Sire Sheshoon Dam Ruta Foaled 1967 Species Equus caballus Sex Stallion | Grandsire Precipitation Damsire Ratification Country France Trainer François Mathet | |
Sassafras (1967–1988) was a French Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.
Owned by Arpad Plesch he was trained by Francois Mathet and ridden in most of his races by Yves Saint-Martin. He was the champion 3-year-old colt in France, 1970. Sassafrás won six races out of 11 starts: the Prix de la Bresbe, the Prix Androcles, the Prix La Force, the Prix Royal-Oak, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-I), and the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) (Fr-I).
He also took 2nd Place in the Prix Lagrange and 3rd Place in the Prix Lupin. He sensationally upset the English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky to win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe by a rapidly narrowing head in 1970.
Sent initially to the Ballylinch Stud at Thomastown in County Kilkenny, Ireland, Sassafras was the sire of the winners over 72 races. Sassafras sired Galway Bay who was a stakes winner in Great Britain and Australia before becoming the sire of stakes winners. He was then exported to the United States for stud duty.
Sassafras died in 1988 and is buried at Pillar Stud in Lexington, Kentucky.