Boucher (horse)

Boucher was a chestnut horse bred in Kentucky by his owner Ogden Phipps. He was sired by the undefeated Italian champion Ribot out of the mare Glamour. As a descendant of the broodmare La Troienne, Boucher was a member of the Thoroughbred Family 1-x, which has produced numerous important winners including Buckpasser, Easy Goer and Allez France. Phipps sent the colt to be trained in Ireland by Vincent O'Brien at Ballydoyle. Although Boucher was named after the painter François Boucher his name was usually pronounced (). ==Racing career==

1971: two-year-old season Boucher won two of his three races as a two-year-old in 1971. After winning a maiden race he was moved up in class and won the Group Two Beresford Stakes at the Curragh. He was then sent to England to contest the Group One Observer Gold Cup at Doncaster. He finished fourth behind the English-trained High Top, who went on to win the following season's 2000 Guineas. 1972: three-year-old season Boucher began his three-year-old season by winning the Nijinsky Stakes. He was then sent to England for the Chester Vase, an important trial race for The Derby. He started favourite, but made no impression, finishing last of the six runners behind Ormindo. He was subsequently found to be suffering from a viral infection and was off the course for three months. by half a length from Our Mirage, with The Oaks winner Ginevra four lengths further back in third. The race was run on extremely soft ground and the winning time of 3:28.71 was the slowest recorded at Doncaster in the 20th century. On his only subsequent appearance, Boucher ran in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, a race for which he had reportedly been strongly fancied by Vincent O'Brien. He raced prominently and contested the lead in the straight but was outpaced in the closing stages and finished unplaced behind San San. ==Assessment==

Boucher was given a rating of 124 by Timeform in 1972. This was the lowest rating given to a St Leger winner in the organisation's history. ==Stud career==

Boucher was sold for A$530,000 to the Australian breeder John Kelly exported to stand as a stallion at the Newhaven Park Stud in New South Wales. He sired several good winners including Lawman (Doncaster Handicap), Been There (Silver Slipper Stakes) and Mr Independent (Carlyon Cup).The last of Boucher's foals were born in 1987. ==Pedigree==

Boucher is inbred 4S x 4D to the stallion Pharos, meaning that he appears fourth generation on the sire side of his pedigree and fourth generation on the dam side of his pedigree. == References ==