Canebora (CAN)
May 23, 1960 – c. 1972
Navy Page (USA) or Canadian Champ (CAN) x Menebora (CAN), by Ménétrier (FR)
Family 12
May 23, 1960 – c. 1972
Navy Page (USA) or Canadian Champ (CAN) x Menebora (CAN), by Ménétrier (FR)
Family 12
Canebora both is and is not the first Canadian Triple Crown winner to be sired by a Canadian Triple Crown winner, as his putative sire Canadian Champ swept through the three races constituting the modern Canadian Triple Crown series (the King’s/Queen’s Plate, the Prince of Wales Stakes, and the Breeders’ Stakes) before they were officially linked in 1959. He was not as talented as Canadian Champ had been, and Canebora’s failure as a sire brought to an end a tenuous Canadian branch of the Fair Play line extending through the great stallion’s grandson Bunty Lawless.
Race record
31 starts, 10 wins, 5 seconds, 6 thirds, US$141,414 (includes converted Canadian earnings)
1962:
1963:
1964:
Honors
Assessments
Rated at 115 pounds on the Canadian Free Handicap for juveniles of 1962, 7 pounds below highweighted Aim n Fire.
Highweighted at 126 pounds on the Canadian Free Handicap for 3-year-olds of 1963, 2 pounds above second-rated Dr. Giddings.
Rated at 114 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1963, 14 pounds below champion Chateaugay.
Rated at 116 pounds on the Canadian Free Handicap for turf runners of 1964, 11 pounds below highweighted Will I Rule.
As an individual
A brown horse, Canebora was considered plain but was also said to resemble his putative sire, Canadian Champ, in markings and manners.
As a stallion
According to statistics compiled by the Jockey Club, Canebora sired 25 winners (53.2%) and one stakes winners (2.1%) from 47 named foals of racing age.
Connections
Foaled at Windfields Farm in Ontario, Canebora was bred and owned by E. P. Taylor. He was trained by Gordon “Pete” McCann and was ridden to his wins in the Queen’s Plate and Breeders’ Stakes by Manuel Ycaza; in between, Hugh Dittfach rode him to victory in the Prince of Wales Stakes. Canebora’s last known foals were registered in 1973.
Pedigree notes
Canebora is inbred 5x5 to the great twentieth century matriarch Plucky Liege. He is a full brother to Chambora, third dam of Grade 3 winner Princess Mora. The siblings are out of the winner Menebora, whose dam La Bora (by 1945 Poule d’Essai des Poulains/French Two Thousand Guineas winner Mistral) is a half sister to 1956 French champion 3-year-old male Tanerko (by Tantieme) and to Clair Soleil (by Maravedis), a stakes winner on the flat and over jumps in France. La Bora is also a half sister to stakes-placed Lucinda (by Jock), dam of French stakes winners Datour (by Tourbillon) and Lucidon (by Alycidon), and to Chamine (by Chamossaire), dam of Italian stakes winner Chaumont (by Fortino).
La Divine, the dam of La Bora and her siblings, is an unraced half sister to Chanteur II, a good stakes winner in both England and France and the English/Irish champion general sire of 1953. She is by Fair Copy (by Fairway), a fairly moderate racehorse but the French champion sire of 1952, out of La Diva, whose sire Blue Skies (by Blandford) was a stakes winner and useful sire in France.
Fun facts
Last updated: January 6, 2022
Race record
31 starts, 10 wins, 5 seconds, 6 thirds, US$141,414 (includes converted Canadian earnings)
1962:
- Won Carleton Stakes (CAN, 7FD, Old Woodbine)
- 3rd Coronation Futurity (CAN, 9FD, Woodbine)
- 3rd Clarendon Stakes (CAN, 5.5FD, Woodbine)
1963:
- Won Queen's Plate (CAN, 10FD, Woodbine)
- Won Prince of Wales Stakes (CAN, 11FT, Fort Erie)
- Won Breeders' Stakes (CAN, 12FT, Woodbine)
- Won Plate Trial Stakes (CAN, 8.5FD, Woodbine)
- 2nd Seagram Cup Handicap (CAN, 8.5FD, Woodbine)
- 3rd Durham Cup Handicap (CAN, 10FD, Woodbine)
1964:
- Won Ultimus Handicap (CAN, 8FD, Greenwood)
- 2nd Seagram Cup Handicap (CAN, 10FT, Woodbine)
- 2nd Kingarvie Stakes (CAN, 9FD, Woodbine)
- 2nd Canadian Championship Stakes (CAN, 13FT, Woodbine)
Honors
- Canadian Horse of the Year (1963)
- Canadian champion 3-year-old male (1963)
Assessments
Rated at 115 pounds on the Canadian Free Handicap for juveniles of 1962, 7 pounds below highweighted Aim n Fire.
