31 Horse monuments

Alydar was a chestnut colt and an American Thoroughbred race horse who was most famous for finishing a close second to Affirmed in all three races of the 1978 Triple Crown. With each successive race, Alydar narrowed Affirmed's margin of victory; Affirmed won by 1.5 lengths in the Kentucky Derby, by a neck in the Preakness and by a head in the Belmont Stakes. Alydar has been described as the best horse in the history of Thoroughbred racing never to have won a championship. Alydar's fame continued when he got older. He died under suspicious circumstances.

American Pharoah is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the American Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2015. He was the 12th Triple Crown winner in history, and in winning all four races, became the first horse to win the Grand Slam of Thoroughbred racing. He won the 2015 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year and 2015 Champion three-year-old. He was bred and owned throughout his racing career by Ahmed Zayat of Zayat Stables, trained by Bob Baffert, and ridden in most of his races by Victor Espinoza. He now stands at stud at Ashford Stud in Kentucky.

Aristides (1872–1893) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that won the first Kentucky Derby in 1875.

Barbaro was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who decisively won the 2006 Kentucky Derby, but shattered his leg two weeks later in the 2006 Preakness Stakes, which ended his racing career and eventually led to his death.

Burmese (1962–1990), a black RCMP Police Service Horse (PSH) mare, was given to Queen Elizabeth II by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and ridden by the Queen for Trooping the Colour for eighteen consecutive years from 1969 to 1986. She was trained and presented by RCMP Staff Sergeant Fred Rasmussen in 1969.

Cigar, was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Originally campaigned on turf tracks he showed useful but unremarkable form, but he emerged as an outstanding performer when switched to racing on dirt in 1995. In 1996, he became the first American racehorse racing against top-class competition to win 16 consecutive races since Triple Crown winner Citation did so between 1948 and 1950. Cigar retired as the leading money earner in Thoroughbred racing history and was later inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. After his retirement from racing he stood as a breeding stallion but proved to be infertile and was quickly retired from stud duties. He nevertheless enjoyed a long retirement at Kentucky Horse Park before dying at the age of 24.

Citation was an American Triple Crown-winning Thoroughbred racehorse who won 16 consecutive races in major stakes race competition. He was the first horse in history to win one million dollars.

Desert Orchid, known as Dessie, was an English racehorse. The grey achieved a revered and esteemed status within National Hunt racing, where he was much loved by supporters for his front-running attacking style, iron will and extreme versatility. He was rated the fifth best National Hunt horse of all time by Timeform. During his racing career he was partnered by five different jump jockeys: Colin Brown, Richard Linley, Simon Sherwood, Graham Bradley and Richard Dunwoody.

Domino (1891–1897) was a 19th-century American thoroughbred race horse.

Fair Play was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who was successful on the track, but even more so when retired to stud. He is best known as the sire of Man o' War, widely considered one of the greatest American racehorses of all time. On the racetrack, Fair Play was known for his rivalry with the undefeated Colin, to whom he finished second in the Belmont Stakes. Later, Fair Play was the leading sire in North America of 1920, 1924 and 1927, and the leading broodmare sire of 1931, 1934 and 1938. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1956.

Funny Cide is a Thoroughbred race horse who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in 2003. He is the first New York-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby and the first gelding to win since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929. He was an immensely popular horse and remains a fan favorite in retirement at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Fusaichi Pegasus is an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for winning the Kentucky Derby in 2000.

Gunsynd was a champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who won 29 races and A$280,455 in prize money. In his seven starts over one mile he was only once defeated, by half-a-head in the Epsom Handicap.

Imp (1894–1909) was a pure black Thoroughbred racing filly with a white, diamond-shaped star between her eyes. She was sired by Wagner (GB) out of Fondling and was foaled on March 5, 1894. Owned and bred by Daniel R. Harness of Chillicothe, Ohio, and trained by both Charles E. Brossman and Peter Wimmer, Imp's male line of descent was the great Eclipse. Imp, nicknamed "My Coal Black Lady" after a popular song of the day, was a bit of a homely-looking thing, the daughter of parents who each raced only once. Her sire won the Wilton Park Stakes in England but her dam was injured in her only start.

John Henry was an American champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was sired by Ole Bob Bowers out of Once Double. John Henry had 39 wins with $6,591,860 in earnings, was twice voted the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year, and was listed as #23 on Blood Horse magazine's Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century.

Kincsem was a Thoroughbred race horse who has the most wins of any unbeaten horse in the history of the sport, having won 54 races from 54 starts. The next closest such record belongs to Black Caviar, with an unbeaten record of 25 wins from 25 starts. Foaled in Kisbér, Hungary in 1874, Kincsem is a national icon, and is widely considered one of the top racehorses of the 19th century.

