Sheep named Lamborghini won 165 races to set a record and earn GOAT status

You’ve heard of horse racing and greyhound racing, but at Odds Farm Park in High Wycombe, UK, the lesser-known sport of sheep racing has captivated crowds for over a decade.

With a specially built 250-metre racetrack including hurdles and hairpin bends, sheep races run daily from May until the end of October every year.

The fastest sheep to ever take to the track was the aptly named Lamborghini, a male Friesland/Dorset Down cross, who won 165 out of 179 races in 2011, setting a record for the most races won by a sheep.

Lamborghini was born at the farm in January 2011 and took to racing immediately, winning his first one in April 2011. He reportedly loved the sound of the crowds cheering him on.

Competing once per day, he went on to win an incredible 92% of his races.

His rival racers included sheep named Fleece Lightening, Woolly Whippet, Shepherd’s Pie and Little Bow Peep.

Each sheep carried a miniature ‘jockey’ – Lamborghini’s was a soft toy pig named Del Trotter.

Steve Wenman, manager of Odds Farm Park in 2011, said that sheep racing was a very popular spectator sport amongst children, who enjoyed placing wagers on the races.

“We have all the kids down, who’ll bet on their winning sheep and cheer them on, and if they win at the end they get a little prize,” he said.

Sheep are surprisingly fast runners, with the average sheep being able to reach speeds up to 25 mph, and superlative specimens such as Lamborghini able to go slightly faster. 

And although that’s almost 10 times slower than an actual Lamborghini car, it’s around the same speed as Usain Bolt, the fastest human ever recorded.

Lamborghini attained international fame after being awarded his Guinness World Records title, requiring an agent to handle all the media attention he was receiving.

“We started to get a lot of phone calls about him from all over the world. It got very busy and so [the farm] needed somebody to field these calls,” said Simone Hayes, Lamborghini’s agent.

Lamborghini appeared in several local and national newspapers, as well as magazines such as Farmers Weekly.

After dominating the 2011 racing season, Lamborghini retired in 2012 to enjoy the rest of his life in the paddocks at Odds Farm Park.

To date, no sheep has come close to winning as many races as him. He may be a sheep, but he’s also undoubtedly the GOAT.

Want more? Follow us on Google News and across our social media channels to stay up-to-date with all things Guinness World Records! You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Snapchat Discover.

Don’t forget, we’re also on YouTube!

Still not had enough? Follow the link here to buy our latest book, filled to the brim with stories about our amazing record breakers.