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Buccaneer
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Buccaneer was the strongest stallion in five generations of the Sir Paul branch of the Sir Peter (Byerley Turk) sire line. He had a good career on the turf, and was a champion sire in England, Germany and Austria-Hungary. He was the dominant stallion in central Europe at a critical time in the development of horse racing there. Although much of what he left behind disappeared in the wars -- starting with the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s -- and was succeeded by later imports, he is a symbol of what was, and what might have been, in middle-European bloodstock breeding. He left numerous sire sons, including SEE-SAW in England, and the more successful FLIBUSTIER in Germany that continued the line for a few more generations, and many daughters in England and Europe that can still be seen today in thoroughbred pedigrees.
Buccaneer's sire was the handsome Wild Dayrell, a winner of three races in four starts, including the Epsom Derby and the Ebor St. Leger at York; he broke down in the running for the Doncaster Cup, having injured his tendon at Epsom. Although never at the top of the sires list, he was fourth twice, and got many winners of small stakes, a large proportion of them stayers. He got a number of good broodmare daughters, including his sole classic winner, Hurricane, later the dam of Atlantic, the sire of the famous French stallion Le Sancy. Several of Wild Dayrell's sons continued the sire line in various countries, among them Wild Oats, the sire of Gozo (1882), at or near the top of the sires list in Australia for over a decade; The Rake, whose line extended to the French-bred stallion Verwood (1910), where it finally died out; and Buccaneer.
Buccaneer's dam was the "famous" Little Red Rover mare, who had been bred by Guy Carleton (1811-1875), 3rd Baron Dorchester-in-Oxford. Dorchester was a grandson of the famous General Guy Carleton, who was created 1st Baron after commanding British troops in the defense of Quebec during the American Revolutionary War and serving twice as Governor of Quebec (Canada). After the General retired back in England, he spent his final years breeding horses at his Greywell Hill estate in Hampshire and at Kempshot, near Basingstoke. His grandson, the 3rd Baron, appears to have occupied himself almost entirely with country pursuits, bragging to an acquaintance that he served his country by never attending the House of Lords.
The Little Red Rover mare had been bred by Dorchester in 1841, and remained in his stud as a broodmare, producing fourteen foals between 1849 and 1865 to the cover of the best stallions of the day. She was either purchased or leased by Lord Portsmouth in 1858, but returned to Dorchester in 1864, and the stud book's last entry for her is that she was barren that year, with no further produce. Almost all her foals were winners of one modest race or another, and many of her daughters established long-lived tail-female lines. Until Buccaneer started racing, she was referred to in the stud book as "Cruiser's dam," after which she was known as "Buccaneer's dam." Cruiser was the Venison son that became notoriously vicious, and later famously kind, through the auspices of the American "horse whisperer" John Rarey.
Up until Bucanneer's birth in 1857, his dam's best runner was probably Michaelmas Maid (1850, by Bay Middleton), strictly a sprinter, that won Brighton's four furlong Sussex Stakes at age four, and a match against William Rufus at Reading (beating him by twelve lengths). The Little Red Rover mare tended to throw speed, no matter which stallion she saw, and with the exception of her 1851 colt, Bracken (by Venison) and Buccaneer, most of her youngsters could not win beyond a mile, or less. Bracken, who at age three won Malton's Birdsall Handicap over a mile, beating Atherstone, could go a distance and was second to Jacqueline over two miles in the Great Northamptonshire Stakes (15 in the field) and second to Cossey in the Doncaster Handicap Stakes (over the St. Leger course, 11 in the field). After Buccaneer, his dam's best runner was The Missionary (1862, by Surplice), a good juvenile winner of Winchester's Grange Park Stakes and Newmarket's Hurstbourne Stakes, and second in several other races, carrying the highest weight. After Buccaneer began winning, Portsmouth, "anxious to get hold of a strain of the blood," tracked down his elder half-sister, The Chase (1849, by Venison), who had been languishing in obscurity in Wales; from her, Portsmouth bred Robin Hood (1863, by Wild Dayrell), whose best race was his win of Newmarket's July Stakes at age two.
Buccaneer, a "dark rich brown," was described as having "faultless conformation, but when seen at Kisbér a few years after he was at stud there, he was said to be "coarse looking...looks more like a half bred than the horse he is known to be." Several contemporary writers claimed he was a "terrible savage," but others are silent on the issue of his temperament, and it did not impede his career as a stallion or racehorse.
Buccaneer on the Turf
Buccaneer was sold as a yearling to Isaac Newton Wallop, 5th earl of Portsmouth, whose seat was Hurstbourne Park in Hampshire, and by common assent he was the best horse the earl ever owned. The earl sent him to Captain Henry Wolcott at Beckhampton for training. Buccaneer ran nineteen times in four seasons, winning eleven races, and was favored for the Derby after a successful juvenile season, but he popped a split prior to the Two Thousand Guineas, and although he ran in the Derby, the unset splint kept him from placing. He was a fast horse, and his best distance was a mile, although he got up to place second in a two mile race, once. His jockey in every race was James Goater, son of Findon trainer William Goater.
As a juvenile he ran five times, and won three races, plus a forfeit. He started at Bath at the end of May of 1859, where he ran fourth in the four furlong Biennial for juveniles in a field of twelve, won by Lupellus. At the end of June, at Stockbridge, he won the Mottisfont Stakes, beating nine others, including Blue Ruin and Hartley. A week after that, at Newmarket, he took the important July Stakes, beating Nicholas, Blue Ruin, and six others, and two days later received a 50 sovereign forfeit from Alipes in a scheduled match. At the end of the month he easily won Goodwood's Molecomb Stakes for juveniles. That year he did not meet any of the future three-year-old players, such as Thormanby or Nutbourne, both of which also did well as juveniles.
At age three Buccaneer ran six times, won twice and dead-heated in a race, placed second once and was unplaced twice. Sidelined with the splint for the Two Thousand Guineas (won by The Wizard, by West Australian), his first start was the Derby, where he was seventh in a field of twenty-seven; Thormanby won this Derby easily by three lengths, with The Wizard second, and Horror -- who would win the Ascot Queen's Vase later in the year -- by Wild Dayrell third, and the rest of the field including Nutbourne, the American horse Umpire, Loiterer, and other good ones. At Newmarket July Buccaneer dead-heated with Man-at-Arms in the Midsummer Stakes, and divided the stakes. At the end of the month at Goodwood, he won the Drawing Room Stakes (1 mile - 2 furlongs), beating Trovatore. Then came the St. Leger at Doncaster, a thrilling race won by St. Albans (by Stockwell, also winner of the Chester Cup and Epsom's Great Metropolitan that year), with High Treason second and The Wizard third; Buccaneer, along with Derby winner Thormanby, Sweetsauce, Umpire and other good ones, did not place. Two days later, however, he easily won the one mile Don Stakes, beating Emily (second), High Treason (third) and The Wizard (unplaced). In October at Newmarket, he was second in the Select Stakes (one mile).
At age four he took four of his seven races, all at a mile distance. He started in April at Epsom, where he was unplaced in Epsom's London Bridge Stakes, won by Crater (receiving 7 pounds) by 3/4 of a length. Six weeks later he won the Lansdown Trial Stakes ( one mile) at Bath, and at Ascot in June he won the Trial Stakes (one mile), beating the American-bred Satellite (Albion - Leviathan mare), Wedding, and General Hess, and the next day took the prestigious Royal Hunt Cup (one mile) in a canter, beating thirty-one others, and giving weight to most of them. At Goodwood at the end of July he won Goodwood's Craven Stakes (one mile), again beating Satellite (receiving four pounds), and Mademoiselle de Chantilly (second in the Cambridgeshire and Liverpool Autumn Cup that year), but two days later, over six furlongs with crushing weight, ran unplaced in the Chichester Stakes, won by Spicebox, with Asteroid second and Gibralter third, each receiving 34 pounds from Buccaneer. He went to Plymouth at the end of the month, where he was second by three lengths to Don Cossack (receiving 42 pounds) in the Saltram Stakes (about two miles), his only race at that distance.
