List of historical horses

This list includes actual horses that exist in the historical record. For fictional horses, see: List of fictional horses.

A

 * Adios: leading sire of harness racehorses


 * Adios Butler: famous harness racer


 * Affirmed: U.S. Triple Crown winner (1978)


 * Ajax: 18 consecutive race wins, before he was defeated at 1/40


 * Albatross: harness racer who won 59 of 71 races, and as a sire produced winners of over $130 million, including Niatross


 * Allez France: French Arc winner and first filly to win a million dollars


 * Alydar: finished second to Affirmed in all three 1978 Triple Crown races; successful sire


 * American Pharoah: 2015 winner of the U.S. Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup World Championships in Lexington, Kentucky at Keeneland Race Course


 * Animal Kingdom: American Thoroughbred racehorse; won 137th Kentucky Derby and 2013 Dubai World Cup


 * Archer: first and second winner of the Melbourne Cup


 * Aristides: winner of the first Kentucky Derby


 * Arrogate: winner of Travers Stakes, Breeders' Cup Classic, Pegasus World Cup, and Dubai World Cup in track record time and the richest U.S.-based racehorse of all time


 * Arkle: highest Timeform rating for a steeplechase horseracer


 * Assault: U.S. Triple Crown winner (1946)

B

 * Barbaro: American Thoroughbred who decisively won the 2006 Kentucky Derby, but shattered his leg two weeks later in the 2006 Preakness Stakes, ending his racing career; underwent several operations; eventually healed, but developed laminitis and could not be saved; euthanized January 29, 2007


 * Beholder: three-time winner of the Breeders' Cup Distaff, as well as the first filly to win the Pacific Classic


 * Bernborough: Australian racehorse and winner of 15 consecutive races at big weights; sold to US film producer Louis B. Mayer


 * Ben Nevis: champion Maryland steeplechaser he won the Maryland Hunt Cup twice and the Grand National


 * Bend Or, very successful British Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1880 Epsom Derby


 * Best Mate: 2002, 2003 and 2004 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner; often given title 'Greatest Steeplechaser' since Arkle, and an equal to him


 * Big Brown: 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner; first horse since Clyde Van Dusen to win the Kentucky Derby from the 20th post position


 * Black Caviar: undefeated in 25 career starts; fifteen-time Group 1 winner


 * Bold Forbes: 1976 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner


 * Bold Ruler: leading sire of stakeswinners; born in the same barn the same night as Round Table; sired the outstanding Secretariat


 * Bret Hanover: one of only nine pacers to win the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers; had 62 wins from 69 starts; the only horse to be made Harness Horse of the Year three times


 * Brigadier Gerard: winner of 17 of 18 races in England, including the 2000 Guineas and 11 other Group I races; joint third highest Timeform flat rating of all time


 * Bucephalus: Horse of Alexander the Great


 * Buckpasser: won 15 consecutive races; one of the greatest broodmare sires in history

C

 * California Chrome: won the 140th Kentucky Derby; won the Preakness; won the 2016 Dubai World Cup; two-time American Horse of the Year


 * Carbine: outstanding racehorse and sire; winner of the Melbourne Cup


 * Cardigan Bay: New Zealand's "million dollar pacer"; the first to win a million in the US; appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show


 * Castleshane: winner of eight flat races and two jumps


 * Cicero: winner of the 1905 Epsom Derby as the shortest-priced successful favourite in the history of the event


 * Cigar: champion in the 1990s who won 16 consecutive races


 * Citation: U.S. Triple Crown winner (1948); also won 16 consecutive major stakes races; first horse to earn $1 million\


 * Country House: Winner of Kentucky Derby 2019 after Maximum Security was demoted from 1st place for interference with other horses


 * Crisp: remembered for his epic race in the Grand National with Red Rum


 * Curlin: third richest US-based horse of all time, winner of 2007 Preakness Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic and 2008 Dubai World Cup

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D

 * Dan Patch: America's greatest pacer


 * Danehill: American-bred and British-trained sprint champion who went on to become a champion sire in both the northern and southern hemispheres; the first major "shuttle stallion"


 * Dance Smartly: second Canadian filly ever to win the Canadian Triple Crown, and the first to win a Breeders Cup Race


 * Dawn Run: only horse ever to complete Champion Hurdle, Cheltenham Gold Cup double


 * Deep Impact: Japanese Triple Crown winner; also smashed the world record over 3200 metres and seven-time leading sire in Japan


