Last Tycoon

This article is about the horse. For the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, see The Last Tycoon. For other uses, see The Last Tycoon (disambiguation).

Last Tycoon (9 May 1983 – 27 May 2006) was an Irish-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse best known as a top-class sprinter and for winning the Breeders' Cup Mile. He was later as a leading sire in Australia.

Last Tycoon
Sire	Try My Best
Grandsire	Northern Dancer
Dam	Mill Princess
Damsire	Mill Reef
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1983
Country	Ireland
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Kilfrush Stud Ltd.
Owner	Richard C. Strauss
Trainer	Robert Collet
Record	13: 8–0–0
Earnings	US$683,438 (equivalent)
Major wins
Prix d'Arenberg (1985) King's Stand Stakes (1986) Nunthorpe Stakes (1986) Prix de Saint-Georges (1986) Prix du Gros Chêne (1986) Breeders' Cup Mile (1986) Timeform rating: 131
Awards
Leading sire in Australia (1994)
Last updated on 11 October 2025

Background

Last Tycoon was bred in Ireland by his owner Richard C. Strauss's Kilfrush Stud Ltd. His sire was the 1978 Dewhurst Stakes winner Try My Best.

Racing career

He was trained by Robert Collet from his base at Chantilly Racecourse. At age two Last Tycoon won three of his six starts, including the Prix d'Arenberg at Chantilly.

At age three the colt won two Group One five-furlong sprint races in England and two sprint conditions races in France. He was then sent to Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California for the Breeders' Cup Mile over a distance well beyond any at which he had ever won.^[1] Lightly regarded by punters, who sent him off at 36:1 odds, under regular jockey Yves Saint-Martin Last Tycoon defeated thirteen runners to win the US$1 million event.^[2]

Stud record

Retired to stud duty, Last Tycoon met with considerable success. He first stood in Ireland where he was third on the annual sires list in 1992 before being sent to Australia where he was the Leading sire in 1994. Overall, he sired 756 winners, including 48 stake/group winners, and nine champions.^[3] Last Tycoon's notable progeny includes:

• Bigstone, won Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Prix d' Ispahan
• Ezzoud (1989) – won the G1 Eclipse Stakes (1994) and twice the G1 International Stakes in 1993 and 1994;
• Iglesia (1989)- Current 1200 metre record holder at Flemington(1.07.16).Sire of Written Tycoon.
• Knowledge (1994) – won Australia's G1 Blue Diamond Stakes;
• Lady Jakeo, won MVRC Australia Made Stakes and VATC Blue Diamond Stakes
• Le Zagaletta (1995 ) – multiple stakes winner, Millionaire racehorse in Australia.
• Lost World (IRE), won FR Grand Criterium
• Magic of Money, won AJC The Galaxy
• Mahogany – 1994 Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year, won the Australian Derby and Victoria Derby;
• Marju (1988) – winner of England's Craven Stakes and the Group One St. James's Palace Stakes. Sire of Soviet Song, Viva Pataca, Indigenous;
• O'Reilly (NZ) won the Levin Classic and Telegraph Handicap and had a successful stud career in New Zealand.
• Taipan (1992) – Italian Champion Older Horse (1997, 1998), German Champion Older Horse (1998);
• Tracy's Element (AUS) 1990, won SAF Computaform Sprint and SAF Star Sprint etc.
• Tycoon Lil won Canterbury Guineas and New Zealand Oaks.^[4]

Last Tycoon died on 30 June 2006 at Arrow Stud in Japan.