He came out once at age five, in May, winning the Salisbury Trial Stakes (one mile) in record time, beating Entremet and Repose. That was his last race. In all he had won eleven of his nineteen starts, and had shown himself to be a solid miler and excellent weight-carrier, with a turn of speed.
Buccaneer in the Stud
Buccaneer stood for one season at Portsmouth's Hursbourne Park in Hampshire, where he saw a few thoroughbred and half-bred mares. He was then was purchased as a stallion by James Sawrey-Cookson, once an amateur flar rider and MFH for the Huworth Hunt, who had a stud at Neasham Hall in County Durham, four miles from Darlington. He and his father, William, were well-known breeders of many good horses, including Kettledrum and Dundee (first and second in the 1861 Epsom Derby), and four Oaks winners, and for some years the Cooksons owned the stallion Sweetmeat, who got 1854 Oaks winner Mincemeat, before they sold the poor half-blind stallion at age 19 to Russia.
Cookson was fond of Herod blood, and of Buccaneer, and the horse's book was full in his first season at Neasham, at 12 guineas, because Cookson scrambled to get him mares, offering discounts and incentives. Still, Buccaneer was not able to attract enough mares to satisfy his owner, and Cookson sold him to the Hungarian national stud for £2600, after the 1865 season. In addition to cash, part of Buccaneer's price was the return of a broodmare Cookson had sold several years previously to the Hungarians -- The Gem (in foal to Polmoodie with Latakia), whose daughter, Regalia, bred by Cookson, had won the 1865 Oaks -- along with a two-year-old half-sister to Regalia.
As it turned out, Buccaneer's small Hurstbourne crop included five juvenile winners in 1866 -- CAPTAIN KIDD, THE MILLER'S MAID, PIRATE CHIEF, PLUNDER, and TORTUGA. His 1865 Neasham crop, his second, was excellent, and the 1866 crop, his last in England, also high in quality, prompting the usual outcry about his being sold abroad, and, after his Hungarian-bred son KISBÉR won the 1876 Epsom Derby, an unsuccessful offer of £30,000 to buy him back, an enormous sum at the time. The stallions Caterer and Macaroni spent a season at Cookson's stud after Buccaneer left, and they were succeeded by The Earl, Lord Lyon, and The Palmer (who was soon sold to Germany). Cookson sold his yearlings at the Doncaster autumn sales. Eight of the nine yearlings in the 1866 crop from Neasham were by Buccaneer, and sold at an average price of 266 guineas, a very good price for an untried stallion. Of these, seven of the eight became winners.
In England Buccaneer was eighth on the leading sires list in 1867, and was champion stallion in 1868, with the triumphs of FORMOSA, SEE-SAW, and others. In 1869, due largely to BRIGANTINE, he was fifth on the list, and as his few English crops aged out of running, still managed twentieth place on the sires list in 1870. He showed up one more time on the English list of leading sires, in 1876, the year his Hungarian son, KISBÉR, won the Epsom Derby, ranked thirteenth.
Buccaneer was one of a series of English thoroughbred stallions purchased by the Hungarian Imperial stud, beginning in 1853, after the government appropriated County Battyányé's vast Kisbér estate, which included a castle, town, parks, and an extensive stud farm with buildings, pastures and a race track, in all more than 40,000 acres of land. The Imperial Stud's superintendent, Marshal Francois Ritter, went to England to secure seventeen thoroughbred stallions and mares that first year; in 1860 three more stallions were purchased from England, and in 1863, Hungarian Imperial stud representatives were back in England to buy Derby winners Daniel O'Rourkeand Teddington, along with Southerland, and Tedrington. Two years later, Buccaneer joined the line-up at Kisbér, and he was by far their most valuable addition. In 1897 another under-appreciated English stallion, Bona Vista, would arrive at Kisbér to reinvigorate the bloodlines, but, as with Buccaneer, the first World War proved devastating to the continuation of his line in central Europe.
During his long life, that included 21 seasons at Kisbér, Buccaneer covered 261 Imperial mares, and 465 mares that belonged to private owners in various mid-European countries (Hungarian owners received various discounts for their mares). He got fourteen Derby winners in Austria-Hungary, Germany, Poland, and England, including KISBÉR, who won the Epsom Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris. His progeny won $1,204,796 in Hungary, Austria, France, Germany and England, by any standard of the time an enormous success, but especially for a stallion located in Hungary. Kisbér had become the central depot for superior thoroughbred breeding in pre-World War I middle European countries, but had not yet reached -- and never would, due to the War and its crippling aftermath-- the heights achieved by France and England. Still, Buccaneer gave a huge boost to the Hungarian breeding program in the last quarter of the 19th century. Beyond that, he was the leading sire in Germany four times -- 1875, 1876, 1878, 1880 -- when a number of his European offspring ran there.
Two of Buccaneer's sons were able to perpetuate the sire line for several of generations. His English-bred son, SEE-SAW (1865) got two winners of the Grand Prix de Paris that both became stallions in France, one of which, Little Duck (1881), sired Prix du Jockey Club winner Champaubert (1893), in turn sire of Friant, another Prix du Jockey Club winner, but Friant was the end of the line for that sire line branch. SEE-SAW also got Despair, a useful sire of milers and sprinters in England, Ocean Wave, also in England (later sent to the U.S.), who got some stayers, and Loved One, whose line continued, by a thread, to his Irish grandson Dinneford (1902). Buccaneer's Hungarian-bred son, FLIBUSTIER, was three-times leading sire in Germany, and got two winners of the German Derby. One of these, Trachenberg (1879), a leading sire in 1893, got Hannibal, a two-time leading sire, who sent that branch forward in Germany through his son, Fels (1909), another Derby winner; Fels was the grandsire of yet another German Derby winner, the undefeated race mare Nereide (later the dam of two good stallions), but the sire line branch effectually died with him.
Buccaneer's son KISBÉR got Crafton in England, whose daughters made some contribution to the gene pool, and ended his career in Germany, where he was leading sire three times. He got three winners of the German Derby whose years in the stud began just before World War I, and none established a long-lasting sire line; KISBÉR today is of more significance as a broodmare sire. Of Buccaneer's many other good running European sons, several were sires in Austria - Hungary, and Germany, but their lines disappeared during the war.
On April 13, 1887, suffering the infirmities associated with old age, Buccaneer was taken to the Royal Veterinary School at Budapest and euthanized; his skeleton was salvaged and displayed at the school.
Buccaneer in England
In England, Buccaneer got two classic winners -- FORMOSA and BRIGANTINE, both fillies -- and some other good runners, including SEE-SAW, who, like his sire, was best at a mile, and PAUL JONES, a stayer that won the Chester Cup. Although only one of his English-bred daughters produced a classic winner, as a group they were dams of high class winners and many established successful tail-female lines.
Buccaneer's 1864 Hurstbourne crop that won as juveniles included PLUNDER (from Sister to Aegis (Derby winner Andover's dam) by Defence), winner of the Abingdon Stakes (3/4 of a mile, beating four), and second twice in five starts. Another two-year-old winner was MILLER'S MAID (1864, from Velleda by Venison), who was sold to American Richard Ten Broeck and won four of her ten starts at two for him, including the Chelmsford Trial Stakes by ten lengths (3/4 mile, beat three others) and the Warwick Nursery Handicap by 1-1/2 lengths (3/4 mile, beat four others). CAPTAIN KIDD (1864, from Lady Mary by Orlando), won the Abbey Stakes for juveniles at Reading by two lengths (5 furlongs, beating 13 others). TORTUGA (1864, from a Poussin mare), bred and raced by E.W. Taylor, took a Maiden Plate over 1/3 mile at Windsor and Dover's Waldershare Park Stakes over 1/2 mile (beating five) in ten starts at age two, and at age three won a Handicap Plate at Shrewsbury beatening ten others by four lengths.