 * Desert Gold: race mare who won 19 races successive races during World War I; often raced against Gloaming


 * Desert Orchid: won King George four times and Cheltenham Gold Cup


 * Dr. Fager: "the Doctor"; set the world record at 1 mile on any surface, 1:32 1/5, and held it for more than 20 years


 * Doncaster: very successful racehorse, sire of the great Bend Or

E

 * Easy Goer: Hall of Fame champion who ran the fastest mile of all time on dirt by any three-year-old Thoroughbred in 1:32.2; ran the second fastest Belmont Stakes of all time behind Secretariat; had a great rivalry with Sunday Silence


 * Eclipse: celebrated 18th-century racehorse that won 18 races in 18 starts; influential sire


 * Eight Belles: first filly to win the Martha Washington Stakes, by a record 13½ lengths


 * Exterminator: exceedingly popular "iron horse" of American racing history

F
Frankel: undefeated in 14 career starts; highest rated flat race horse in history: WTR 140; Timeform 147, Racing Post 143
 * Funny Cide: first gelding since Clyde Van Dusen to win the Kentucky Derby


 * Flyingbolt: widely considered as the second best Steeplechaser of all-time; stablemate of Arkle; Timeform rated 210. 2 lb inferior to Arkle


 * Fair Play: successful American Thoroughbred racehorse and very successful sire; sired the great Man o' War

G

 * Gainsborough: winner of the English Triple Crown; leading sire


 * Galileo: seven-time Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland; sire of Frankel; has sired 102 Group 1 winners worldwide as of December 2015


 * Genuine Risk: second filly to win the Kentucky Derby (1980)


 * Gloaming: won 19 successive races in New Zealand and Australia; record was 67 starts for 57 wins and 9 seconds


 * Go Man Go: champion running Quarter Horse


 * Golden Miller: record five-time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup; only horse to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National in the same year


 * Goldsmith Maid: famous harness racing mare of the 19th century


 * Greyhound: named Trotting Horse of the Century in the US

H

 * Hambletonian 10: the "father of American trotting"


 * Hurricane Fly: Irish hurdler, winner of a record 22 Grade I races


 * Hyperion: winner of The Derby and the St Leger Stakes; top sire for six years in the UK


 * Hastings: sire of Fair Play, who in turn sired the great Man o' War, successful racehorse

I

 * Incitatus: horse legend says Roman Emperor Caligula planned to make a senator


 * Iroquois: first American-bred racehorse to win The Derby


 * Invasor: winner of the Uruguayan Triple Crown, as well as the Dubai World Cup and Breeders' Cup Classic


 * I'll Have Another: winner of the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes


 * Irish War Cry: Graded-Stakes Winner, noted for his win in the Wood Memorial Stakes and for finishing second in the 2017 Belmont Stakes


 * Isinglass: sixth winner of the English Triple Crown (1892)


 * Isonomy: very successful racehorse and sire of The English Triple Crown winner Isinglass

J

 * Jay Trump: three-time winner of the Maryland Hunt Cup and the Grand National


 * John Henry: U.S. Champion Turf Horse (1980, 1981, 1983, 1984)


 * Johnstown: winner of the 1939 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes


 * Justify: 2018 winner of the U.S. Triple Crown

K

 * Kalgoorlie Kid: winner of the 2007 Cairns Cup


 * Kelso: only five-time U.S. Horse of the Year, in the list of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century by The Blood-Horse magazine, Kelso ranks 4th


 * Kincsem: Hungarian race mare and most successful racehorse ever, winning all 54 starts in five countries


 * Kindergarten: weighted more than Phar Lap in the Melbourne Cup


 * Kingston: all-time record holder of the most wins by a horse with 89


 * Kingston Town: won three Cox Plates; first Australian horse to top $1million in stakes earnings


 * Kissin George: one of America's premier sprinting Thoroughbred racehorses

L

 * La Troienne: most important broodmare of the twentieth century


 * Lexington: America's leading 19th-century sire


 * Longfellow: 19th-century runner and stallion


 * Lonesome Glory: only five-time winner of American champion steeplechaser


 * Lottery: winner of the Grand National steeplechase in 1839


 * Lookin At Lucky: winner of 2010 Preakness Stakes, sired Lookin at Lee

M

 * Makybe Diva: won the Melbourne Cup on three occasions


 * Man o' War: often considered America's greatest racehorse; won 20 of 21 career starts