Makybe Diva is a British-bred, Australian-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who became the first horse to win the Melbourne Cup on three occasions. In 2005, she also won the Cox Plate. Upon her retirement from racing in November 2005, Makybe Diva was the highest stakes-earner in Australian horse racing history, finishing with winnings of more than A$14 million. She is one of only five horses to have won the Cup more than once, and the only mare among the list of multiple winners. She is also one of only 14 female horses to have won the Cup.

Man o' War was an American Thoroughbred who is widely considered one of the greatest racehorses of all time. Several sports publications, including The Blood-Horse, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and the (AP) Associated Press, voted Man o' War as the outstanding horse of the 20th century. During his racing career, just after World War I, Man o' War won 20 of 21 races and $249,465 in purses. He was the unofficial 1920 American horse of the year and was honored with Babe Ruth as the outstanding athlete of the year by The New York Times. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1957. On March 29, 2017, the museum opened a special exhibit in his honor, "Man o' War at 100".

Nashua was an American-born thoroughbred racehorse, best remembered for a 1955 match race against Swaps, the horse that had defeated him in the Kentucky Derby.

Northern Dancer was a Thoroughbred who in 1964 became the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. He then became one of the most successful sires of the 20th century. He is considered a Canadian icon, and was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1965. Induction into the Racing Hall of Fame in both Canada and the United States followed in 1976. As a competitor, The Blood-Horse ranked him as one of the top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred racehorses of the 20th century. As a sire of sires, his impact on the breed is still felt worldwide.

Phar Lap was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse whose achievements captured the Australian public's imagination during the early years of the Great Depression. Foaled in New Zealand, he was trained and raced in Australia by Harry Telford. Phar Lap dominated Australian racing during a distinguished career, winning a Melbourne Cup, two Cox Plates, an AJC Derby, and 19 other weight for age races. He then won the Agua Caliente Handicap in Tijuana, Mexico, in track-record time in his final race. After a sudden and mysterious illness, Phar Lap died in 1932 in Atherton, California. At the time, he was the third highest stakes-winner in the world.

Red Rum was a champion Thoroughbred steeplechaser. He achieved an unmatched historic treble when he won the Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977, and also came second in the two intervening years, 1975 and 1976. The Grand National is a notoriously difficult race that has been described as "the ultimate test of a horse’s courage". He was also renowned for his jumping ability, having not fallen in 100 races.

Sea Hero was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1993 Kentucky Derby and Travers Stakes. Beginning in 2011, Sea Hero was the oldest living winner of the Kentucky Derby until his death in 2019.

Seabiscuit was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money winning racehorse up to the 1940s, as noted in films and books. He beat the 1937 Triple-Crown winner, War Admiral, by 4 lengths in a 2-horse special at Pimlico and was voted American Horse of the Year for 1938.

Secretariat was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who, in 1973, became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. His record-breaking victory in the Belmont Stakes, which he won by 31 lengths, is widely regarded as one of the greatest races in history. During his racing career, he won five Eclipse Awards, including Horse of the Year honors at ages two and three. He was nominated to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1974. In the List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century, Secretariat is second only to Man o' War, who also was a large chestnut colt given the nickname "Big Red".

Silent Witness was an outstanding Thoroughbred racehorse who won his first 17 starts in sprint races in Hong Kong. He was ranked the world's top sprinter for three seasons.

Silky Sullivan was an American thoroughbred race horse best known for his come-from-behind racing style. His name is now a term used in sports and politics for someone who seems so far behind the competition that they cannot win, yet they do.

Sir Barton was a chestnut Thoroughbred race horse who in 1919 became the first winner of what would come to be known as the American Triple Crown.

Traveller (1857–1871) was Confederate General Robert E. Lee's most famous horse during the American Civil War. He was a grey American Saddlebred of 16 hands, notable for speed, strength and courage in combat. Lee acquired him in February 1862, and rode him in many battles. Traveller outlived Lee by only a few months, and had to be shot when he contracted untreatable tetanus.

Winx is a retired champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse. Between May 2015 and her retirement in April 2019, she won 33 consecutive races including 25 Group 1s, at distances ranging from 1300 metres to 2200 metres. In the World's Best Racehorse Rankings, she was the second-ranked filly or mare in 2015, improving in 2016 to become both the world's top-ranked filly or mare and the world's top-ranked turf horse. She retained this ranking in 2017 and in 2018 was co-ranked as the best horse in the world. In 2017 she was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, only the third horse to earn this honour while still in training. Over her career, she earned more than 26 million Australian dollars.

Zenyatta is a retired American Thoroughbred race horse mare, winner of 19 starts in a 20-race career. Her sole defeat came in her final race, the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic where she lost by a neck to Blame in an attempt to repeat her win in the 2009 event. Despite the loss, she was named the 2010 American Horse of the Year. She was also the American Champion Older Female Horse in 2008, 2009 and 2010. She was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2016.