PIRATE CHIEF (1864, out of Emotion by Alarm), bred by Lewes trainer Richard Drewitt and owned by Col. John Astley, although he raced in the name of a friend, Sam Thellusson, won three races in eight starts as a juvenile, including a 100 sovereign plate for two year olds (6 furlongs) at Newmarket July and a 200 sovereign match against Fakir over Newmarket's Two Year Old Course in October. At age three he ricked his back in an avoidable stable accident, and "never really recovered," but still won a 5 furlong handicap sweep at Newmarket, beating three, and ran first in the two mile Lewes Grand Handicap, but the judge had left the box before the horses, some of which went off course, passed the stand, and the stewards required a re-run, which he lost. He was claimed by Felix Pryor, and for him won some races, including the Stand Plate at Northampton (one mile) at age five, beating seven others.
PLUNDER, who went on at age three to win the one mile Wallop Plate at Stockbridge and the one mile Portland Handicap by four lengths at Nottingham, had the most long-term significance. She produced Warren Hastings (1874, by Citadel), a winner of Newmarket's July Stakes; Lord Clive (1875, by Lord Clifden), sent to France where he got a Prix du Jockey Club winner and a Grand Steeple-chase de Paris winner; and several daughters that bred on. Another of her sons, Pirate of Penzance (1882, by Prince Charlie), was sent to the U.S., where at Milton Young's McGrathiana Stud in Lexington he was a more than useful sire, placing seventh and ninth on the sires lists in 1901 and 1903, and several more times within the top twenty leading sires; his offspring included 1897 Preakness Stakes winner Paul Kauvar and Latonia winner Crystal Maid.
The first crop bred at Neasham was born in 1865, and included eleven juvenile winners. FORMOSA, SEE-SAW and PAUL JONES were the best, then and the following year. |
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Formosa
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FORMOSA (1865) was out of Eller, who ran in the 1859 Oaks, but was an indifferent performer for her owner, Admiral Harcourt. At Neasham she bred two live foals, Exceller (1862, by Newminster), and Odd Fellow (1864, by Thormanby) before FORMOSA was born. At the Doncaster yearling sales in 1866, Cookson, who could not decide whether to keep the filly or not, bought her in at 700 guineas, "...slept upon it, and the next morning he sought Mr. Graham, who had bid 690 guineas out of respect to Regalia. That lucky gentleman was seated at breakfast, and when he heard Mr. Cookson's mission, he signed a cheque for 700 guineas without more ado, and then resumed his egg. The bargain did not take up two minutes, and the mare won him £20,380 in her first two seasons."
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FORMOSA stood 15.1-1/2 hands when grown, and had a masculine cast to her looks, with a broad forehead, "strong, slightly crested neck," a strong shoulder, "famously-shaped quarters" and "unexceptionable legs upon which she stands solid as a rock."
William Graham, who had owned Oaks winner Regalia, also purchased from Cookson, sent FORMOSA to Bucanneer's old trainer, Henry Wolcott, at Beckhampton for schooling. Her name, like almost of all Buccaneer's progeny, was inspired by his, in her case in reference to the pirate stronghold in the China Sea.
FORMOSA ran nine times as a juvenile, winning three and placing third twice, proving to be a solid runner with potential. After failing to place at Bath and in the Queen's Stand Plate at Ascot, she hit the board by placing third in the Ascot Triennial, behind Europa and Uncas, with nine others in the field, but failed to place in the Biennial, won by Tregeagle (by her grandsire Wild Dayrell), with SEE-SAW second. At Stockbridge she won the Danebury Nursery Stakes (6 furlongs), beating nine youngsters, with Buccaneer's daughter CUCKOO third. At Newmarket July she won her best race, the Chesterfield Stakes, beating seven, including one of the top fillies of the season, Athena (by Stockwell, who that year won Goodwood's Lavant Stakes, Doncaster's Filly Stakes, and Newmarket's Hopeful and Forlorn Stakes). At Goodwood, she was third and last in the Bentinck Memorial, won by Tregeagle. At Abingdon in September, she won the Abingdon Stakes for juveniles (6 furlongs), beating two others. Her last race of the season was Newmarket's premier juvenile event in October, the Middle Park Plate, where she failed to place in a big field of fourteen, won by the Beadsman daughter, Green Sleeve, with Rosicrucian second and Lady Coventry third.
No one was prepared for the little filly's explosive second season, except, perhaps, her trainer, Wolcott. Her first race of the year was the Two Thousand Guineas. She ran a dead-heat with Moslem, beating eleven other good ones, including Green Sleeve, Rosicrucian, and Le Sarrazin. The stakes for the race were divided. A few days later she won the One Thousand Guineas easily by three lengths, beating Athena, Lady Coventry, and five others. Then came her spectacular win in the Epsom Oaks, by ten lengths, putting away Lady Coventry, Athena, and six other fillies. She did not do well at Ascot, failing to place in the Prince of Wales's Stakes, and was second to Vale Royal in the Triennial, with two others in the field. After a long rest, she was at Doncaster in the fall, where she won the St. Leger in a canter, beating PAUL JONES, with Mercury, by Lambton, third, and nine others in the field, including SEE-SAW. At Newmarket Second October she won the Newmarket Oaks by six lengths, beating three other fillies. Her accomplishments that year put her in the ranks of the all-time great race mares of England.
At age four FORMOSA won some good races, but her star was eclipsed by BRIGANTINE, another Buccaneer daughter, a year younger. She won a race at Bath, then was second to Blue Gown in Epsom's Trial Stakes. At Ascot she won the Triennial, beating Restitution, who would go on to win the Goodwood Cup, and two others; but in the Gold Cup she could only run third to the lightly-weighted BRIGANTINE. At Stockbridge she was second to the lightly-weighted two-year-old Guy Dayrell (by Wild Dayrell) in the Gold Cup, and also was second in the Hurstbourne Stakes, won by BRIGANTINE. At Goodwood she won the Bentinck Memorial (3 miles, 5 furlongs), by forty lengths, beating her sole opponent, Blueskin (winner of the Great Metropolitan Handicap in 1868). She went on to Weymouth, where she won the Queen's Plate (two miles), beating the good cup and royal plate winner Arlington and three other horses. In September, she failed to place in the Great Yorkshire Handicap, beaten by three colts -- Géant de Batailles, Argyle, and PAUL JONES, all of which were receiving weight from her. At Newmarket Houghton she was second to Rosicrucian in the All-aged Stakes, with Heather Bell third and last. The last race of her career was the Liverpool Autumn Cup in November, where she failed to place in a field of fourteen.
As a broodmare FORMOSA could not replicate herself, or even come close. None of her offspring were more than modest winners, and all three daughters that bred on went abroad. Pulcherrima (1873, by Beadsman) went to Prussia in 1876; she produced three good racing sons, all by Chamant: Picollos (Deutsches St. Leger), Potrimpos (Deutsches Derby and other good races), and Pumpernickel (Deutsches St. Leger, Magyar St. Leger and other good races, later a useful stallion). Pulchra (1874, by Rosicrucian) was sold to New Zealand, where two of her daughters established long-lived tail-female families; the excellent turn-of-the century race filly Cruciform, was from her family, as were the stallions Uniform and Multiform, both New Zealand Derby winners. FORMOSA'S daughter Formalite (1880, by Hermit) went to France, where she dropped Fortunio (1885, by Isonomy), a winner, mostly over fences, to age eight, and then a stallion in Ireland where he got good runners, including the brilliant Delaunay.
