ard patrick was an exceptionally big brown horse, reportedly standing 17 hands high, who was bred by his owner john gubbins at his knockany stud near bruree, county limerick, ireland, (at that time part of the united kingdom of great britain and ireland) and named after the nearby village of ardpatrick (ard pádraig). he was sired by st florian, a well-bred horse by st simon, who had an unremarkable record both as a racehorse and as a sire. he was a member of thoroughbred family number 20, which at that time had a poor record of producing breeding stallions. his dam, morganette, by springfield was a roarer and did not advance beyond selling plates in her racing career, but proved an excellent broodmare. before giving birth to ard patrick she had produced galtee more who won the triple crown in 1897, and also blairfinde a winner of the irish derby.