 * Marengo Famous war horse of Napoleon


 * Master Charlie: winner of the 1924 Remsen Stakes, Tijuana Futurity, Hopeful Stakes, Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes; awarded 1924 American Champion Two-Year-Old-Male/Colt


 * Maximum Security: Winner of Kentucky Derby 2019 before disqualification from 1st place for disturbing other horses


 * Might and Power: World Champion Stayer (1997); Australian Horse of the Year (1998, 1999)


 * Mr. Prospector: one of the most successful U.S. sires of the late 20th century


 * Moifaa: first New Zealand horse to win the Grand National


 * Mahubah: dam of Man o' War

N

 * Nasrullah: one of the most successful Thoroughbred sires of the 20th century, grandsire to Secretariat


 * Native Dancer (also nicknamed the Grey Ghost): won 21 of 22 career races, with only loss in the Kentucky Derby; sire whose descendants have come to dominate modern Triple Crown racing


 * Needles: the first Florida-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby (1956), also won the Belmont Stakes


 * Niatross: pacer who won 37 of his 39 races and broke many records, considered to be one of the greatest harness racers of all time


 * Night Raid: sire of Phar Lap


 * Nijinsky II: last horse to win the English Triple Crown (1970)


 * Northern Dancer: Canada's champion on the racetrack; most successful sire of the 20th century

O

 * Overdose: champion Hungarian sprinter and winner of 14 straight races


 * Orfevre: winner of almost 20 million US dollars in earnings and is one of the highest earning racehorses ever


 * Oeidipus: winner of the American Steeplechase triple crown

P

 * Peter Pan: winner of the Preakness Stakes, and had the Peter Pan Stakes named in his honor


 * Phar Lap: Australia and New Zealand's most famed Thoroughbred racehorse; won 37 of his 51 career starts


 * Pleasant Colony: 1981 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner


 * Potoooooooo: 18th-century thoroughbred racehorse who won over 30 races and defeated some of the greatest racehorses of the time.

Q

 * Quevega: only horse in the history to win at six consecutive Cheltenham Festivals


 * Queensway: won the Canadian Triple Crown

R

 * Rachel Alexandra: filly and winner of the 2009 Preakness Stakes


 * Roy Olcott: harness racehorse


 * Real Quiet: winner of the 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes; lost the third leg of the U.S. Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, by a margin of four inches


 * Red Rum: only horse in the history of the Aintree Grand National to win the race three times (placed second on two other occasions)


 * Regret: first filly to win the Kentucky Derby (1915)


 * Ribot: Thoroughbred undefeated in sixteen races


 * Rock Sand: English Triple Crown winner (1903); sire of the dam of Man o' War


 * Round Table: sire of stakes winners; born in the same barn the same night as Bold Ruler, in 1954


 * Ruffian: filly champion who won every race she started until her final (and fatal) race


 * Ruthless: first ever winner of the Belmont Stakes, and the first of only three fillies ever to win the Belmont Stakes

S

 * Sadler's Wells: one of Europe's most successful sires of the late 20th century


 * Sardar: stallion presented as a gift to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy by President Ayub Khan on her visit to Pakistan


 * Sea Bird: second highest Timeform rated horse (rated 145)


 * Sea the Stars: first horse ever to win the 2,000 Guineas, Epsom Derby, and Arc de Triomphe in the same year (2009)


 * Seabiscuit: beat War Admiral in a nationally broadcast 1938 match race; like Phar Lap, raced during the Depression


 * Seattle Slew: U.S. Triple Crown winner (1977)


 * Secretariat: U.S. Triple Crown winner (1973); one of the most famous horses in Thoroughbred racing


 * Shergar: winner of the 1981 Epsom Derby by a record 10 lengths, the longest winning margin in a race run annually since 1781; kidnapped by the IRA in 1983, and was held for ransom, but the owner syndicate refused to pay, fearing that valuable horses would become targets; the stallion was never found


 * Silky Sullivan: a racehorse


 * Sir Winston: Winner of 2019 Belmont Stakes


 * Skewball: immortalized in 18th century poetry as a sku-ball winning against a Thoroughbred


 * Sleipnir: Odin’s horse (Norse mythology)


 * Smarty Jones: became the first unbeaten Kentucky Derby winner since Seattle Slew in 1977


 * Spectacular Bid: Hall of Fame champion who went undefeated as a four-year-old, and won 26 of 30 career starts