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See-Saw
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SEE-SAW (1865, out of Margery Daw by Brocket), was described as "very straight in front, and a bad goer in his slow paces, but possessed of magnificent quarters which gave him enormous propelling power" -- despite what everyone described as "coarse hocks" -- and good legs and feet. He was purchased by the Marquis of Hastings and placed in training with John Day at Danebury. At age two he won five of his thirteen starts at Stockbridge, Lewes, and Southampton. He was purchased at Hastings' dispersal sale in December of 1867 for £2500 by Thomas Egerton (born Thomas Grosvenor), (2nd) Earl of Wilton, the younger brother of Richard Grosvenor (Marquess of Westminster).
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At age three SEE-SAW won the Ascot Biennial (beating the French horse Nelusko), the Stockbridge Biennial (beating Parson and Nelusko), the Newmarket Derby, the 1-1/2 mile Newmarket October Handicap (beating Nemea and nine others), and the Cambridgeshire Stakes Handicap at Newmarket Houghton. At age four, in 1869, SEE SAW ran five times, carrying heavy weights, and won twice, taking Ascot's Royal Hunt Cup (one mile) and the Anglesey Plate (3/4 of a mile) at Lichfield.
SEE-SAW got a lot of colts and fillies that could race; the vast majority won at a mile or less, and were stout, long-running horses that usually ran many times in one season. The exceptions -- those that could win at classic distances -- were Sortie (1879), a winner of the Irish Derby; Little Duck (1881), imported into France in-utero, who won the Prix du Jockey Club and Grand Prix de Paris; Discord (1876), winner of several races at 1-1/4 and 1-1/2 miles, including Liverpool's Knowsley Stakes; and Bruce (1879), who would have won the Epsom Derby if not for jockey error, and who went on to win the Grand Prix de Paris in France. Four of SEE-SAW'S sons won Ascot's Royal Hunt Cup (one mile), as did a number of his grandchildren, three of his youngsters took Goodwood's Stewards' Cup (six furlongs), another race many of his grandchildren also annexed, and two daughters, Footstep (1873) and Mazurka (1878) won Ascot's Coronation Stakes (eight furlongs).
In France, his son Little Duck continued the sire line. In England the inheritor was Loved One (1883), a winner of three races, including Ascot's six furlong Wokingham Stakes. Loved One was exiled to Ireland, where he bred hunters and cart horses, and one horse, Dinna Forget, that did well as a runner in Ireland and England and continued the sire line through his son, Dinneford. At age seventeen Loved One was brought back to England and installed in at Beenham Stud, near Reading. There he got Gondolette and Doris, neither of them above selling class as racers, but both dams of two classic winners each, and significant contributors to thoroughbred bloodstock as broodmares.
SEE-SAW was third on the sires' list in England in 1881, due in part to Bruce's unbeaten juvenile season, to the wins by the three-year-old filly Mazurka, and to many other winners of mile races and sprints. From 1876 through 1887 he was usually at least in the bottom ranks of the top twenty leading sires, but with almost no horses winning the classics or staying races with rich purses, he seldom rose higher. He was a successful broodmare sire: his daughter Mazurka's offspring included Cinderella (1888), dam of Peter Pan in the U.S., and another SEE-SAW daughter, Beauharnais (1874), was the dam of Soult, five times leading sire in New Zealand, and third dam of Herold, twice leading sire in Germany. His modest, speedy daughters, frequently bred to staying sires, got many good handicap winners of distance races, including horses that took the Cesarewitch Stakes (2 miles-2 furlongs), the Ascot Gold Vase (two miles), the Goodwood Stakes (2 miles), the Doncaster Cup (2-1/2 miles), and the Great Yorkshire Stakes.
Buccaneer's son PAUL JONES (1865, from Queen of the Gipsies, by Chanticleer) was the first foal of his dam, purchased by Cookson for Neasham. He was sold to George Hodgman, a well-known bookmaker that owned a few racehorses every year. PAUL JONES was a big, handsome horse that did best over a distance. At age three he won the Chester Cup, lightly weighted, beating sixteen other horses, took a walk-over for the Rous Stakes, and ran second to FORMOSA (by Buccaneer) in the Doncaster St. Leger, beaten by two lengths. In 1869 in seven starts he won once, taking the Queen's Plate at Chester (two miles), and placed third in the Doncaster Spring Handicap (1-1/2 miles) to Ploughboy and The Spy, and third in the Great Yorkshire Handicap (1-1/2 miles), with FORMOSA behind him in fourth.
PAUL JONES went to stud at William Everitt's Finstall Park stud, near Bromsgrove, Worcester, where he was overshadowed by Cardinal York. He got a few winners every year, including Paul's Cray a winner of Queen's Plates at Plymouth and Warwick, and other races; Scottish Grand National Steeplechase winner Gunboat (1877); Immortelle, a juvenile winner at Sandown Park that went on to establish a tail-female family that included Blue Larkspur (Belmont Stakes), the California gelding Ancient Title, and the stallion Relic; and Wavelet, the dam of Doncaster Cup winner Wavelet's Pride, a sire of good stayers. PAUL JONES died in 1879, at age fourteen.
Buccaneer's 1866 crop included three good fillies, TOISON D'OR, PERFUME, and BRIGANTINE. TOISON D'OR (1866) was out of Auld Acquaintance, by Birdcatcher, bred by John Bowes of Co. Durham and Paris, who had owned Derby winners Daniel O'Rourke and West Australian. Auld Acquaintance, a full sister to Daniel O' Rourke, had already produced some good winners, including Sauterelle (1860, by Voltigeur) and Claremont (1861, by DeClare), and would breed Ebor Handicap winner Chivalrous (1870, by Adventurer) four years after she dropped TOISON D'OR. Trained at Whitewall, TOISON D'OR won four of her eight races at age three -- she could not quite get up to place in the One Thousand Guineas (won by Scottish Queen, with BRIGANTINE third, and TOISON D'OR fourth) or the Epsom Oaks (won by BRIGANTINE), but she did take the Yorkshire Oaks, beating seven, York's Produce Stakes, and Doncaster's Park Hill Stakes over the 1-1/2 mile St. Leger course, beating three, and was second in Newmarket's Column Produce Stakes and the Doncaster Triennial. She is seen in pedigrees through her daughter, Decoration (1873, by Knight of the Garter), the third dam of the influential stallion Dark Ronald (1905) and his half-sister, Desiree (1902), who established an impressive tail-female line of winners in Germany.
PERFUME (1866, from Frangipani by Longbow), a fast filly with limited scope, won eight races for her owner William Goodwin at age three, including York's Knavesmire Plate (1/2 mile), Bath's Badminton Stakes (1/2 mile), Epsom's Heathcote Plate (1/2 mile), Stamford's Welland Stakes (one mile), and Doncaster's Bradgate Park Stakes; that year she was second in her first outing, Chester's Flying Handicap (5 furlongs), and Ascot's Fernhill Stakes (1/2 mile). She produced two daughters that bred winning horses, but her tail-female line did not continue beyond a few generations.
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Brigantine
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BRIGANTINE (1866), was out of Lady MacDonald by Touchstone, a sister to Two Thousand Guineas winner Lord of the Isles (1852). She was Buccaneer's second classic winner in England. She was bred by Cookson at Neasham and sold as a yearling at Doncaster to Sir Frederick Johnstone. She only ran for two seasons, but she proved to be another excellent race mare by Buccaneer. As a juvenile she ran five times, winning three and placing second once: her wins included a sweepstakes for juveniles and the Two Year Old Plate at Newmarket First Spring, and a valuable Nursery Handicap at Newmarket Houghton, beating twenty other youngsters. She was second to Cardinal York, who would win the 1870 Cesarewitch, in another Nursery Handicap at Newmarket.
