Congreve (horse)

Congreve (1924–1944) was an Argentine Thoroughbred racehorse and one of the most influential sires in South America. He was a bay stallion by Copyright (GB) (by Tracery, who was sired by Rock Sand) his dam Per Noi by Perrier (GB).

Background
Congreve was bred by Haras El Pelado. His sire, Copyright, was a leading sire in Argentina.

Racing record
Congreve raced over four seasons, from ages 3 to 6. During this time, he started 18 times for 11 wins and 5 places with winnings of 247,571 pesos. Winner of the Gran Premio Polla de Potrillos and Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini, he was considered one of the best racehorses of his generation, despite soundness issues after an injury at the age of three.

Stud career
The Haras Ojo de Agua stud in Argentina already had a good broodmare band when it purchased Congreve for stud duties. In his first few seasons at stud, Congreve was not bred to high class mares. Despite this, he quickly proved to be an excellent sire.

Congreve was the leading sire in Argentine on seven occasions (1937, 1939-1941, 1943-1945), ranked twice second (1935, 1942), third once (1936), and seventh once (1938). He was also ranked sixth on the United States sire list in 1939. Congreve headed the Argentine broodmare sire list five times (1948, 1949, 1951-1953).

Congreve's notable offspring include:


 * Avestruz, winner of the 1943 Gran Premio Nacional
 * Blackie, 1941 Argentinian Champion Three-Year-Old Filly, winner of the 1941 Gran Premio Polla de Potrancas, Gran Premio Selección, Gran Premio 25 de Mayo, and 1944 Gran Premio de Honor
 * Bon Vin, 1941 Argentinian Horse of the Year, winner of the 1939 Gran Premio San Isidro, 1940 and 1941 Gran Premio de Honor, and 1941 Gran Premio Miguel Alfredo Martínez de Hoz
 * Churrinche, 1944 Argentinain Champion Three-Year-Old Colt, winner of the 1944 Gran Premio Nacional and 1945 and 1946 Gran Premio de Honor, second on Argentinian general sire list in 1956 and third in 1955
 * Dalilah, winner of the 1939 Gran Premio Polla de Potrancas and Gran Premio Selección
 * Donna Bianca, winner of the Gran Premio Suipacha
 * Embrujo, Argentinian Triple Crown winner, 1939 Argentinian Champion Three-Year-Old Colt, winner of the 1939 Gran Premo Polla de Potrillos, Gran Premio Jockey Club, Gran Premio Nacional, and 1940 Gran Premio General Pueyrredón, second on Argentine general sire list in 1951 and 1953, second on Argentine broodmare sire list in 1961 and 1965
 * Ix, 1935 Argentinian Champion Three-Year-Old Colt, winner of the 1935 Gran Premio Jockey Club, Gran Premio Nacional, and Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini
 * Judea, winner of the 1940 Gran Premio Selección, Gran Premio 25 de Mayo, and Gran Premio San Isidro
 * Kayak II, 1939 American Champion Handicap Male Horse, winner of the 1939 Hollywood Gold Cup, Santa Anita Handicap, San Carlos Handicap, American Handicap, and 1940 Sunset Handicap
 * La Mission, Argentinian Quadruple Crown winner, 1940 Argentinian Champion Three-Year-Old Filly, winner of the 1940 Gran Premio Polla de Potrancas, Gran Premio Jockey Club, Gran Premio Nacional, Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini, and Gran Premio Jorge de Atucha
 * Medicis, 1936 Argentinian Champion Three-Year-Old Colt, winner of the 1936 Gran Premio Polla de Potrillos, Gran Premio Jockey Club, and Gran Premio Montevideo
 * Murano, winner of the 1949 Gran Premio José Pedro Ramírez
 * Quemaita, 1937 Argentinian Champion Three-Year-Old Filly, winner of the 1937 Gran Premio Nacional
 * Uranio, winner of the 1948 Gran Premio José Pedro Ramírez, leading sire in Uruguay in 1958 and 1957
 * Yamile (also known as Heil), winner of the 1939 Gran Premio Polla de Potrancas and Gran Premio Selección
 * Zurrún, winner of the 1940 Gran Premio Polla de Potrillos

Congreve's progeny include eight Argentinian champions, six winners of the Gran Premio Nacional, four winners of the Gran Premio Polla de Potrancas, four winners of the Gran Premio Jockey Club, three winners of the Gran Premio Polla de Potrillos, three winners of the Gran Premio Selección, and two winners of the Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini.

Congreve is the damsire of Yatasto and paternal grandsire of Nigromante.

During his stud career, he sired 177 winners, including at least 40 stakes winners, of nearly 600 races with total stakes earnings of over 5,567,992 pesos. Congreve is considered an Intermediate chef-de-race in the Roman-Miller dosage system.