Sun Castle (1938 – March 1942) was a BritishThoroughbredracehorse who raced duringWorld War II and was best known for winning theclassicSt Leger in 1941. After showing promise as a two-year-old he finished third in the2000 Guineas the following spring but ran poorly when strongly-fancied for theNew Derby. He won a race atNewbury in August before taking the substitute New St Leger atManchester Racecourse. He died in the following spring after contactingtetanus.

Sun Castle was a good-looking^[1] bay horse bred atBeningbrough Hall stud inYorkshire byEnid Scudamore-Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield.^[2] He was sired byHyperion, who wonThe Derby and theSt Leger Stakes in 1933 and went on to become an internationally significant sire: Sun Castle's successes enabled Hyperion to claim the second of his sixsires' championships in 1945.^[3] Sun Castle's dam, Castle Gay, was a moderate racehorse, winning one minor race,^[4] but was a half-sister of theEclipse Stakes winner Loaningdale.^[5]

Sun Castle was scheduled to be sold at as ayearling at Doncaster in 1939 but was withdrawn from the sale whenWyndham Portal, 1st Viscount Portal bought a half share in the horse.^[1] Lord Portal, who owned Sun Castle throughout his racing career sent the colt to be trained at the Freemason Lodge stable inNewmarket, Suffolk byCecil Boyd-Rochfort.

Sun Castle's racing career took place duringWorld War II during which horse racing in Britain was subject to many restrictions. Several major racecourses, includingEpsom andDoncaster, were closed for the duration of the conflict, either for safety reasons, or because they were being used by the military. Many important races were rescheduled to new dates and venues, often at short notice, and all five of theClassics were usually run at Newmarket.^[6] Wartime austerity also meant that prize money was reduced: Sun Castle's St Leger was worth £3,550 compared to the £10,465 earned byScottish Union in 1939.^[7]

Sun Castle failed to win in two races as a two-year-old but showed promising form in defeat and was rated the fourth-best juvenile of the year in the Free Handicap.^[1]

On 30 April 1941, Sun Castle contested the 133rd running of the 2000 Guineas which was run over the July course atNewmarket rather than its traditional home on the Rowley Mile. He started at odds of14/1 and finished third of the nineteen runners, beaten two lengths and one and a half lengths by Lambert Simnel and Morogoro.^[8] with the favouriteOwen Tudor in fifth.

In the New Derby, run over one and a half miles at the same course on 18 June, Sun Castle started joint-second favourite behind Lambert Simnel in a twenty-runner field. He never looked likely to win and finished sixteenth behind Owen Tudor.^[9] At the end of August, Sun Castle won the St Simon Stakes (notthe current race of the same name) atNewbury Racecourse, beating Devonian and Masarin.^[10]

Doncaster Racecourse, the traditional home of the St Leger was unavailable for racing in 1941 and a substitute "New St Leger" was run over one mile six furlongs atManchester Racecourse in September. Ridden byGeorges Bridgland, Sun Castle started at odds of 10/1 in a field of sixteen runners which also included Owen Tudor, Lambert Simnel and the1000 Guineas winnerDancing Time. Sun Castle won by a head from Chateau Larose with Dancing Time a length away in third place.^[11] At the end of the year, he was rated the second-best three-year-old in Britain, four pounds behind Owen Tudor.^[12]

It was intended that Sun Castle would be kept in training in 1942 with the major staying races as his objectives. In March 1942, however he was destroyed after contractingtetanus as a result of a foot injury.^[13]

In their bookA Century of Champions, based on a modified version of theTimeform system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Sun Castle an "average" winner of the St Leger.^[7]

• 1938 racehorse births
• Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom
• Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom
• Thoroughbred family 22-a
• St Leger winners

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata