{{Short description|American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse}}
{{Infobox racehorse | horsename = Be My Native | image_name = | caption = | sire = [[Our Native]] | grandsire = [[Exclusive Native]] | dam = Witchy Woman | damsire = Strate Stuff | sex = Stallion | foaled = 16 February 1979<ref name="pedigree">{{cite web|url=https://www.equineline.com/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm?page_state=ORDER_AND_CONFIRM&reference_number=770347®istry=T&horse_name=Be%20My%20Native&dam_name=Witchy%20Woman&foaling_year=1979&nicking_stats_indicator=Y|title=Be My Native pedigree |publisher=Equineline |date=2012-05-08 |accessdate=2013-05-05}}</ref> | country = [[United States]] | colour = [[Bay (horse)|Brown]] | breeder = Rowland W. Hancock | owner = K Hsu | trainer = [[Robert Armstrong (racehorse trainer)|Robert Armstrong]] | record = 21: 3-4-4 | earnings = | race = [[Prix La Force]] (1982)<br>[[Coronation Cup]] (1983) |awards= [[Timeform]] rating 115 (1981),<ref name="Timeform1981">{{cite book |author=Timeform staff| title=Racehorses of 1981| publisher=Timeform|year=1982|isbn=0-900599-33-2}}</ref> 121 (1982),<ref name="Timeform1982">{{cite book |author=Timeform staff| title=Racehorses of 1982| publisher=Timeform|year=1983|isbn=0-900599-35-9}}</ref> 122 (1983)<ref name="Timeform1983">{{cite book|author=Timeform staff| title=Racehorses of 1983| publisher=Timeform|year=1984|isbn =0-900599-40-5}}</ref> |honours = |updated= }}
'''Be My Native''' (foaled 16 February 1979) was an American-bred, British-trained [[Thoroughbred]] racehorse and [[Horse breeding#Termimology|sire]]. As a two-year-old he won one minor race but established himself as a potentially top class horse by finishing second in the [[Dewhurst Stakes]]. In the following year he won the [[Prix La Force]] but produced his most notable performance when finishing runner-up in the second running of the [[Arlington Million]]. He recorded his biggest career win as a four-year-old when he won the [[Coronation Cup]]. Apart from the aforementioned races he was placed in the [[Sandown Classic Trial]], [[Dante Stakes]], [[La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte]] and [[Hardwicke Stakes]]. After his retirement from racing he became a very successful sire of [[National Hunt]] horses.
==Background== Be My Native was a "neat, attractive"<ref name="Timeform1982"/> brown horse bred in [[Kentucky]] by Rowland W. Hancock. He was sired by Our Native, whose wins included the [[Flamingo Stakes]], [[Ohio Derby]] and [[Haskell Invitational Stakes|Monmouth Invitational Handicap]] in 1973. The best of Our Native's other progeny included I'm Splendid ([[Hollywood Starlet Stakes]]) and Rockhill Native ([[Blue Grass Stakes]]). Be My Native's dam was the Florida-bred mare Witchy Woman who was descended from Schwester, a full-sister to [[Equipoise (horse)|Equipoise]].<ref name="tbl">{{cite web |url=http://www.bloodlines.net/TB/Families/Family5j.htm |title=Thoroughbred Bloodlines - Miami - Family 5-j |publisher=Bloodlines.net |date= |accessdate=2012-12-29 |archive-date=2016-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160712123811/http://www.bloodlines.net/TB/Families/Family5j.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
As a [[yearling (horse)|yearling]] Be My Native was consigned to the [[Keeneland]] September sale and was bought for $45,000 by the bloodstock agent Tote Cherry-Downes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.equineline.com/Free-Auction-Results.cfm?upsellReferenceNumber=&upsellHorseName=&upsellBreedType=&upsellHorseType=&upsellYOB=&lookupAuctionResults=true&tempHorseType=&tempSale=ALL&tempYear=ALL&search_type=HORSE&reference_number=770347&horse_name=Fateful&horse_type=ALL&year=ALL&sale=ALL&consignor_id=&consignor_name=&buyer_id=&buyer_name=&price_range_low=&price_range_high=&availableConsignors=&availableBuyers=&fromFree5CrossPedigree=Y|title=Keeneland September sale 1980|publisher=Equineline}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Bloodstock+Desk%3A+Cherry-Downes,+agent+supreme,+dies+after+a+long...-a0132080269|title=Cherry-Downes, agent supreme, dies after a long illness aged 62|date=3 May 2005|author=Rachel Pagones|publisher=Racing Post}}</ref> He entered the ownership of K Hsu and was sent into training with [[Robert Armstrong (racehorse trainer)|Robert Armstrong]] at [[Newmarket, Suffolk]].