 * Steel Dust: 19th-century quarter-mile racing horse


 * Storm Cat: one of the most successful U.S. sires of the late 20th century


 * Sunday Silence: winner in the US; champion sire in Japan


 * Sunline: first Southern Hemisphere horse to top $10million in stakes earnings; three-time Australian (2000-2002); four-time New Zealand (1999-2002) horse of the year; 13-time Group 1 winner


 * Swale: 1984 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner, died eight days after the Belmont win

T

 * Tanya: second filly ever to win the Belmont Stakes


 * Tapwrit: won the 2017 Belmont Stakes, and set a new stakes record for the Tampa Bay Derby


 * Ta Wee: two-time American Champion Sprint Horse, and won her second Fall Highweight Handicap, at 10 stone (140 pounds) and her second Interborough Handicap, at 10 stone 2 pounds (142 pounds)


 * The Duke: first and second winner of the Grand National


 * Tiznow: two-time winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic


 * Tonalist: winner of 2014 Belmont Stakes, and two-time winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup


 * Tuscalee: steeplechaser and all-time record holder for most wins in a season, and for most steeplechase wins overall


 * Twenty Grand: winner of the Kentucky Derby, Belmont, and Travers Stakes, also was champion 3-year-old and Horse of the Year of 1931


 * Two Lea: successful broodmare and filly winner of the Hollywood Gold Cup

U

 * Unbreakable: grandsire of great Native Dancer


 * Unbridled: winner of the Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic and sire of the champion sire Unbridled's Song


 * Unbridled's Song: Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, and sire of the great Arrogate

V

 * Vain: champion front runner; great, great grandsire of Black Caviar


 * Varenne: Italy's most famous harness horse


 * Vo Rouge: fast frontrunner and 3-time winner of the C F Orr Stakes, had the Vo Rogue Plate named in his honor


 * Voltaire: winner of the 1828 Doncaster Gold Cup

W

 * War Admiral: fourth U.S. Triple Crown winner (1937)


 * War Of Will: Winner of 2019 Preakness Stakes


 * Whistlejacket: Marquess of Rockingham's racehorse; painted by G. Stubbs (1762)


 * Winning Colors: third filly to win the Kentucky Derby (1988)


 * Winx: winner of 33 straight races, including the Cox Plate four times


 * Wise Dan: two-time American Horse of the Year (2012, 2013); won Breeders' Cup Mile twice (same years)


 * Whirlaway: fifth American Triple Crown winner


 * Whisk Broom II: first of four horses ever to win the New York Handicap Triple

X

 * Xaar: winner of Prix de Cabourg (1997), Prix de la Salamandre (1997)


 * Xtra Heat: champion 3-year-old filly of 2001, and the only filly to win the Endine stakes twice

Y

 * Yeats: only horse ever to win 4 Ascot Gold Cups, also won 3 other group 1 races


 * Your Host: winner of 1950 Santa Anita Derby, 1951 Santa Catalina Handicap, sire of the great Kelso

Z

 * Zabeel: New Zealand sire of Octagonal and Vengeance of Rain


 * Zaccio: three-time winner of the Outstanding Steeplechase horse award in the 80s


 * Zenyatta: won 19 of 20 starts; first mare to win the Breeders' Cup Classic (2009); first to win two different Breeders' Cup races (Ladies' Classic in 2008, Classic in 2009)


 * Zev: winner of the Belmont Stakes and the Kentucky Derby, as well as winner of a match race against Epsom Derby winner Papyrus


 * Zippy Chippy: infamous for racing 100 times and losing every single time

Competition horses

 * Big Ben, Canadian international show jumper and Olympian


 * Hickstead, Canadian international show jumper and Olympic individual show jumping gold medal winner

Huaso (1933 – August 24, 1961), famous Chilean jumping horse that still holds the record in highest jump: 2.47 m (8 ft $1 1/4$ in)
 * Midnight Sun, two-time Grand Champion and leading foundation sire of the Tennessee Walking Horse breed


 * Milton, British international show jumper and Olympian ridden by John Whitaker


 * Noble Flaire, Morgan horse who was the first to win three Park Harness World Championships at the American Morgan Horse World Championship Horse Show


 * Radium, outstanding campdrafter; influential sire in Australia


 * Seldom Seen, pony who successfully competed in dressage despite being unusually small


 * Snowman, former plough horse rescued from being butchered by rider Harry de Lyer; won the 1958 National Horse Show Open Jumper championship against professional and Olympic level competition; twice named the American Horse Shows Association Horse of the Year


