Minardi (3 May 1998 – 30 October 2012) was an American-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse andsire. He was the top-rated European two-year-old in 2000 when he recovered from a defeat on his debut to win thePhoenix Stakes and theMiddle Park Stakes. In the following year he finished fourth in the2000 Guineas and third in theIrish 2,000 Guineas. He was retired to stud but had limited success as a breeding stallion.

Minardi was a brown horse with a whiteblaze bred in Kentucky by Indian Creek. He was sired by Boundary, a Kentucky-bred stallion who won six of his eight races includingGrade III victories in theRoseben Handicap and theA Phenomenon Handicap.^[2] As a breeding stallion he is best known as the sire ofBig Brown. Minardi's dam yarn won one minor race but became a very successful broodmare who also producedTale of the Cat (King's Bishop Stakes) and Myth, the dam ofJohannesburg. As a descendant of the broodmare Feola, she came from the same branch ofThoroughbred family 2-f which has produced numerous major winners includingRound Table,PebblesNashwan andDeep Impact.^[3]

As ayearling the colt was offered for sale at theKeeneland September sale and was bought for $1.65 million by the bloodstock agent Dermot "Demi" O'Byrne on behalf ofJohn Magnier's Coolmore organisation.^[4] He was sent to Europe and entered training withAidan O'Brien atBallydoyle. Like may Coolmore horses the details of the colt's ownership changed from race to race: he was sometimes listed as being owned byMichael Tabor whilst on others occasions he ran for the partnership of Tabor and Sue Magnier. He was ridden in all but two of his races byMick Kinane.

Minardi was sent to England for his racecourse debut and started5/4 favourite for a sixfurlongmaiden race atAscot Racecourse on 29 July. He proved no match for thePaul Cole-trained Rumpold and finished second, beaten fivelengths. Despite his defeat the colt was stepped up sharply in class for theGroup One Phoenix Stakes atLeopardstown Racecourse two weeks later. He had not been an intended runner in the race but took his place after his more highly regarded stablemateFreud was withdrawn. The filly Dora Carrington (winner of theCherry Hinton Stakes) started 5/2 favourite with Minardi joint second choice in the betting on 7/2 alongsideSuperstar Leo. Kinane settled the colt in fourth as the outsider Longueville Legend set the pace before moving up to take the lead a furlong and a half from the finish. He accelerated clear of his rivals in the closing stages to win by five lengths from Superstar Leo despite being eased down by Kinane in the final strides.^[5] The runner-up was later votedCartier Champion Two-year-old Filly for 2000. His victory was described as "a stunning display" by theRacing Post.^[6] After the race Aidan O'Brien commented "Ascot was a blip on Minardi's record. He'd always worked very well and we thought he would burn up the course. Minardi will now have a break before coming back for theDewhurst and similar races.^[7]

On 28 September Minardi was sent back to England for the Middle Park Stakes atNewmarket Racecourse and started the 5/6 favourite in a ten runner field. His principal rivals appeared to be Bad As I Wanna Be (Prix Morny), Endless Summer (Richmond Stakes) and Baaridd (Ripon Champion Two Years Old Trophy) whilst the other runners included Bannister (Gimcrack Stakes), Ghayth (third in theChampagne Stakes), Pomfret Lad (runner-up in theMill Reef Stakes) and Bram Stoker (runner-up in theCoventry Stakes). Minardi started slowly and raced towards the rear of the field as the early pace was set by the outsiders Joplin and Red Carpet. The favourite made rapid progress to take the lead approaching the final furlong and stayed on to win by one and a half lengths and won by one and a half lengths from Endless Summer, with Red Carpet taking third ahead of Bad As I Wanna Be.^[8] According to the Racing Post he "outclassed one of the most competitive Middle Park fields we've seen in recent years".^[9] British bookmakers responded by making the colt favourite for the following year's2000 Guineas^[10] Endless Summer was later disqualified in unusual circumstances when it was revealed that he had been foaled prematurely on 27 December 1997: he was therefore technically a three-year-old and ineligible to contest the race.

It was expected that Minardi would end his season in theDewhurst Stakes over seven furlongs at Newmarket but was ruled out of the race after showing signs of respiratory infection.^[11]

In the official International Classification for 2000, Minardi was rated the best two-year-old colt in Europe.^[12]

On his first appearance of the 2001 season, Minardi was sent to England again to contest the2000 Guineas over Newmarket's Rowley Mile course on 5 May and started the 5/1 second favourite behindTobougg in an eighteen-runner field. After being held up in the early stages he struggled to obtain a clear run in the final furlong before staying on to finish fourth behindGolan, Tamburlaine and Frenchmans Bay. Three weeks later he started 2/1 favourite for theIrish 2,000 Guineas at theCurragh but after taking second place in the straight he was unable to make further progress and finished third behind his stablematesBlack Minnaloushe andMozart.^[13]

Minardi made little impact in three subsequent races starting with theSt James's Palace Stakes in which he finished eighth behind Black Minnaloushe. He was then moved back to sprint distances and finished sixth in thePrix Maurice de Gheest and ninth in theHaydock Sprint Cup.

At the end of his racing career Minardi was retired to become a breeding stallion. He stood in Europe and North America before being exported to New Zealand in 2006. He died on 30 October 2012.^[14] The best of his progeny were My Sweet Baby (Premio Regina Elena) and Ballet Pacifica (Prix Madame Jean Coturie).^[15]

• 1998 racehorse births
• 2012 racehorse deaths
• Racehorses bred in Kentucky
• Racehorses trained in Ireland
• Thoroughbred family 2-f

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata