Nebos was a dark bay or brown horse with no white markings bred in Germany by his owner Countess Margit Batthyány. He was sired by Caro, an Irish-bred, French-trained stallion whose wins included the Prix d'Ispahan, Poule d'Essai des Poulains and Prix Ganay. He later became a successful breeding stallion in both Europe and North America, siring many good winners including Madelia, Cozzene, Winning Colors, Turgeon, With Approval and Golden Pheasant. Nebos' dam Nostrana won two races and came from a branch of Thoroughbred family 4r which also produced many successful German racehorses as well as the 2000 Guineas winner Island Sands. The colt was trained throughout his racing career by Hein Bollow and ridden in most of his races by Lutz Mäder.
Racing career
1978: two-year-old season
As a two-year-old, Nebos won his first three races, all of them over a distance of 1200 metres. His most important success came at Baden-Baden where he won the Group Three Zukunfts-Rennen. On his final appearance of the season he was moved up in distance for the Preis des Winterfavoriten at Cologne and finished second to Esclavo.
1979: three-year-old season
On his three-year-old debut, Nebos reversed the form of his only defeat to beat Esclavo in the Dr. Busch-Memorial over 1700 m at Krefeld Racecourse. He was then moved up in distance in June for the Union-Rennen over 2200 m at Cologne and won from Königsstuhl. Nebos and Königsstuhl met again in the Deutsches Derby a month later, with the latter prevailing by a short head. Later in July, Nebos was matched against older horses and recorded his first Group One win in the Grosser Preis von Berlin over 2400 m at Düsseldorf, winning by four lengths from the British-trained Obraztsovy who had won the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot. In August, Nebos finished second to Königsstuhl in the Aral-Pokal at Gelsenkirchen. Nebos ended his season in the Group One Preis von Europa over 2400 m at Cologne. He won by three quarters of a length from the Polish horse Czubaryk, with the British colt M-Lolshan a length away in third.
1980: four-year-old season
As a four-year-old, Nebos won his first four races, starting with the Gerling-Preis at Cologne. He then won the Grosser Preis von Dortmund by three lengths before defeating Konigsstuhl by two and a half lengths in the Grosser Preis von Düsseldorf. In July he won the Grosser Preis von Berlin for the second time, beating the Italian Derby winner Marracci by three and a half lengths. After five consecutive victories, Nebos' winning run came to an end at Gelsenkirchen when he was beaten a nose by the three-year-old Wauthi in the Aral-Pokal. On 7 September, Nebos was matched against an international field in the Grosser Preis von Baden over 2400 m at Baden-Baden. He won by a length from Cherubin, with Marracci in third: the unplaced horses included Argument, Nicholas Bill and Cracaval. On 5 October, Nebos raced outside Germany for the first and only time when he was sent to France for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe over 2400 m at Longchamp Racecourse. He was well-supported in the betting and started at odds of 7/1 in a field of twenty runners. He appeared to be outpaced in the early stages but made up a great deal of ground in the straight to finish fifth behind Detroit, Argument, Ela-Mana-Mou and Three Troikas, beaten less than two lengths by the winner. Nebos returned to Germany for the Preis von Europa, but failed to reproduce his earlier form, finishing third behind Pawiment.
Assessment and honours
In 1980, the independent Timeform organisation gave Nebos a rating of 129, eight pounds below their top-rated horse Moorestyle. In the official International Classification he was rated the ninth-best horse of any age in Europe. He was also voted German Horse of the Year.
At the end of his racing career, Nebos was syndicated with a value of £650,000 and became a breeding stallion at the Gestut Erlenhof, near Frankfurt, beginning his stud career at a fee of 15,000 deutschmarks a mare. He sired several good winners including:
