Riverman
Riverman was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and highly successful sire.
Background
Foaled in Kentucky, Riverman was bred by Harry F. Guggenheim of the prominent American Guggenheim family. He was from the mare River Lady and sired by Guggenheim's stallion Never Bend, a grandson of the extremely important sire, Nearco.Purchased by French perfume magnate Pierre Wertheimer, head of the House of Chanel, the colt raced under the colors of his wife, Germaine.
Racing career
by Alec Head, Riverman was sent to the track in 1971 where he won the Prix Yacowlef and finished second in the Critérium de Maisons-Laffitte. The following year, he won two Group One races, the French 2000 Guineas and the Prix d'Ispahan, as well as the Group II Prix Jean Prat. Sent to race in England, he ran third to Brigadier Gerard in July's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and second to him in October's Champion Stakes.Stud record
Retired to stud duty, he was a breeding stallion in 1974–79 Haras du Quesnay in Calvados when he was sent at stud in 1980–96 Gainesway Farm in Kentucky. The leading sire in France in 1980 and 1981, Riverman sired Group One winners All At Sea, Loup Sauvage, Latin American, Pilaster, River Flyer, River Special, Rousillon plus many other important Group One winners and Champions such as:- Bahri - Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, St. James's Palace Stakes
- Detroit - filly who won the 1980 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, 1980 French Horse of the Year, Champion 3-year-old filly in France
- Gold River - filly who won the 1981 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Champion 3-year-old filly in France
- Hailsham - won the 1991 Derby Italiano
- Irish River - French Horse Racing Hall of Fame, won ten of twelve starts, Champion 2-Year-Old in France, Champion Miler in France
- River Memories - won the Prix de Pomone, Prix Maurice de Nieuil, Canadian International Stakes, Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes
- Rami Winner of the Concorde Stks and second in the Queen Anne Royal Ascot, a leading sire in South Africa
- Rivlia - Graded stakes winner in France and multiple Grade I winner in California
- Triptych - multiple stakes winner including the Irish 2,000 Guineas and back-to-back Coronation Cups in 1987 and 1988.
Through his sons, Riverman is the grandsire of the excellent filly Hatoof who was a champion in France in 1991 and 1993 and was voted the 1994 United States Eclipse Award for Outstanding Female Turf Horse. Riverman was also the grandsire of Vintage Crop, the 1993 European Top Stayer, Narita Taishin, winner of the 1993 Satsuki Shō in Japan, Paradise Creek, a multiple Grade I winner in the U.S. and winner of the 1994 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Male Turf Horse, and of Sakhee, winner of the 2001 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
He was pensioned in 1996 and died at age thirty on 31 July 1999 at Gainesway Farm.