April Run (IRE)
April 21, 1978 – April 28, 1994
Run the Gantlet (USA) x April Fancy (IRE), by No Argument (GB)
Family 42
April 21, 1978 – April 28, 1994
Run the Gantlet (USA) x April Fancy (IRE), by No Argument (GB)
Family 42
One of the best American-raced runners by 1971 American champion turf male Run the Gantlet, April Run took on males as readily as females and was actually more successful against the supposed “stronger sex” at the top level. She was a disappointing broodmare in a breeding career marked by reproductive problems but left a mark on Thoroughbred breeding through her grandson Sir Cat, sire of seven champions in Chile and the broodmare sire of 2011 American champion juvenile male Hansen, now a multiple champion sire in Korea.
Race record
18 starts, 8 wins, 2 seconds, 4 thirds, US$1,092,514 (includes converted earnings from France and Japan)
1981:
1982:
Honors
Assessments
Rated at 123 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American turf females of 1981, 3 pounds below highweighted Kilijaro and 1 pound below the official divisional champion, De La Rose (a 3-year-old).
Highweighted at 128 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American turf females of 1982, 5 pounds above Ack's Secret and Sangue.
As an individual
A bay mare, April Run was a tough, consistent stayer. She could handle almost any conditions underfoot.
As a producer
April Run produced five named foals, of which four started and two won. Her important foals were as follow:
Connections
Foaled at Gilltown Stud, Ireland, April Run was bred by F. Feeney. She was owned by Diana Firestone and was trained by François Boutin. She was exported to Japan in 1992 and died there on April 28, 1994.
Pedigree
April Run is outcrossed through five generations. She is a full sister to Becky Branch, dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Honor Glide (by Honor Grades). April Run is also a half sister to Group 3-placed multiple stakes winner Northern View (by Northfields) and to French listed stakes winner Schezerade (by Tom Rolfe), dam of multiple French listed stakes winner Philanthrop (by Machiavellian), Japanese listed stakes winner Le Zele (by Zafonic), and French hurdle stakes winner Sunspot (by Peintre Celebre).
April Run is out of April Fancy (by the minor stakes winner No Argument), a half sister to 1977 Gladness Stakes (IRE-G3) winner Rare April (by Rarify). The sisters’ dam, April Slipper, was sired by 1955 Irish Derby winner Panaslipper from April View, by 1940 Jockey Club Cup winner Atout Maitre.
Fun facts
Last updated: October 25, 2025
Race record
18 starts, 8 wins, 2 seconds, 4 thirds, US$1,092,514 (includes converted earnings from France and Japan)
1981:
- Won Turf Classic Stakes (USA-G1, 12FT, Aqueduct)
- Won Prix Vermeille (FR-G1, Longchamp)
- Won Prix Cléopâtre (FR-G3, 2100mT, Saint-Cloud)
- Won Prix de Pomone (FR-G3, 2700mT, Deauville)
- 2nd Washington D. C. International Stakes (USA-G1, 12FT, Laurel)
- 3rd Prix de Diane de Revlon (FR-G1, 2100mT, Chantilly)
- 3rd Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (FR-G1, 2400mT, Longchamp)
1982:
- Won Turf Classic Stakes (USA-G1, 12FT, Aqueduct)
- Won Washington D. C. International Stakes (USA-G1, 12FT, Laurel)
- Won Prix Foy (FR-G3, 2400mT, Longchamp)
- 3rd Japan Cup (JPN-G1, 2400mT, Tokyo)
- 3rd Prix de Pomone (FR-G2, 2700mT, Deauville)
Honors
- French champion 3yo filly (1981)
- French champion older female (1982)
- Eclipse Award, American champion turf female (1982)
Assessments
Rated at 123 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American turf females of 1981, 3 pounds below highweighted Kilijaro and 1 pound below the official divisional champion, De La Rose (a 3-year-old).
Highweighted at 128 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American turf females of 1982, 5 pounds above Ack's Secret and Sangue.
As an individual
A bay mare, April Run was a tough, consistent stayer. She could handle almost any conditions underfoot.
As a producer
April Run produced five named foals, of which four started and two won. Her important foals were as follow:
- Spring Break (1985, by Cure the Blues) won one of her seven starts. She is the dam of multiple Group 3 winner Weekend Madness (by Dance of Life).
- Desert Run (1989, by Private Account) never raced but is the dam of 1996 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes (USA-G2) winner Sir Cat (by Storm Cat), a noteworthy sire in Chile whose 36 stakes winners are headed by 2010/11 Chilean Horse of the Year Ascot Prince.
Connections
Foaled at Gilltown Stud, Ireland, April Run was bred by F. Feeney. She was owned by Diana Firestone and was trained by François Boutin. She was exported to Japan in 1992 and died there on April 28, 1994.
Pedigree
April Run is outcrossed through five generations. She is a full sister to Becky Branch, dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Honor Glide (by Honor Grades). April Run is also a half sister to Group 3-placed multiple stakes winner Northern View (by Northfields) and to French listed stakes winner Schezerade (by Tom Rolfe), dam of multiple French listed stakes winner Philanthrop (by Machiavellian), Japanese listed stakes winner Le Zele (by Zafonic), and French hurdle stakes winner Sunspot (by Peintre Celebre).
April Run is out of April Fancy (by the minor stakes winner No Argument), a half sister to 1977 Gladness Stakes (IRE-G3) winner Rare April (by Rarify). The sisters’ dam, April Slipper, was sired by 1955 Irish Derby winner Panaslipper from April View, by 1940 Jockey Club Cup winner Atout Maitre.
Fun facts
- April Run filled out an exacta for her sire and for Irish breeding in the 1981 Washington D. C. International, as the winner, Providential, was also sired by Run the Gantlet and foaled in Ireland.
- April Run is the only horse descended in tail-female from Bruce Lowe Family 42 to have won an American championship. This probably reflects opportunity more than familial merit as Family 42 has always been a small family in numbers compared to virtually all of the more frequently seen dam lines.
Last updated: October 25, 2025