Nearctic (February 11, 1954 – July 27, 1973) was a Canadian-bred Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse.

Background

Bred by E. P. Taylor,^[1] he was out of the Irish mare Lady Angela, a daughter of the British Champion sire Hyperion.^[2] He was sired by the extremely important stallion Nearco.^[1]

Racing career

Conditioned for racing by future Canadian Hall of Fame trainer "Pete" McCann,^[2] Nearctic had his most successful season on the track at age four, when he won nine races and was voted Canadian Horse of the Year.^[1]

Stud record

Retired to stand at stud at Windfields Farm^[1] in Oshawa, Ontario. In 1967 he was syndicated for $1,050,000(US) and was moved to stand at Allaire du Pont's Woodstock Farm at Chesapeake City, Maryland. An outstanding stallion, Nearctic sired Kentucky Derby winner and the 20th century's greatest sire Northern Dancer.^[2] He also sired Icecapade, Ice Water, Nonoalco, Northern Queen, and Canadian Hall of Fame inductee, Cool Reception.

Over and above the many highly successful sons of Northern Dancer, Nearctic was the grandsire of Northern Taste, Wild Again, Fanfreluche, Izvestia, and Son of Briartic, among others. He was also the damsire of Kennedy Road and the Canadian and U.S. Hall of Fame filly La Prevoyante.

Nearctic appears four generations back on both sides (dam and sire) of multiple graded stakes winning including Kentucky Derby champion thoroughbred race horse Big Brown.

Nearctic euthanized at Woodstock Farm at age nineteen^[2] on July 27, 1973. He is buried in the farm's equine cemetery.^[3]

Pedigree

• Nearctic was inbred 4 x 4 to the stallion Chaucer, meaning that the latter appears twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.