Fraise

Fraise (1988–2005) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1992 Breeders' Cup Turf.

Background

Fraise was a bay horse bred by Allen E. Paulson. He was sired by Strawberry Road, the 1983 Australian Horse of the Year which Paulson acquired in 1986. His dam, Zalataia, acquired by Paulson in 1983, raced in France and the United States, notably winning the Grand Prix de Deauville and the Grade I Oak Tree Invitational Stakes.

Fraise, which is French for strawberry, was raced by Madeleine Paulson, who won the colt on a wager with her husband by beating him in a golf game.

Racing career

Trained for racing on turf by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Bill Mott, Fraise did not race at age two but made ten starts in 1991 at age three, notably winning the Round Table Handicap at Chicago's Arlington Park. Age four was Fraise's best year in racing when he won five of his ten starts. He got his first Grade I win in the Sword Dancer Handicap at Saratoga Race Course. On October 31, 1992 the mile-and-a-half Breeders' Cup Turf was hosted by Gulfstream Park Racetrack in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Facing a top class international field, Fraise was sent off at odds of 14:1. He was up against the even-money favorite from Canada, Sky Classic, that year's winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Subotica, and two Epsom Derby winners, Dr Devious (1992) and Quest for Fame (1991). Ridden by Pat Valenzuela Fraise was in sixth place with half a mile to go, but made strong progress in the straight to win by a nose from the long time leader Sky Classic.

Fraise returned to racing at age five, winning the Grade II Pan American Handicap at Gulfstream Park in Florida and the Grade I Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes at Hollywood Park Racetrack in California. At age six, Fraise won his second consecutive Pan American Handicap before being sold to Japanese interests.

Retirement

In Japan, Fraise was raced only briefly before being retired to stud duty, at which he was unsuccessful. Eventually gelded, he was used as a lesson horse at the Olympic Riding Club in Chiba, Japan. In the summer of 2005, original owner Madeleine Paulson provided the Old Friends Equine retirement facility in Georgetown, Kentucky with a substantial gift to enable them to acquire the horse, bring him home from Japan, and look after him during his retirement years.

On November 7, 2005, the seventeen-year-old Fraise died suddenly from a ruptured blood vessel in his abdomen. He was cremated and his remains were interred in the Old Friends Dream Chase Farm cemetery.

References

• Fraise's memorial page at Old Friends Equine
• Video at YouTube of Fraise winning the 1992 Breeders' Cup Turf