Highweighted at 126 pounds on the Canadian Free Handicap for 3-year-olds of 1963, 2 pounds above second-rated Dr. Giddings.
Rated at 114 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1963, 14 pounds below champion Chateaugay.
Rated at 116 pounds on the Canadian Free Handicap for turf runners of 1964, 11 pounds below highweighted Will I Rule.
As an individual
A brown horse, Canebora was considered plain but was also said to resemble his putative sire, Canadian Champ, in markings and manners.
As a stallion
According to statistics compiled by the Jockey Club, Canebora sired 25 winners (53.2%) and one stakes winners (2.1%) from 47 named foals of racing age.
Connections
Foaled at Windfields Farm in Ontario, Canebora was bred and owned by E. P. Taylor. He was trained by Gordon “Pete” McCann and was ridden to his wins in the Queen’s Plate and Breeders’ Stakes by Manuel Ycaza; in between, Hugh Dittfach rode him to victory in the Prince of Wales Stakes. Canebora’s last known foals were registered in 1973.
Pedigree notes
Canebora is inbred 5x5 to the great twentieth century matriarch Plucky Liege. He is a full brother to Chambora, third dam of Grade 3 winner Princess Mora. The siblings are out of the winner Menebora, whose dam La Bora (by 1945 Poule d’Essai des Poulains/French Two Thousand Guineas winner Mistral) is a half sister to 1956 French champion 3-year-old male Tanerko (by Tantieme) and to Clair Soleil (by Maravedis), a stakes winner on the flat and over jumps in France. La Bora is also a half sister to stakes-placed Lucinda (by Jock), dam of French stakes winners Datour (by Tourbillon) and Lucidon (by Alycidon), and to Chamine (by Chamossaire), dam of Italian stakes winner Chaumont (by Fortino).
La Divine, the dam of La Bora and her siblings, is an unraced half sister to Chanteur II, a good stakes winner in both England and France and the English/Irish champion general sire of 1953. She is by Fair Copy (by Fairway), a fairly moderate racehorse but the French champion sire of 1952, out of La Diva, whose sire Blue Skies (by Blandford) was a stakes winner and useful sire in France.
Fun facts
- Canebora’s dam was covered by both Navy Page and Canadian Champ during the breeding season in which he was conceived. By convention. the last stallion to cover the mare during the breeding season was considered the foal’s sire, since it was presumed that the mare would not have come back into heat had the service by her first mate engendered a pregnancy. Modern DNA testing is now used to resolve paternity in cases of covers by different sires during the same breeding season
- Canebora was offered for CAN$7,500 at Taylor’s annual pre-priced sale for his yearlings bred at Windfields, but there were no takers.
- Canebora’s path to victory in the Queen’s Plate was made easier about three weeks before the race, when Jet Traffic was disqualified from entry because his nomination was made by someone who technically did not have the authority to enter him. A winner of three stakes in the United States at 2 and 3, Jet Traffic would likely have been the favorite for the Plate.
- After Canebora’s win in the Queen’s Plate, E. P. Taylor was roundly booed while standing in the winner’s circle with him. The reason was that he had made an eleventh-hour decision to take local jockey Hugh Dittfach off the colt and replace him with Ycaza, shifting Dittfach to his second-string entry. Dittfach was popular with Toronto racing fans and had previously had success with Canebora, and he would ride Canebora to victory in the Prince of Wales Stakes, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, before being replaced again by Ycaza for the third leg, the Breeders’ Stakes.
- Canebora hated the sound of the bugle calling the horses to the post. According to Tom Cosgrove (“How E. P. Taylor Saved Ontario Horse Racing,” www.theglobeandmail.com, August 17, 2017), when Canebora raced in the Queen’s Plate, the bugle call was omitted from the pre-race ceremonies in deference to his aversion.
- Canebora is the only horse to win the Canadian Triple Crown that has not gained admission to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
- Canebora is one of three official Triple Crown winners bred by E. P. Taylor, who also bred 1959 Canadian Triple Crown winner New Providence and 1970 English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky II. Taylor also bred Canadian Champ, who as previously noted won the three races of the Canadian Triple Crown before they were linked as a series.
Last updated: January 6, 2022