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At age three she was entered in six races, and won four, including a walk-over, and placed third twice. In her first outing, the One Thousand Guineas, she did not respond to her jockey, Tom Cannon, when challenged by Scottish Queen and Morna, and was third, by a neck to Morna. In the Epsom Oaks, ridden more cleverly, she stayed near the lead, and passed Morna at the end to win easily. She went on to Ascot, where, receiving weight from the rest of the runners, she won the Ascot Gold Cup, beating the Derby winner Blue Gown by a length, with FORMOSA third, and two others in the high-class field. At Stockbridge, none of the other subscribers showed up to challenge her in the Stockbridge Biennial, for which she took a walk-over. At the same meeting she won the Hurstbourne Cup by twenty lengths, with FORMOSA second, and Cock of the Walk last. Her final race was the Goodwood Cup, she failed to stay with the leaders, Restitution and Blueskin, and was forty lengths behind a mile into the race, and could not recover the distance, placing third.
BRIGANTINE was a disappointing broodmare. One daughter, Booty (1881, by Sterling), continued the tail-female line; its only successful branch was in South America, but continued with some winners through the end of the 20th century.
Other Buccaneer English-bred winners included: MICHAEL-DE-BASCO (1865, from Fluke by Wormersley), winner of Newmarket's Glasgow Stakes at age three; VENTNOR (1866, from Maid of Derwent by Flatcatcher), a winner of a number of races, including the two mile Royal Plate at Hampton; SEA ROBBER (1866, from Saccharissa by Sweetmeat); LOPEZ (1866, out of Creeping Rose by Surplice); the long-running BLACK FLAG (1866, from Banquette by Rifleman), and many other winners of modest races.
Buccaneer's daughters from his three seasons in England proved successful as broodmares. He was dam's sire of an Epsom Oaks winner and a Prix du Jockey Club winner, with a number of successful classic winners and influential stallions in the next generation.
MERMAID (1864, from Naiad by Weatherbit) was the dam of Tichborne (1870, by Trumpeter), winner of the 1873 Newmarket October Handicap. PIRATE QUEEN (1865, from Queen of the May by Barnton), produced Goodwood Stakes winner Ingram (1885, by Isonomy) and Ulster Queen (1879, by Uncas), second dam of Epsom Oaks winner Cap and Bells (1898, by Domino), and third dam of Two Thousand Guineas winner Louvois (1910, by Isinglass) and his brother Louviers (1906, a good juvenile).
ALABAMA (1866, from Armadale by Carnival) produced the 1887 Cesarewitch Stakes (2 miles-2 furlongs) winner Humewood (1884, by Londesborough). BREAKWATER (1866, from Surf, by Storm) was the dam of John Day (1873, by John Davis), winner of Epsom's Great Metropolitan Handicap and his brother, Freshwater (1884), a winner of Newmarket's Chesterfield Stakes; her tail-female line bred on through several daughters, and included good winners in France through the mid-20th century.
JENNY DIVER (1866, from Fairy by Warlock), was the dam of 1880 Epsom Oaks winner Jenny Howlet (1877, by The Palmer), a non-staying filly that won by four lengths in a canter. Jenny Howlet was later the dam of Park Hill Stakes winner Belle Mahone (1885) and Great Yorkshire Stakes winner Chittabob (1886). Jenny Howlet's s sister Palmflower (1874), a winner of four races, including the Hurstbourne Stakes, was, at Mereworth stud the dam of St. Florian, the sire of Derby winner and multiple leading sire in Germany, Ard Patrick, and the tail-female ancestress of a hugely successful family, still producing, through her Nassau Stakes winning daughter Maize (1884, by Hampton), Epsom Oaks winning daughter Musa (1896, by Martagon) and other producing daughters. Several other JENNY DIVER daughters bred on, including Lulu (1871), from which descended good winners in Italy; Jenny Spinner (1879), tail-female ancestress of some excellent horses, including Prix du Jockey Club winner and leading French stallion Pharis (1836); and Jenny Winkle (1880 by Mr. Winkle), dam of Nassau Stakes winner Wrinkle (1886) and third dam of Tagalie (1909, by Cyllene), winner of the Epsom Derby and One Thousand Guineas.
PIRACY (1866, from a Newminster mare) became the second dam of War Dance (1887, by Galliard), a winner of the Grand Prix de Bruxelles and other good races (unplaced only once in 23 starts) for his French owner, Marcel Ephrussi. War Dance was the sire of Prix de Diane winner Roxelane (dam of Roi Herode), and Perth, winner of four classic races in France and leading sire there three times in his relatively short life.
ARMADA (1866, from Lady Chesterfield by Stockwell) bred Bella (1873, by Breadalbane), who went to France, where she dropped the dual French classic winner Heaume (1887, by Hermit), who established a successful sire line, and two daughters that were responsible for many of the high-class winners bred by the Rothschild family in France, including Mont Blanc (1919), Tantieme (1947) and Mont Bernina (1923).
Other Buccaneer daughter bred in England that established useful female lines included ALBATROSS (1865), MOTHER NEASHAM (1865), GIPSY (1866, a winner at age three), FELUCCA (1866, sent to the U.S.), and ALICE (1866), a winner at ages three and four, including the Northallerton and Wilton Handicaps (both one mile).
Buccaneer in Hungary
Buccaneer arrived at Kisbér on November 15, 1865. He was immediately popular throughout central Europe, and in addition to providing a good income through the annual yearling sales at Kisbér, he attracted stud fees from high class mares (most English-bred) from the leading studs in the Austro-Hungarian empire and beyond, extending from Silesia -- the long-disputed area between Poland and Prussia -- through Moravia (Czechoslovakia) to those belonging to local Hungarian aristocrats. Many of these mares' owners had been to school in England, and made the inevitable connections with owners and breeders of racehorses there, and were frequent guests in the homes and on the hunting fields belonging to wealthy English patrons of the turf, quickly acquiring a taste for the "sport of Kings." Several raced their European-bred horses in England, and some, such as the Baltazzi brothers, established racing stables there. The stallions at the state studs, and in private hands in central Europe -- which included, besides Buccaneer, Savernake (by Stockwell), The Palmer (by Beadsman), Flageolet (by Rayon d'Or), and Chamant (by Mortemer) -- were the foundations on which racing and breeding in Hungary, Germany, Austria, and beyond were laid.
CADET (1867, from Dahlia, by Orlando) was one of the winners in Buccaneer's first Hungarian-bred crop. He was purchased by Count Kálm, of Széchényi (near Budapest), and at age three won the Österreichisches Derby at Vienna, and the Magyar St. Leger in Budapest. As a stallion he got the French-bred Stockholm (1880, from Stockhausen, by Stockwell), an excellent race filly that won the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and Prix Royal Oak in France at age three, and England's Goodwood Stakes (2 miles) at age four. She became the dam Nordenfield (1895, by Le Hardy), who produced the Grand Prix de Paris winner Northeast (1905, by Perth) and Nordre (1914, by Alcantara), the dam of two winners of the Gran Premio Nacional in Spain. Another CADET daughter, Bridal (1885) produced Sweet Hawthorne, who was sold to the U.S., where she bred Colonel Holloway (1909, by Ethelbert), a winner of the Preakness Stakes and other races.
