Maroof (12 April 1990 – 30 December 1999) was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for his upset victory over a top-class field in the 1994 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.
On his final appearance however, he produced by far his best performance as he led from the start and won the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at odd of 66/1 from opponents including Barathea, Bigstone, Distant View, Turtle Island, East of the Moon and Sayyedati.
[5] In July he was moved up in distance for the Black Duck Stakes over six furlongs at York Racecourse and finished second of the three runners, beaten half a length by the Paul Cole-trained favourite Splendent.
[6] On 19 September, Maroof was sent to Ireland and stepped up to the highest class for the Group One National Stakes over seven furlongs at the Curragh Racecourse and started 9/4 second favourite in a five-runner field.
He took the early lead and set a steady pace before accelerating a quarter of a mile from the finish but was caught in the closing stages and beaten half a length by the Vincent O'Brien-trained favourite Fatherland.
In August he was back in Ireland and started favourite for the Desmond Stakes but ran poorly and beat only one of his nine opponents in a race won by Bin Ajwaad.
Hills retained the ride when Maroof returned to Group One level for the first time in over two years for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on good to soft ground at Ascot on 24 September.
[9] The rest of the nine-runner field looked exceptionally strong, including Distant View, East of the Moon, Turtle Island, Ski Paradise (Prix du Moulin), Bigstone, Barathea and Sayyedati with Maroof the complete outsider at odds of 66/1.
[11] On his retirement from training in 2000, Armstong explained "Willie Carson always said Maroof needed to be held up, but Richard Hills, who rode him a lot of work, said: `This horse wants be allowed to run'.