Peintre Celebre (17 March 1994 – 19 October 2018) was an American-bred, French-trained champion thoroughbred racehorse. He won the French Derby and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1997.

Background

Peintre Celebre was bred and owned by businessman Daniel Wildenstein and trained by André Fabre. The horse was a son of Nureyev, France's champion miler in 1980, who was in turn the son of the outstanding sire Northern Dancer. He was by Alydar on his dam's side.

Racing career

Peintre Celebre was lightly raced as a two-year-old. He entered only two races, winning one and finishing third in the other. In 1997, at age three, the horse won the French Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris before facing the best horses in Europe in France's most valuable race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Ridden by jockey Olivier Peslier, Peintre Celebre won by five lengths and broke the track record by 3.4 seconds. His victory made him only the second horse after Le Pacha in 1941 to complete that treble of Group One races. Peintre Celebre raced five times that year, winning four starts and finishing a close second in the other. He was named European Horse of the Year and the International Classification rated him the best in the world in 1997.

Stud career

Before the 1998 racing season, Peintre Celebre suffered a career-ending injury and was retired to breeding at Coolmore Stud in Fethard, County Tipperary, Ireland. Later he was sent to Australia in 1998-2003 and to Japan for one season in 2001. His offspring include Pride, Byword and Collection (Hong Kong Derby). Pensioned from stud duties in 2014, Peintre Celebre died on 19 October 2018.

Pedigree