Kris (horse)

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Kris (1976-2004) was a racehorse owned and bred by the 9th Baron Howard de Walden, and trained by Henry Cecil. He was sired by Sharpen Up out of the mare Doubly Sure. Kris ran four times as a two-year-old, winning all starts, including the Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes at Newbury.

In his three-year-old season, Kris won the Group 3 Greenham Stakes at Newbury and subsequently finished second in the 2,000 Guineas to Tap On Wood. He went on to win the St. James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and beat the older horses in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes at Goodwood. Kris returned to Goodwood a few weeks later to take the Group 2 Celebration Mile and went on to win the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot. He finished off the 1979 season with an easy victory in the Challenge Stakes at Newmarket.

As a four-year-old, Kris won the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury and finished his racing career at Ascot where he was denied a second successive Queen Elizabeth II Stakes by that season’s 2,000 Guineas winner, Known Fact.

Kris ran 16 times in all and won 14 races, being placed second on the two occasions he was beaten. His full-brother Diesis was a leading two-year-old in 1982.

As a stallion Kris sired Oh So Sharp, winner of the 1,000 Guineas, Epsom Oaks and St. Leger in 1985, and Unite, winner of the Epsom Oaks in 1987.