==Racing career==
===1981: two-year-old season=== Be My Native finished fourth behind Tin Boy in a [[maiden race]] over six [[furlong]]s at [[Newmarket Racecourse]] on his debut and then finished second to Lyphmas in a similar event over seven furlongs at the same track in August. He was equipped with [[Blinkers (horse tack)|blinkers]] when he finished fourth behind Mirabeau at [[Doncaster Racecourse]] in September. In the following month he contested the Tankerville Nursery (a [[Handicap (horse racing)|handicap race]] for two-year-olds) over seven furlongs at [[Ascot Racecourse]]. Running for the first time on [[Going (horse racing)|soft ground]] he showed impressive acceleration inside the final furlong and won by two [[Horse length|lengths]] from Dageegah. The colt was then moved up sharply in class for the [[Group races|Group One]] [[Dewhurst Stakes]] at Newmarket on 16 October in which he started a [[Fractional odds|50/1]] outsider. Ridden by [[Bruce Raymond]] he stayed on strongly to finish second behind [[Wind and Wuthering (horse)|Wind and Wuthering]] with the [[Richmond Stakes]] winner [[Tender King]] in third.<ref name="Timeform1981"/>
===1982: three-year-old season=== Be My Native was highly tried in his second season, racing nine times, usually against top class opposition. In his first two starts he raced prominently in major trial races for [[Epsom Derby|The Derby]] finishing second to the Jeremy Tree-trained Peacetime in the [[Sandown Classic Trial]] and third behind Simply Great and Palace Gold in the [[Dante Stakes]] at [[York Racecourse|York]]. He was then campaigned in France and recorded his first major win in the [[Prix La Force]] over 2000 metres at [[Longchamp Racecourse]] in May, beating Magwal by two and a half lengths. At [[Chantilly Racecourse]] in June he finished third to [[Melyno]] and [[Zino (horse)|Zino]] in a strongly-contested edition of the [[Prix Jean Prat]] with [[Green Forest]] last of the five runners. He was matched against older horses in the [[Prince of Wales's Stakes]] at [[Royal Ascot]] later that month but ran poorly and finished unplaced behind the four-year-old Kind of Hush.<ref name="Timeform1982"/>
After a break of two months Be My Native returned in the [[Benson and Hedges Gold Cup]] at York. He started a 25/1 outsider and finished sixth of the seven runners behind [[Assert (horse)|Assert]]. Be My Native had been entered in the second running of the [[Arlington Million]], then the most valuable horse race in the world, but looked unlikely to take his place in the field as he was originally named the fourth reserve. Following a series of high-profile withdrawals he was drafted into the field but was given very little chance and started at odds of 72/1. Ridden by [[Earlie Fires]] he was well off the pace in the early stages but produced a strong late run along the rail to finish second to [[Perrault (horse)|Perrault]]. The unplaced horses included [[Erins Isle (horse)|Erins Isle]], [[Lemhi Gold]] and [[Al Nasr (horse)|Al Nasr]]. On his return to Europe the colt contested [[La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte]] in September and finished a close third behind Coquelin and Bylly the Kid. He ended his season with a second visit to the United States but failed to reproduce his Arlington form as he finished last behind [[April Run]] in the [[Turf Classic]].<ref name="Timeform1982"/>
===1983: four-year-old season=== According to Robert Armstrong, Be My Native had a "thin skin" and was unsuited by the cold, wet spring of 1983. He ran poorly in his first two races, finishing unplaced behind the [[Henry Cecil]]-trained Ivano in both the [[Earl of Sefton Stakes]] and the [[Westbury Stakes]]. The colt was moved up in distance for 78th running of the Coronation Cup at [[Epsom Racecourse]] on 4 June with his task being made considerably easier by the late withdrawals of [[All Along]] and [[Time Charter]]. Electric (winner of the [[Great Voltigeur Stakes]] and [[Jockey Club Stakes]]) started favourite ahead of [[Diamond Shoal]] and Old Country ([[Derby Italiano]], [[Prix Royal-Oak]]) with Be My Native the 8/1 fourth choice in a six-runner field. Ridden by Armstrong's brother-in-law [[Lester Piggott]] he raced at the rear of the field as Diamond Shoal set a slow pace. In the straight Be My Native accelerated along the inside rail, took the lead a furlong from the finish and held off the challenge of Electric to win by three quarters of a length.<ref name="Timeform1983"/>
