race as a four-year-old and looked to be a shadow of his former self. But at Hastings in the spring of 2004 he regained his interest in racing and put together a string of wins against horses the quality of Waitoki Dream and Zafar, culminating in a return to Group race success in the Lindauer Grandeur Stakes at Ellerslie, the scene of his Derby triumph.

But he didn't stop there. He followed that win up with the Group 2 Counties Cup, a desperately close second under a demanding weight in the Group 2 Waikato Cup and a well-deserved second Group 1 victory in the Zabeel Classic at Ellerslie, just over two full years after his last Group 1 win.

Following another Group 1 placing behind Xcellent in the Darley Stakes and a seventh behind the same horse in the Kelt Capital Stakes, he was retired to stand at Stoney Bridge Stud.

St Reims had his first winner as a sire when two-year-old filly St J'adore, from his first crop, won a maiden race at Avondale on 7 May 2010.

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