Habat (25 January 1971 – 12 January 1994) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was the top-rated British two-year-old of his generation in 1973 when he won four of his six races including the Norfolk Stakes, Mill Reef Stakes and Middle Park Stakes. He won the 2,000 Guineas Trial Stakes on his three-year-old debut but was beaten in his three subsequent races and was retired at the end of the season. He stood as a breeding stallion in Britain and Japan with limited success.

Background

Habat was a "handsome, shapely, imposing"^[2] grey horse bred by the Marston Stud.^[3] He was from the first crop of foals sired by Habitat, an American-bred, British-raced miler who became one of the leading European stallions of the 1970s and 1980s. His other progeny included Habibti, Flying Water, Marwell, Rose Bowl and Steinlen^[4] and he was the British Champion broodmare sire on three occasions.^[5] Habat's dam Atrevida showed high class form as a racehorse, finishing third in the Irish 1000 Guineas in 1961 and was a daughter of the sprinting mare Palariva, whose wins included the King's Stand Stakes. Palariva was a granddaughter of the outstanding broodmare Mumtaz Begum, the ancestor of numerous major winners including Nasrullah and Shergar.^[6]

As a yearling Habat was offered for sale and bought for 14,500 guineas by the bloodstock agent Keith Freeman. He entered the ownership of the Italian Carlo Vittadini and was sent into training with Peter Walwyn at his stable at Seven Barrows near Lambourn in Berkshire.^[7][3]

Racing career

Stud record

At the end of his racing career Habat became a breeding stallion at the National Stud in 1975 at a fee of £1,500.^[2] The best of his offspring was probably Grey Desire, a durable sprinter whose wins included the Duke of York Stakes and the Abernant Stakes.^[11] He was exported to Japan in 1981. His last recorded foal was born in 1990 and died on 12 January 1994. He sired the winners of 383 races in Japan but none at Graded level.^[12]

Assessment

There was no International Classification of European two-year-olds in 1973: the official handicappers of Britain, Ireland and France compiled separate rankings for horses which competed in those countries. In the British Free Handicap, Habat was assigned a weight of 127 pounds, placing him in joint-third place (alongside Cellini) behind Apalachee and Mississipian, making him the highest rated juvenile trained in Britain.^[3] The independent Timeform organisation gave him a rating of 127, ten pounds below their top-rated two-year-old Apalachee.^[7] In the 1974 British Free Handicap Habat was rated fourteen pounds inferior to the top-rated Take A Reef. Timeform gave him a rating of 121, ten pounds behind Dankaro, Caracolero, Nonoalco and Sagaro, who were joint top rated amongst the season's three-year-old colts.^[2]

Pedigree

References