 * Totilas, first horse to score above a 90 in dressage


 * Touch of Class, bay TB mare, ridden by Joe Fargis, won two gold medals in the 1984 Olympics


 * Valegro, current world record holder in dressage with 94,3% Royal Dutch Sport Horse, ridden by Charlotte Dujardin

Military horses

 * Babieca, horse of El Cid


 * Black Jack, the last Quartermaster-issued U.S. Army horse, died February 6, 1976


 * Blueskin, one of Washington's two primary mounts during the American Revolutionary War


 * Bucephalus, favorite horse of Alexander the Great; one of the most famous horses of antiquity; following his death after the Battle of Hydaspes in 326 BCE, Alexander promptly founded the city of Bucephala upon the spot in his memory


 * Chetak, war horse of Rana Pratap of Mewar in India; died defending its master in 1576 during the Battle of Haldighati


 * Cincinnati, one of Ulysses S. Grant's horses


 * Comanche, only documented survivor of General Custer's 7th Cavalry detachment at the Battle of Little Big Horn


 * Copenhagen, the Duke of Wellington's favourite horse, which he rode at the Battle of Waterloo


 * Dhūljānāḥ, the horse of Husayn ibn Ali in the Battle of Karbala


 * Favorito, the personal horse of Charles Albert of Savoy, King of Sardinia from 1831 to the king’s death in 1849


 * Kasztanka, horse of Józef Piłsudski, likely the most famous Polish horse


 * Llamrei, steed of King Arthur


 * Marengo, Napoleon's horse which was captured by the British, and outlived Napoleon by eight years


 * Matsukaze, personal horse of Maeda Keiji


 * Nelson, one of Washington's two primary mounts during the American Revolutionary War


 * Palomo, main horse of Simon Bolivar


 * Reckless, became a decorated Marine for carrying supplies and ammunition into battle for the US Marine platoon in the Korean War


 * Red Hare, also known as Chitu, Lü Bu's horse from the Three Kingdoms; inspired the phrase "Among men: Lü Bu. Among horses: Red Hare"


 * Sefton, survivor of the Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings in 1982


 * Streiff, horse of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden at the battle of Lützen (1632)


 * Tencendur, warhorse of King Charlemagne


 * Traveller, Robert E. Lee's horse


 * Veillantif, horse of Roland, a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne


 * Warrior, "Old Warrior", the mount of General Jack Seely in the First World War from 1914 to 1918; awarded the Dickin Medal in 2014


 * Zuljanah, horse of Hussein ibn Ali at the Battle of Karbala

Horses of various other fame

 * Bamboo Harvester, portrayed a talking horse in the title role of the TV series Mister Ed, retired in Shasta County


 * Brooklyn Supreme, said to be the largest horse in history


 * Burmese, favourite mount of Queen Elizabeth II; a gift from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police


 * Buttermilk, Dale Evans' horse


 * Champion, Gene Autry's horse


 * Clever Hans, a smart horse


 * Darley Arabian, Godolphin Arabian and Byerly Turk, stallions from whom all Thoroughbreds are descended


 * Figure (also known by the name of one of his owners, Justin Morgan), the foundation sire of the Morgan horse breed


 * Gun Rock, the offspring of Man O' War used in the 1920s at UC Davis to breed horses for the U.S. Army Cavalry


 * Hollywood Dun It, all-time leading reining sire and Quarter Horse


 * Huaso, Chilean-bred horse; holder of the high jump world record set in Chile on February 5 of 1949, one of the world's longest unbroken sport records


 * Incitatus, Emperor Caligula's favorite horse; may have been made a senator


 * Jim, former milk cart horse used to produce diphtheria antitoxin; contamination of this antitoxin inspired the Biologics Control Act of 1902


 * King, a foundation sire of the Quarter Horse breed


 * Marocco or Bankes's Horse, a late 16th- and early 17th-century English performing horse


 * Muhamed, German horse allegedly capable of solving cubic roots


 * Popcorn Deelites, the main horse who played Seabiscuit in the Oscar Nominated film Seabiscuit


 * Prometea, born May 28, 2003, the first cloned horse and the first to be born from and carried by its cloning mother


 * Rugged Lark, famous quarter horse owned by Carol Harris


 * Sampson, the tallest horse ever recorded; a Shire; stood 21.2½ hands high


 * Thunder, Red Ryder's horse


 * Traveler, mascot of the University of Southern California


 * Trigger, Roy Rogers' Palomino


 * Zippo Pine Bar