Be My Native failed to reproduce his best form in four subsequent races, starting with the [[Hardwicke Stakes]] in which he finished a distant third behind [[Stanerra]] and Electric. He then finished ninth to Quilted in the [[Princess of Wales's Stakes]] at Newmarket before running for the second time in the Arlington Million and finishing eleventh behind [[Tolomeo (horse)|Tolomeo]]. On his final start he went off a 50/1 outsider for the [[Champion Stakes]] at Newmarket in October and finished last of the nineteen runners.<ref name="Timeform1983"/>
==Assessment== In the official International Classification of European two-year-olds for 1981, Be My Native was given a rating of 78, ten pounds behind the top-rated [[Green Forest]]. The independent [[Timeform]] organisation rated him on 115, seventeen pounds inferior to their best two-year-old Wind and Wuthering but noted that he had the potential to become a "very good three-year-old".<ref name="Timeform1981"/> In 1982 he was rated 122 by Timeform who described him as an "entirely genuine" colt who acted on any [[Going (horse racing)|going]].<ref name="Timeform1982"/> In the following year he was again given a rating of 122 by Timeform with the organisation admitting in their annual ''Racehorses of 1984'' that they were unable to explain to horse's lack of consistency. In the International Classification he was rated ten pounds inferior to the top older horse, [[All Along]].<ref name="Timeform1983"/>
==Stud record== Be My Native was retired from racing to become a breeding stallion at the Ballylinch Stud in Ireland. The best of his [[Flat racing|flat]] runners was Artan who won the [[Premio Presidente della Repubblica (horse race)|Premio Presidente della Repubblica]]. He was much more successful as a [[National Hunt]] stallion, siring numerous top-class horses and by 1995 he was covering more than 200 mares a year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/home-made-jumpers-pass-the-blood-test-1574333.html|title=Home-made jumpers pass the blood test|date=22 February 1995|work=[[The Independent]]}}</ref> His best jumpers included [[Native Upmanship]], [[Rhinestone Cowboy (horse)|Rhinestone Cowboy]], Harbour Pilot ([[Dr P. J. Moriarty Novice Chase]]), Hi Cloy ([[Melling Chase]]), Ned Kelly ([[Irish Champion Hurdle]]) and Watson Lake ([[Drinmore Novice Chase]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/profile/horse/300209/be-my-native|title=Be My Native - Stud Record|publisher=Racing Post}}</ref>
==Pedigree== {{Pedigree |name = Be My Native (USA), brown horse, 1979<ref name="pedigree"/> |f = [[Our Native]] (USA)<br />1970 |m = Witchy Woman (USA)<br />1972 |ff = [[Exclusive Native]] (USA)<br />1965 |fm = Our Jackie (USA)<br />1964 |mf = Strate Stuff (USA)<br />1965 |mm = Witchy Norma (USA)<br />1967 |fff = [[Raise A Native]] |ffm = Exclusive |fmf = [[Crafty Admiral]] |fmm = Rakahanga |mff = [[Noholme]] |mfm = Lady Vale |mmf = [[Crimson Satan]] |mmm = Tomratta |ffff = [[Native Dancer]] |fffm = Raise You |ffmf = [[Shut Out (horse)|Shut Out]] |ffmm = Good Example |fmff = Fighting Fox |fmfm = Admirals Lady |fmmf = [[Polynesian (horse)|Polynesian]] |fmmm = Mohduma |mfff = [[Star Kingdom]] |mffm = Oceana |mfmf = Royal Vale |mfmm = Lady Page |mmff = [[Spy Song]] |mmfm = Papila |mmmf = [[Tompion]] |mmmm = Mahratta (Family: 5-j)<ref name="tbl"/> |}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
[[Category:1979 racehorse births]] [[Category:1997 racehorse deaths]] [[Category:Racehorses bred in Kentucky]] [[Category:Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Thoroughbred family 5-j]]