A champion miler, Kingdom Bay would prove to be a very handy sire at stud

As a racehorse, Kingdom Bay competed among the very best of his generation at every stage of his career, finishing in the top three in 26 of his 37 starts. Out of the sire Otehi Bay (Biscay) via the mare Golden Praise by Golden Plume (GB), Kingdom Bay was breed by DW Worth and foaled August 1st, 1981. His Grandsire, Biscay was a champion sprinter who won 6 from 8, but his sire Star Kingdom (hence the name) was a super sire once imported from the UK to Australia in 1951. Star Kingdom was a tiny horse. His breeder literally shut the door on him at birth. But he went on to become one of the most brilliant sprinters of his generation. British breeders had no faith in him and allowed him to go to Australian breeders, and even many of the breeders in his adopted country doubted his ability to become a successful sire. As a sire in Australia, he proved his lack of inches did not equate to lack of prowess in siring top class individuals. Star Kingdom sired the winner of the first five Golden Slipper Stakes; Todman, Skyline, Find And Dandy, Sky High and Magic Night. Primarily a speed sire, his influence is still evident in thoroughbreds today.

Jack Taylor trained the horse from Stratford in the Taranaki, and Kingdom Bay debuted as a two-year-old at Wairarapa in October 1983, offering up a creditable 2nd place with Bill Skelton in the saddle. He followed that up with placings at Trentham and a 3rd in November before winning over 1000m at Te Rapa. The colt then won a Gr.2 2YO 1200m sprint at Wellington in January 1984 but wouldn't taste victory again until March at Taranaki. Resuming in the Spring, Kingdom Bay returned as a powerful three-year-old, winning at Fielding and Hastings and then running 2nd in a Group 2 event at Ellerslie.

Displaying his class from the outset, Kingdom Bay was a dual Group winner at two and a short head second in the G1 Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes. Trainer Jack Taylor mapped out a robust three-year-old career for the son of Otehi Bay, with Kingdom Bay’s wins that season including the Gr.1 New Zealand Two Thousand Guineas, Wellington Guineas and the Wellington Stakes as well as a stakes victory in Australia. At his best distance of 1600 metres, Kingdom Bay won a total of 13 races while his 8 seconds included Group One seconds in the QTC Elders Stakes (Stradbroke Hcp) behind the talented Kiwi, Canterbury Belle and AJC George Main Stakes.

Kingdom Bay began his stud career in the spring of 1986 at Jack and Kay O’Brien’s Sovereign Lodge at Ohau. Like his racing career, his stud success came early, with 20 winners, 3 of them stakes winners, emerging from Kingdom Bay’s first crop of just 26 starters. In the years since, Kingdom Bay left almost 300 winners of over 815 races through 11 countries,. Among Kingdom Bay’s 24 stakes winners were such talented gallopers as NZ Filly of the Year Snap, multiple Sydney Group One winner Kingston Bay and the Group One winning sprinter Lady Madonna. Kingdom Bay was New Zealand’s Champion Sire in the 1993-94 and 1995-96 seasons, becoming in the process the first horse bred or to have raced in New Zealand to take out this premier stallion award. Kingdom Bay passed in 2002 and was buried on the farm under an oak tree alongside the great Foxbridge and Alcimedes.

RACE RECORD - 37: 13-8-5

EARNINGS - $389,205

G1 Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes

G1 NZ Two Thousand Guineas

Wellington Guineas

Wellington Stakes