Halo (horse)

Thoroughbred racehorse infobox
horsename = Halo


caption =
sire = Hail To Reason
grandsire = Turn-To
dam = Cosmah
damsire = Cosmic Bomb
sex = Stallion
foaled = 1969
country = United States flagicon|USA
colour = Black/Brown
breeder = John R. Gaines
owner = Cragwood Stable
trainer = MacKenzie Miller
record = 31: 9-8-5
earnings = $259,553
race = Lawrence Realization Stakes (1972)
Tidal Handicap (1974)
United Nations Handicap (1974)
awards= Leading sire in North America (1983, 1989)
honours =
updated= July 2, 2007

Halo (1969-2000) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and an important Champion sire. Bred in Kentucky by John R. Gaines, founder of the Breeders Cup, Halo was out of the mare Cosmah (who would become the Kentucky Broodmare of the Year in 1974) which made him a half-brother to the Hall of Fame filly Tosmah. His sire was Hail To Reason, the U.S. Champion 2-Year-Old Colt and a great-grandson of the extremely important sire, Nearco.

Purchased by Charles W. Engelhard, Jr., owner of the great Nijinsky, Halo would race under his Cragwood Stable banner. After having little success at age two racing on dirt tracks, in his three-year-old campaign his U.S. Racing Hall of Fame trainer MacKenzie Miller switched him to racing on turf where he achieved better results. Although never a superstar horse, Halo raced for four years and in 1974 at age five won the Grade I United Nations Handicap.

A Champion sire

After retiring from racing, in 1975 Halo was sent to stand at stud at the Maryland division of Windfields Farm where his progeny included Sunny's Halo and through his mating with the mare Ballade, Devil's Bag, Glorious Song and Saint Ballado. In 1984, new majority owners moved Halo to stand at Arthur B. Hancock III's Stone Farm in Paris, Kentucky where he continued to produce notable offspring, the star of which was Sunday Silence. In all, Halo sired seven champions, 62 stakes winners including two Kentucky Derby winners, and twice was the leading sire in North America.

Halo was pensioned in 1997 and died at Stone Farm in 2000 at age thirty-one.

Offspring

Halo was the sire of:
* Sunny's Halo - won 1983 Kentucky Derby
* Sunday Silence - won 1989 Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Breeders' Cup Classic. The U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee is the most successful sire in the world by progeny earnings
* Devil's Bag - won Champagne Stakes, Laurel Futurity, voted 1983 U.S. Champion 2-Year-Old Colt
* Glorious Song - 1980 & 1981 Canadian Champion Older Female Horse, 1980 United States Champion Older Female Horse, 1980 Canadian Horse of the Year
* Saint Ballado - won 1992 Arlington Classic Stakes, sire of Saint Liam and Ashado
* Goodbye Halo - filly won six Grade I stakes, earned in excess of $1.7 million
* Jolie's Halo - won three Grade I stakes, equaled track record in winning the Philip H. Iselin Handicap, earned in excess of $1.2 million
* Lively One - won Grade I Swaps Stakes, earned in excess of $1.5 million
* Present Value - multiple stakes winner, earned in excess of $1.1 million
* Southern Halo - Leading Sire in Argentina for eight years, sire of 117 stakes

Grandsire of:
* Answer Lively - 1998 U.S. Champion 2-Year-Old Colt
* Ashado - Kentucky Oaks, Breeders' Cup Distaff winner, 2004 U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old filly, 2005 U.S. Champion Older Female Horse
* Deep Impact - won 2005 Japanese Triple Crown, Japan Horse of the Year (2005, 2006)
* Devil His Due - multiple Grade I stakes winner, earned in excess of $3.9 million
* Heart's Cry - won the Dubai Sheema Classic and Arima Kinen
* Saint Liam - won Breeders' Cup Classic, 2005 U.S. Horse of the Year
* Taiki Shuttle - 1998 Japan Horse of the Year
* Zenno Rob Roy - Multiple Grade I winner, 2004 Japan Horse of the Year

Damsire of:
* Coup de Genie - multiple Group I winner, 1993 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly in France
* Machiavellian - 1989 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt in France
* Pine Bluff - winner of the 1992 Arkansas Derby and Preakness Stakes
* Rahy - sired Champions Fantastic Light, Serena's Song and was the Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland
* Singspiel - won Canadian International Stakes and Japan Cup (1996), Dubai World Cup (1997). Voted 1996 U.S. Champion Male Turf Horse

References

* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/halo Halo's pedigree and partial racing stats]
* [http://www.stonefarm.com/halo.html Halo's profile at Stone Farm]