Merchant Navy

Merchant Navy (foaled 14 November 2014) is an Australian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He showed considerable promise as a juvenile when he was undefeated in three start including the Listed ANZAC Day Stakes. As a three-year-old he proved himself one of the best horses of his generation in Australia over sprint distances, taking the HDF McNeil Stakes and the Coolmore Stud Stakes as well as being placed in both the Rubiton Stakes and the Newmarket Handicap. In the summer of 2018 he was relocated to Europe where he won both his races, namely the Greenlands Stakes in Ireland and the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. Background Merchant Navy is a bay horse foaled at the Segenhoe Stud in New South Wales by Chris Barham, a chiropractor from Toowoomba. As a yearling he was consigned to the Inglis 2016 Easter Yearling Sale and was bought for A$350,000 by the trainer Ciaron Maher. The colt entered the ownership of a group headed by Seymour Bloodstock and was taken into training by Maher. He was ridden in most of his Australian races by Mark Zahra. His sire, the Australian stallion Fastnet Rock, was a sprinter whose victories included the Lightning Stakes and the Oakleigh Plate. He sired many leading horses including Shoals and Atlantic Jewel in the Southern hemisphere before moving to the Coolmore Stud in Ireland. His European progeny have included Fascinating Rock and Qualify. Merchant Navy's dam, Legally Bay, showed good racing ability, winning the Group 3 Sweet Embrace Stakes in 2003. She was descended from Pirouette, a half-sister to the AJC Derby winner Innocent King. Racing career