Rockavon

Rockavon (foaled 1958) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire, best known for winning the classic 2000 Guineas in 1961. After winning three races on minor tracks as a two-year-old and being well-beaten on his three-year-old debut Rockavon created a 66/1 upset when winning the 2000 Guineas, becoming the first horse trained in Scotland to win a classic. He never won again and has been regarded as one of the least distinguished of classic winners. At the end of 1961 he was retired to stud where he made no impact as a sire of winners.

Background

Rockavon was a dark-coated bay horse with no white markings bred at the Biddlesden Park Stud on the border of Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire. He was sent to the Newmarket sales as a foal in December 1958 and was bought by R. J. Donworth for 420 guineas. Ten months later Donworth sold the horse on at a profit when Rockavon was bought for 2,200 guineas by Thomas Yuill, a farmer from Strathaven. The colt was sent into training with George Boyd at his Tilton House stables near Dunbar. Boyd was one of the leading Scottish trainers of the time and had won major handicap races in England including the Lincoln and the Cambridgeshire.