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Souverain (foaled 1943) was a French Thoroughbred horse racing and sire. After winning his only race in 1945 he emerged as the leading European three-year-old of 1946 when his wins included the Grand Prix de Paris and the Prix Royal Oak in France and the King George VI Stakes in Britain. His success in the last race, in which he decisively defeated the British champion Airborne provoked widespread debate in Europe concerning the superiority of French horses in long-distance events. As a four-year-old, Souverain added a victory in Britain's most valuable race, the Ascot Gold Cup. At the end of 1947 he was retired to stud where he had limited success as a sire of winners.
On his final start of the season he was sent to England for the inaugural King George VI Stakes over two miles at Ascot where he was matched against Epsom Derby winner Airborne and the Irish Derby winner Bright News. The race carried prize money of £5,000 and was billed as the "international championship" for three-year-olds. Ridden as usual by Lollierou, Souverain "shot clear" of the field in the straight and won easily by five lengths from Bright News, with Airborne, the favourite, in third. The success of Souverain reportedly "shattered" the belief of British breeders in the superiority of their staying horses. Among the theories advanced to explain his win was the supposedly unlimited supply of milk and German oats provided to French horses at the end of the Second World War. Lord Brabazon, writing in Nature blamed bad tactics by British jockeys who tended to restrain their mounts before accelerating in the closing stages and was supported by the physiologist Archibald Hill who argued that horses performed better when they ran at a uniform speed. French experts however, pointed to the tendency of British breeders to undervalue stamina in pedigrees and place undue emphasis on sprinting and two-year-old races.
By the end of the season, Souverain was regarded as Europe's Champion three-year-old and valued by his owners at the "unheard of" sum of £160,000. Late in 1946, the American magazine Time proposed an international championship race in which Souverain and the Australian champion Bernborough would be matched against leading American runner Stymie, but the event never came to fruition.
Souverain returned to France in August and recorded his last important success when he won the Prix Kergorlay at Deauville Racecourse. In autumn 1947, Souverain contracted a respiratory infection and was retired from racing.
In their book A Century of Champions, based on a modified version of the Timeform system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Souverain the twenty-first best French-trained horse of the 20th century and the second-best horse foaled in 1943, behind Sayani and ahead of Assault. (1999). 9781901570151, Portway Press. ISBN 9781901570151
Souverain is [[inbred|inbreeding]] 4S x 4S to the stallion Ajax, meaning that he appears fourth generation twice on the sire side of his pedigree.
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