Saint Liam

Thoroughbred racehorse infobox
horsename = Saint Liam


caption =
sire = Saint Ballado
grandsire = Halo
dam = Quiet Dance
damsire = Quiet American
sex = Stallion
foaled = 2000
country = USA flagicon|USA
colour = Bay
breeder = Edward P. Evans
owner = Mr & Mrs William K. Warren, Jr.
trainer = Richard E. Dutrow, Jr.
record = 20: 9-6-1
earnings = $4,456,995
race = Clark Handicap (2004)
Donn Handicap (2005)
Stephen Foster Handicap (2005)
Woodward Stakes (2005)
Breeders' Cup Classic (2005)
awards= U.S. Champion Older Male Horse (2005)
United States Horse of the Year (2005)
honours =
updated= October 2, 2006

Saint Liam (April 13, 2000 - August 22, 2006) was an American thoroughbred racehorse who was voted 2005 Eclipse Award Horse of the Year honors.

Sired by Saint Ballado out of the dam Quiet Dance, by Quiet American, Saint Liam was unraced as a two-year-old. At age three he started three races earning his best result with a 2nd place finish in the Iowa Derby. Owned by William Warren and trained by Richard E. Dutrow, Jr., in his four-year-old season Saint Liam began to show his ability, winning the Grade II Clark Handicap and only losing the Grade I Woodward Stakes by a neck to eventual 2004 Horse of the Year, Ghostzapper.

In 2005, Saint Liam came into his own, capturing four Grade I races including the Donn Handicap, the Stephen Foster Handicap, and the Woodward Stakes. He was second in the Grade I Whitney Handicap to Commentator. In his last race, jockey Jerry Bailey rode him to victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic, after which he was retired having achieved a record of 9-6-1 in 20 races and career earnings of $4,456,995 million.

Saint Liam was standing at stud at Lane's End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky when in a freak accident in August 2006 he slipped and fell, suffering an untreatable left tibial fracture. The 6-year-old stallion was humanely euthanized at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. He'd covered a number of mares before his death, 115 of which were in foal.

On January 11, 2007, his first foal was born to the Seattle Slew mare, Slewzig. The 17 year old mare's bay colt was born in Versailles at ClassicStar Farm. Slewzig has produced eight foals, six of them winners, three of those stakes winners.

Campus building named in honor of Saint Liam

After his death, it seems that the horse Saint Liam was immortalized at the University of Notre Dame when a building was named after him in 2007. The owners of the horse, Mr & Mrs William K. Warren, Jr., donated $8 million for the refurbishment of the health center, which is now called Saint Liam's. The Warrens are prominent donors to the University of Notre Dame; the Notre Dame golf course is called the Warren Golf Course. The university story says that name Saint Liam is in honor of Mr. Warren's father William Warren (Liam is Irish for William) and his namesake Saint William, and makes no mention of the racehorse. However, there seems to be no indication that the horse Liam was named after William Warren or Saint William, and it is doubtful whether anyone ever referred to Saint William or William Warren as Liam before this.

References

* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/saint+liam Saint Liam's pedigree, with photo]
* [http://newsinfo.nd.edu/content.cfm?topicid=20903 Notre Dame Announcement of the Saint Liam student health center.]