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Flibustier
Amalie von Edelreich
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In 1860 Count Johann Renard purchased the Lanercost daughter Kathleen, who had run second in the 1850 Epsom Oaks, from his hunting companion, Lord Londesborough. Kathleen had already produced The Rap (1857) a winner in 1860 of the Ascot Biennial and the Stockton Gold Cup, and her yearling colt Carrisbrook (1859, by Stockwell), would win Ascot's St. James's Palace Stakes and Prince of Wales's Stakes, the Ascot Derby, and other good races. Renard sent Kathleen, in foal to Stockwell and with her weanling filly [La Traviata, 1860] by West Australian, to his stud at his enormous Gross Strehlitz estate in Silesia, at that time part of Prussia. La Traviata went on to produce Bauerfanger (1868, by Grimston), a winner of the Deutsches Derby and the Henckel-Rennen and Hochstapler (1870, by Savernake), who took the Grosser Preis von Baden and Union-Rennen for Renard. The foal Kathleen was carrying, Sweet Katie (1861), won the Preis der Diana for Renard, and was sent to Kisbér to be bred in successive years to Buccaneer, Ignoramus, and Bois Roussel. Sweet Katie's Buccaneer offspring were FLIBUSTIER (1867), AMALIE VON EDELREICH (1870), and WAISENKNABE (1872). Her Igoramus offspring included Ignorant (1866), a winner of the Union-Rennen, and Ignatia (1866), dam of Preis der Diana winner Flaminia (1879, by Monseigneur). Her Bois Roussel daughter Hamadryade (1871), a winner of the Preis der Diana, later produced Hildburg, another winner of that classic race, and Hortari, who won the Ratibor-Rennen.
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Renard died in 1874, and his estates and horses were inherited by his nephew, Count Mortimer Tschirsky-Renard, a supporter of Kaiser Wilhelm who hosted the Kaiser at shooting and hunting parties at Gross Strehlitz. Tschirschky-Renard, who successfully raced Buccaneer children and grandchildren, was a representative of the North German Breeders Union, along with two other names more familiar to students of thoroughbred breeding history, Count Lehndorff and Ulrich von Oertzen; the three of them, representing the Union, would visit England to purchase mares and stallions that would be resold at lower prices to Prussian breeders to improve their bloodstock.
FLIBUSTIER (1867, from Sweet Katie by Stockwell), like most of Buccaneer's European-bred progeny, was of pure English descent. In the spring of 1870 Renard had him in France, where he ran unsuccessfully in the Grand Prix de Paris, and was third to the great La Toucques in the Prix de l'Empereur at Chantilly (with Orphelin third). In June he won the Union-Rennen at Hoppegarten (2800 meters), and in July he failed to place in the Deutsches Derby, won by Renard's Grimston colt, Adonis, but the same day he won the Klub-Preis. In England in the fall, he ran four times: He won a Handicap Sweepstakes for three-year-olds and upwards at Newmarket over a mile by ten lengths, but could not place in the Cesarewitch, a second Handicap Plate at Newmarket (won by Blue Gown), or in the Liverpool Autumn Cup (won by Exciseman, with Rosicrucian third and Flibustier fourth). In 1871 he was third to the Duke of Hamilton's Monseigneur and Adonis in the Grosser Preis von Baden, at Baden-Baden, and then won the Silberner Schild (Silver Shield, 4700 meters) at the Hoppegarten in Berlin. The next year he took the Goldene Peitsche (1200 meters) at the Hoppegarten.
At Count Renard's stud FLIBUSTIER was a successful stallion, leading the sire's list in Germany in 1884, 1888 and 1889, getting, among others, Trachenberg (1879), a leading sire in 1893, who would get Hannibal (1891), a winner of eight of his twelve starts and a dual-leading sire (1906, 1912), whose son, Fels, was a three-time champion runner in Germany. Fels got the colt Laland, the sire of the 1936 champion runner Nereide, an undefeated race mare. But Fels, who stood at Gestüt Verwaltung, near Frankfurt-am-Main, was the effective end of this most successful branch of the Wild Dayrell sire line.
FLIBUSTIER got many successful runners. His daughter Künsterlin (1876, from Arcadia by Arthur Wellesley), bred by Count Renard's successor, Count Mortimer Tschirschky-Renard, won the Deutsches Derby and the Hertefeld-Rennen at the Hoppegarten, among other races, and was second to the great Kincsem in the 1879 Grosser Preis von Baden. FLIBUSTIER'S son Tschungatai (1877, out of Union, by Savernake) won the Henckel-Rennen at the Hoppegarten. Trachenberg (1879, from Dirt Cheap, by Orlando), bred and raced by Tschirschky-Renard won the Ratibor Rennen at age two, the Henckel-Rennen and Silberner Schild at age three in a canter, and the Deutsches Derby by three lengths, beating Taurus, who had bested Trachenberg in the Union-Rennen, and other good ones.
Some other prominent winners by FLIBUSTIER included: Architekt (1880, brother to Künsterlin), a winner of the Ratibor Rennen as a juvenile for Prinz Fr. Hatzfeldt; Amorosa (1882, from Lady Grace by St. Albans), a winner of both the Silberner Schild and the Goldene Peitsche at the Hoppegarten; Fledermaus (1886, from F.F. by Rustic), a winner of the Fürstenberg Rennen at Baden-Baden; Freimaurer (1886, from La Farandole by Joskin), who won the Grosser Preis von Berlin and was second to Uram Batyám in the Deutsches Derby, and numerous other winners.
FLIBUSTIER also proved to be a successful broodmare sire, his daughters producing, among others: Habenichts (1895, by Chamant - Haselnuss), who won the Zukunfts-Rennen at Baden-Baden and the Ratibor Rennen at age two, and the Deutsches Derby at age three; of Jenny Lind (1894, by Fulmen - Künsterlin), a winner of the Hoppegarten's Goldene Peitsche and second in the Preis der Diana; of Griffin (1879, Galliard - Harzrose), who took the Henckel-Rennen; of the 1901 champion German runner Tuki (1898, by Gouverneur - Räuberbraut), who won the Deutsches Derby, the Deutsches St. Leger and the Grosser Preis von Berlin, and of Vollmond (1895, by Chamant - Vision), another superior runner that won the Deutsches St. Leger, the Union-Rennen, the Wäldschens-Rennen (Frankfurt), the Silberner Schild and the Hertefeld-Rennen (Hoppegarten) at age three. One daughter, Mandolina, produced Griden (1895, by Gaga), a winner of the Russisches Derby in Moscow.
FLIBUSTIER'S sister, AMALIE VON EDELREICH (1870), was bred and raced by Johann Renard. Renard sent her and a colt, Hochstapler (by Savernake), to England at age two to train for the Epsom Oaks and Derby respectively. They were placed with Joseph Hayhoe, who would also train the Hungarian-bred Buccaneer son, KISBÉR, winner of the Epsom Derby in 1876. AMALIE did well by placing second to the French horse, Flageolet, in the premier juvenile event, the Criterion, at Newmarket in October, but at age three she did not place in the One Thousand Guineas. Meanwhile, her stablemate, Hochstapler had won a race at Newmarket, and Renard was betting a lot of money on his horse for the Derby, where he started "leg tired and lame," and stumbled during the running, knocking two other horses. Renard, apparently overextended financially, left England in a rush, followed by his horses.
AMALIE ran in the Österreichisches Derby, but had caught a cold prior to the race and was coughing at the start, and did not place. In Germany she was the first filly to win the Deutsches Derby, in a "pulse-pounding" race, beating GAMECOCK (by Buccaneer - Game Pullet, by Chanticleer), a winner of the Nemzeti dij (Two Thousand Guineas) in Budapest in 1873) and Renard's horse Hochstapler. In the Union-Rennen at the Hoppegarten she was second to Hochstapler. She went on to run in more than sixteen races, "and showed her class," including placing second to Hochstapler in the Grosser Preis von Baden and in the Grosser Preis der Weltausstellung (the "Grand Prix of Vienna", with eight others in the field) instituted that year in honor of the international exposition. She bred three foals, none of which made a mark on the turf, and died from colic in 1878.
