Study of Man (foaled 9 April 2015) is an Irish-bred, French-trained retiredThoroughbred racehorse and active breeding stallion. After winning his only race as a juvenile in 2017 he developed into a top-class performer in the following spring, finishing second in thePrix La Force and winning thePrix Greffulhe before recording his biggest victory in thePrix du Jockey Club. He never won again but ran second in both thePrix Ganay andPrix d'Ispahan as a four-year-old in 2019.

Study of Man is a bay horse with a small whitestar bred in Ireland by his owners Flaxman Stables, a company set up to manage the racing interests of theNiarchos family. He was sent into training withPascal Bary atChantilly and was ridden in all of his races byStéphane Pasquier.

He was from the eighth crop of foals sired by Deep Impact, who was theJapanese Horse of the Year in 2005 and 2006, winning races including theTokyo Yushun,Tenno Sho,Arima Kinen andJapan Cup. Deep Impact's other progeny includeGentildonna,Harp Star,Kizuna,A Shin Hikari,Marialite andSaxon Warrior.^[2] Study of Man's dam Second Happiness finished unplaced on her only start but was a daughter of the outstanding racehorse and broodmareMiesque.^[3]

Study of Man made his first and only appearance as a two-year-old in amaiden race over 1600 metres onheavy ground atSaint-Cloud Racecourse on 21 September. Starting at odds of4.4/1 in a twelve-runner field he started slowly but took the lead 300 metres from the finish and won "cosily" by twolengths from theFreddy Head-trained favourite Near Gold.^[4]

For his three-year-old debut Study of Man was stepped up in class and started favourite for theGroup 3Prix La Force over 1800 metres atLongchamp Racecourse on 10 April. After being restrained at the rear of the nine-runner field he made steady progress in the straight to take second place, one and a quarter lengths behind the British-trained winner Chilean. The Group 2 Prix Greffulhe over 2100 metres atSaint-Cloud Racecourse four weeks later saw the colt start 1.1/1 favourite ahead of three rivals, namely Alhadab (runner-up in thePrix Noailles), Alounak (aListed winner in Germany) and Assiro. Study of Man took an early lead before settling in second place behind Assiro. He regained the advantage 400 metres from the finish and drew away in the closing stages to win "readily" by three and a half lengths.^[5] The Niarchos family's racing manager Alan Cooper commented "Pascal Bary told me over the phone recently that Study of Man possesses a similar turn of foot to his grand-dam, Miesque, which gives us great encouragement. Stéphane Pasquier gave him a proper race because this is only his third start and, if we were going to go on to a major Group 1 next, he needed experience. I think he'll have learned from today".^[6]

On 3 June at Chantilly Study of Man started the 4/1 second favourite behind thePoule d'Essai des Poulains winnerOlmedo in the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club. The other fourteen runners included Key Victory (Newmarket Stakes), Rostropovich (Futurity Stakes,Dee Stakes), Dice Roll (Prix Djebel), Hey Gaman (Washington Singer Stakes) andIntellogent (Prix de Guiche). After settling in mid-division the colt moved up to join the leaders in the straight, took a narrow lead 200 metres out and kept on well to win by half a length from the outsider Patascay, with Louis d'Or and Intellogent close behind in third and fourth.^[7] After the race Pascal Bary said "Ever since he arrived in the yard, he's been a fantastic horse because he understands everything. He does everything well... To train him is a dream. The horse has more of a miler's pedigree than for a mile and a half, and if we're going to go up to that trip, we had to do it progressively. He's a young horse who'd run only three times, and so you mustn't ask the impossible straight away."^[8]

After a break of over two months, Study of Man returned in the Group 2Prix Guillaume d'Ornano over 2000 metres atDeauville Racecourse on 15 August. He started the 4/5 favourite but never looked likely to win as he came home third behind Knight To Behold and Patascay, beaten six lengths by the winner. One month later the colt started at odds of 8/1 for theIrish Champion Stakes atLeopardstown Racecourse in which he finished fifth of the seven runners behindRoaring Lion.^[9] Study of Man ended his season in thePrix de l'Arc de Triomphe over 2400 metres at Longchamp on 7 October and started a 40/1 outsider in a nineteen-runner field. After racing in mid-division he made some progress in the straight but faded in the last 200 metres and came home ninth, four and a half lengths behind the winnerEnable.^[10]

In the2018 World's Best Racehorse Rankings Study of Man was given a rating of 115, making him the 221st best racehorse in the world.^[11]

Study of Man began his third campaign in thePrix Ganay over 2100 metres at Longchamp on 28 April in which he ran second toWaldgeist withGhaiyyath, Soleil Marin (Prix Exbury) and Intellogent finishing behind.^[12] At the same track on 26 May the colt went off at odds of 4/1 for the 1800 metrePrix d'Ispahan in a nine-runner field. After being restrained in the early stages he kept on well in the straight to take second place, three quarters of a length behind the winnerZabeel Prince.^[13] In thePrix Messidor over 1600 metres at Deauville on 21 July Study of Man started the 1.3/1 favourite but was outpaced in the closing stages and finished third behind Impulsif and Trais Fluors. At the same track three weeks later the colt started second favourite for thePrix Jacques Le Marois but never looked likely to win and came home sixth of the eight runners behindRomanised.^[14]

In the2019 World's Best Racehorse Rankings Study of Man was given a rating of 115, making him the 201st best racehorse in the world.^[15]

At the end of his racing career Study of Man was retired to become a breeding stallion at the Lanwades Stud inNewmarket, Suffolk.^[16]

c =colt, f =filly, g =gelding

• Through his dam, Study of Man wasinbred 4 × 4 to Northern Dancer, meaning that this stallion appears twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.

• 2015 racehorse births
• Racehorses bred in Ireland
• Racehorses trained in France
• Thoroughbred family 20

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2022