Refuse To Bend

Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Refuse To Bend
Sire	Sadler's Wells
Grandsire	Northern Dancer
Dam	Market Slide
Damsire	Gulch
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	17 March 2000^[1]
Country	Ireland
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Moyglare Stud Farm
Owner	Moyglare Stud Farm Godolphin Racing (2004)
Trainer	Dermot K. Weld Saeed bin Suroor (2004)
Record	15: 7-0-1
Earnings	£780,896
Major wins
National Stakes (2002) Leopardstown 2,000 Guineas Trial (2003) 2000 Guineas (2003) Desmond Stakes (2003) Queen Anne Stakes (2004) Eclipse Stakes (2004)
Last updated on 7 September 2007

Refuse To Bend (17 March 2000 – 10 February 2012) was a Thoroughbred racehorse and sire.

Background

Refuse To Bend was a bay horse with a white star and white socks on his hind legs bred by his owner the Swiss businessman Walter Haefner at his Moyglare Stud Farm near the town of Maynooth, County Kildare, in Ireland. He was sired by the Champion Sire Sadler's Wells. His dam, Market Slide was a daughter of Gulch, the 1988 U.S. Champion Sprint Horse. Market Slide had previously produced the Melbourne Cup winner, Media Puzzle,^[2]

Racing career

Refuse To Bend made his debut in August 2002 in Gowran, Ireland at Gowran Park, winning a Maiden race by four lengths. He then moved up to compete against top-level colts in the National Stakes at the Curragh Racecourse. A win in that race and another in the following spring's 2,000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown Racecourse made him a contender for the 2003 British Classic Races.

Ridden by regular jockey Pat Smullen, Refuse To Bend won the first Classic of the 2003 season, the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket Racecourse. Still undefeated, he started 11/4 favourite for the 2003 Epsom Derby as the betting favourite but finished thirteenth behind winner Kris Kin. Refuse To Bend went on to win the Group III Desmond Stakes but was unplaced in two other races. At the end of the year, he was sold to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.

At age four, under trainer Saeed bin Suroor and jockey Frankie Dettori, Refuse To Bend came back to win two Group I races. He defeated Warrsan in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park and in the Queen Anne Stakes, he beat both the top mare Soviet Song and the 2003 Breeders' Cup Mile champion, Six Perfections

Stud record

Refuse to Bend was retired at the end of the 2004 racing season. He stood at Darley's Kildangan Stud, in Kildangan, County Kildare, Ireland and Whitsbury Manor Stud.^[2] Later he was transferred to Normandy.^[2] His first crop of foals were born in 2006. His most known offspring are the French-trained Group 1 winners Sarafina and Wavering.^[2]

Refuse To Bend died of a heart attack at the age of 12 at Haras du Logis in Normandy on 10 February 2012.^[2]

Pedigree

Pedigree of Refuse To Bend (IRE) chestnut stallion 2000^[1]
Sire Sadler's Wells (USA) 1981	Northern Dancer (CAN) 1961	Nearctic	Nearco
		Nearctic	Lady Angela
		Natalma	Native Dancer
		Natalma	Almahmoud
	Fairy Bridge (USA) . 1975	Bold Reason	Hail to Reason
		Bold Reason	Lalun
		Special	Forli
		Special	Thong
Dam Market Slide (USA) 1991	Gulch (USA) 1984	Mr. Prospector	Raise a Native
		Mr. Prospector	Gold Digger
		Jameela	Rambunctious
		Jameela	Asbury Mary
	Grenzen (USA) 1975	Grenfall	Graustark
		Grenfall	Primonetta
		My Poly	Cyclotron
		My Poly	Polywich (family: 10-a)

References

^ ^a ^b "FREE 5-Cross Pedigree". Equineline.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Refuse To Bend dies at 12". Owners and Breeders. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2013.