The third foal from the Buccaneer-Sweet Katie cross bred by Renard was WAISENKNABE (1872). At age three he won the Hoppegarten's Henckel-Rennen for Countess Renard, her husband having died the previous year. He was purchased by the Northern Breeders racing club, and leased to Count Nikolaus Esterházy for use in his Hungarian stud. Among his winners were Lehetetian (1879, from Mlle. Giraud by Bois Roussel), who won the Grosser Preis von Baden and his brother, Stronzian (1881), a winner of the Deutsches Derby. Stronzian was later a stallion at the Esterhazy Gestüt Nordkirchen in Austria-Hungary. Stronzian's sire line continued in Germany through his grandson, Slusohr (1895), a winner of the Grand Preis von Baden and later a sire at Gestüt Pläswitz and the Union Club stud at the Hoppegarten; his son, Union-Rennen winner Swirtigal (1906) was later sold to Russia. WAISENKNABE'S daughter, Nicht Schlecht produced Nixnutz, a winner of the Ratibor Rennen as a juvenile, and of the Henckel-Rennen at age three, and second to Impuls in the Deutsches Derby.
Buccaneer's daughter ANDORKA (1868, from Brown Agnes, by West Australian) won the Nemzeti dij at Budapest. She was a broodmare at the Graditz Stud, where she produced the Henckel-Rennen winner Andernach (1882, by Chamant).
FALSCAPA (1869) was out of Voltella, by Voltigeur, the dam of five other useful foals by Buccaneer. He won both the Nemzeti dij and the Magyar St. Leger. His sister, HESSENPREIS (1875) produced Battenberg (1886), a winner of the Deutsches St. Leger, and Barde (1887), who won the Fürstenberg-Rennen. Another sister, VOLTIGE (1879) established a tail-female family of winners in Austria, Germany and Hungary that lasted past the first World War.
The Buccaneer-Voltella son TALLOS (1874) was owned and raced by Aristide Baltazzi, and was the best runner of the group. In England as a juvenile, he was second to the French horse, Jongleur, in Newmarket's Criterion Stakes, with PIRAT (1874, by Buccaneer) third. The next year, 1877, he was second to Kincsem in the Österreichisches Derby in Vienna and second to PIRAT in the Deutsches Derby, before winning the Hertefeld-Rennen at the Hoppegarten. The next year he was second to Kincsem in the Staatpreis at Presburg. In 1880 he won the Silberner Schild and the Grosser Preis von Baden.
In 1871 two French-bred mares were covered by Buccaneer: L'Aventuriere, by Monarch, and Sunbeam, by The Baron. L'Aventuriere produced the 1872 filly LA PUTIFARE, and Sunbeam also dropped a filly, MISS GODOLPHIN. These fillies were raced by Ludvig (somtimes Louis) Grabowski, a minor member of the Polish aristocracy. At age three, MISS GODOLPHIN won the Gosudaryni Imperatricy (2400 meters) in Moscow, and the Nagroda Derby in Warsaw. LA PUTIFARE won the 2400 meter Priz Rieke Wolgi in Moscow at age three. LA PUTIFARE was a broodmare in France and Poland, and produced several winners for Grabowski, the most notable of which was Kordecki (1883) by Kordjan, a winner of the Nagroda Derby and the Nagroda Prezydents Rzeczypospolite.
In 1873 an unnamed BUCCANEER MARE (1870), out of Canace by King Tom and belonging to Count Nikolaus Esterházy won the Österreichisches Derby. She did not produce successful offspring, but her sister, VITA, did. VITA (1876) was the dam of Soll Ich (1884, by Chamant), winner of the Magyar Kanca dij, and Willich (1886, by Przedswit), who took the Szent Laslo dij.
LADY PATRONESS (1871, out of Louise Bonnie by Lambton), co-owned by Count Ugarte and Aristide Baltazzi, also won the Österreichisches Derby. She later bred the useful runners Zsamok (1885, by Verneuil), who took the Austria Trial Stakes at age three, and Pásztor (1881 by Cambuscan), a winner of the Magyar St. Leger; he also ran second to Stronzian in the Deutsches Derby and was third in the Union-Rennen. Pásztor was later a stallion in one of the Imperial studs; his best runner was Hosno (1888, from Mata by Ostreger), a winner of the Magyar Kanca Dij and the Österreichisches Stutenpreis.
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Kisbér
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KISBÉR (1873, from Mineral by Rataplan) was bred in Hungary and purchased as a yearling by Alexander and Aristide Baltazzi. He was 15.3 hands, with "powerful shoulders and loins." Like SEE SAW, he had "rough" hocks. Taken to England to train and race, he won three of his seven starts at ages two and three -- Newmarket's Dewhurst Stakes, an important juvenile race; the Epsom Derby, and, in France, the Grand Prix de Paris. Plagued by rheumatism, or perhaps arthritis, he was never a completely sound horse. He spent nine years at stud in England, then went to Alexander Baltazzi's Napajedla Stud in Moravia. After two years there he was sold to the Harzburg Stud in Lower Saxony.
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In England the highest KISBÉR ever reached on the sires list was number eight; in Germany, towards the end of his life, he was leading sire three times. His sons were far better on the turf than his daughters, but none, including his three Deutsches Derby winners, were able to perpetuate the sire line. Several of his daughters, however, produced classic winners and top handicappers in England, France, Germany and elsewhere, and had some influence on thoroughbred bloodlines. His English-bred son, Crafton, with limited opportunity, got two important broodmare daughters, the significant German matron, Alveole, and Grig, the dam of Santa Fina and of the influential Australian stallion St. Anton.
Mineral also produced the Buccaneer son KISBÉR ÖCSCSE (1877). He was purchased as a yearling by Count Ivan Szapáry, but broke down in training and was sold back to the Imperial stud for 15,000 guilden. He was an excellent sire at Kisbér, getting winners in Hungary and Austria. His best runner was Buzgo (1882). Buzgo's dam, Baber (by the beautiful stayer Ely) was imported to Kisbér with her dam, Beeswing (by Newminster), and won both the Magyar Kanca dij and the Magyar St. Leger in Budapest before retiring to the breeding shed. Buzgo was a top three-year-old in Austria-Hungary, winning the Österreichisches Derby, the Austria Trial Stakes, the Budapest Exhibition International Prize (1-3/4 miles) and the Magyar St. Leger for Count Johann Sztaray, and at age four was taken to race in England by Count Hunyadi, an intimate of the Emperor and well-known in the capitols of Europe in official capacities and unofficially as a notorious womanizer and gambler. Buzgo ran three times in England: he was third and last in the Ascot Gold Cup and in Kempton Park's Alexandra Plate, but managed second, beaten by a short head, at Manchester's Midsummer Welter Handicap (1-1/2 miles) to Selby, with four others in the field.
KISBÉR ÖCSCSE'S daughter, Weather (1887, from Weatherbeaten by Young Melbourne) won the Magyar St. Leger at age three, and the Jubilaums Preis in Vienna at age four. She was later the dam of Weathercock (1893, by Galaor), a winner of the Oesterreichisches Derby for Count Hunyadi. KISBER OCSCSE'S daughters Hires (1889, from Herczegno by Ostreger) and Kritik (1892, Kunst by Hastings) both won the Magyar Kanca dij. Kritik was later the dam of Karmento (1905, Mindig-Kritik), who won the Jubilaums Preis at Vienna. KISBÉR ÖCSCSE'S son Inaska (1894, from Illona by Cambuscan) took both the Nemzeti dij in Budapest and the Austria Trial Stakes at age three.
