Sherlock Holmes was born to greatness. He, like his elder half-sibling, Mycroft, had the blood from the finest racing stock coursing through his veins. Their sire was part of the Darley Arabian's line and had won more races and been awarded more prestigious trophies than nearly any other horse in British racing history. The other half of Mycroft's stock was a well-accomplished quarter horse from America, and from the moment he could stand up, it was obvious that Mycroft would become a great racehorse as well. Sherlock's dam, oddly enough though, was a performing Lipizzaner from Austria, but the owners of the Diogenes Racing Stable had seen her and immediately taken such a liking to the way she moved that they had immediately approached the show's owner and bargained for stud rights. A few months, and quite a few thousands of pounds, later Sherlock was born. Like most Lipizzaner foals, his coat was jet black. He had a strange marking, though. Much like some humans who are born with a place on their head in which there is no pigment, so Sherlock had a place between his ears where his mane was pure white.
Unlike Mycroft, and most every other foal, Sherlock showed no interest in running, jumping or even eating. In fact, when he could be bothered to move at all, it was at a stately pace, a meander as some called it. As he made his way toward his mother, he showed no interest in eating and ate for a much shorter time than the rest.
There were a few times when he did bother himself to run, though, and when he did, everyone who saw him was enchanted.