In addition to Weathercock, KISBÉR ÖCSCSE was dam's sire of Gourmand (1890, Gunnersbury-Primadonna), also a winner of the Österreichisches Derby, and as a juvenile of the Graf Hugo-Henckel Memorial in Vienna. KISBÉR ÖCSCSE'S daughter Young Tripaway produced Gomba (1893, by Dictator), also a winner at age two of the Graf Hugo-Henckel Memorial, and at age three of the Austria Trial Stakes and at age four of the Austria-Preis. He was also dam's sire of Gyalar (1899, Timothy-Gyongy), a juvenile winner of the Szent Laszlo dij at Budapest, and of the in-bred (2 x 3 to Buccaneer) Mokan (1909, by Tokio, out of Moneta), a winner of the Millenniumi dij at Budapest and the Austria Trial Stakes at age three.
Buccaneer's 1873 crop included VORDERMANN (from Viscountess by Stockwell), BIBOR (from Fancy, by Orlando), and GOOD HOPE (from Gorse, by King Tom), all from imported English mares. VORDERMANN's wins included the Zukunfts-Rennen as a juvenile, and the Wäldchens-Rennen at Frankfurt at age three; he served as a stallion at Gestüt Graditz. BIBOR won the Nemzeti dij. GOOD HOPE, owned by Prince von Oppenheim, won both the Österreichisches Derby and the Union-Rennen at age three. He later got Tambour-Major (1888), a winner of the Fürstenberg-Rennen and Good Boy (1883) who won the Bolszoj Wsiesojuznyj Preis in Moscow (2400 meters).
Buccaneer's most successful runners in the next three crops were PIRAT (1874, from Fern, by Fernhill), NIL DESPERANDUM (1875, out of the Adventurer mare Hope), and PICKLOCK (1876, from Sexagesima). PIRAT started his career in England for his owner, Prince Hohenlohe-Öhringen; he ran third to the French-bred Jongleur and TALLOS in Newmarket's Criterion Stakes as a juvenile. On the continent in 1877, he won the Deutsches Derby (beating TALLOS, second, and others) and the Silberner Schild, and was second by four lengths to Kincsem in the Renard-Rennen at Hamburg. NIL DESPERANDUM, raced by Aristide Baltazzi, was second to Orosvar in the Deutsches Derby and won the Österreichisches Derby at age three, and at age four was another Buccaneer colt that succumbed to Kincsem, this time in the Mai Staatspreis at Budapest. PICKLOCK, owned by Count Hugo-Henckel was another juvenile winner of the Zukunfts-Rennen, and at age three won both the Union-Rennen and the Goldene Peitsche at the Hoppegarten. He later got a few winners at stud.
In the 1877 crop, Buccaneer's winners included FLORIAN (Flower Girl, by Orlando), a winner of the 1880 Austria Trial Stakes, and ELEMÉR (Elspeth by Blair Athol), who at age three won the Österreichisches Derby, the Wäldschen-Rennen at Frankfurt, and the Hertefeld-Rennen at the Hoppegarten for Count Béla Zichy.
The next year's crop, 1878, included a good juvenile, BÁLVÁNY, winner of the Zukunfts-Rennen at Baden, the Hamburg Criterium, and the Bürgerpreis at Oldenburg for Nicolaus von Blaskovits, the brother of Kincsem's owner. LANDLORD (out of Lancelin, by West Australian) was also in this crop: he won the Magyar St. Leger at Budapest.
VEDEREMO, another 1878 foal, was out of Verbena, by Compromise. Verbena also produced VINEA (1881) and VERONICA (1879) to the cover of Buccaneer, all successful runners. VEDEREMO won the Österreichisches Derby in 1881, and his brother, VINEA won it three years later for Baron Gustav Springer. VINEA also won the Deutsches St. Leger at Dortmund, and the Hertefeld-Rennen. Both colts were later sires of winners in Hungary. Their sister, VERONICA, won the Magyar St. Leger, and later produced Vaga, a winner of the 1903 Jubilaums Preis in Vienna.
Buccaneer youngsters born in 1879 included GRAND BUCCANEER (from Sunset, by Dundee), a winner of the Nemzeti dij, and TITTLE TATTLE (out of Clairette Angot, by Blair Athol), a winner of the Fürstenberg Rennen for Count A. Apponyi. TITTLE TATTLE was later the dam of Trick Track (1889, by the French-bred stallion Verneuil), a good juvenile winner in Austria and Hungary, and of Tip Top (1894, by Metallist), a winner at two of the Szent Laslo dij in Budapest. Another good Buccaneer filly, born in 1881, was DART (out of Deerdale, by The Duke), another winner of the Magyar Kanca dij.
When the great racemare, "The Pearl of Budapest," Kincsem was retired to Gestüt Tapioszentmarton, the stud of her owner, Ernest von Blaskovits, in the fall of 1879, there was little question of which stallion she would meet. Buccaneer was at the height of his stud career, with numerous high-class winners, including KISBÉR, already piling up honors.
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Budagyöngye
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The first foal from this cross was the filly BUDAGYÖNGYE (1882) , winner of the Deutsches Derby and second to Italy in the Union-Rennen. BUDAGYÖNGE later produced two stakes-winning fillies in Austria and Hungary, Disco (1906, Nemzeti dij, Austrian Trial Stakes) and Viglany (1900, Graf Hugo Henckel, Österreichisches Stutenpreis, etc.) , and Fursca, the dam of the Österreichisches Derby winner Beregvölgy (1900, by Bona Vistas); all three of these mares established successful tail-female branches with winners in Hungary, Austria, England (including 1974 Epsom Oaks winner Polygamy), and France.
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The next Kincsem-Buccaneer foal was OLLYAN-NINCS (1883). She won the Zent Lazlo dij at Budapest as a juvenile and the Magyar St. Leger at age three, among other races. She produced Hazafi (1899), a winner of the Austria Preis and other races, and a bevy of daughters that bred on, with classic winners in eastern Europe; one of these branches produced Wahnfried (1933, by Flamboyant), winner of the Deutsches St. Leger and Fürstenberg-Rennen and a leading sire in Germany in 1948, and his half-sister, Waffenart (1936, by Alchimist), a significant matron in Germany.
The Kincsem-Buccaneer cross produced one surviving colt, TALPRA MAGYAR (1885). He did not race and went right into the stud, where he got Xamete (1896) a winner of the Grosser Preis von Baden, Faith (1903), who took the Österreichisches Stutenpreis, and Hut-Ab (1896), winner of the Preis der Diana and dam of Hochzeit, another Preis der Diana winner. TALPRA MAGYAR'S son, Tokio (1892), was a successful winner of numerous races, including the Grosser Preis von Baden, the Österreichisches Derby and Trial Stakes, and the Magyar St. Leger. Tokio's son, the in-bred (to Buccaneer) Mokan, a useful sire, was the end of this short-lived branch of the Buccaneer sire line.
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Fenék
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FENÉK (1883, from Helene Triomphante by Young Melbourne) was raced by Count Tasziló Festetics, a suave, rich aristocrat whose 18th century Festetics Palace in Keszthely, Zala, Hungary, was a Baroque showplace. Festetics was well-tied in with European aristos, marrying Lady Mary Douglas-Hamilton, and twice hosted Edward, Prince of Wales (incognito) at his Hungarian palace. FENÉK spent his first few years at stud at the venerable state stud farm (founded in 1784) of Mezöhegyes in southeast Hungary, still in existence and a nominated World Heritage site. In 1894 he was transferred to Kisbér, where he stood for the equivalent of £30 to foreigners and £20 to native owned mares.
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FENÉK'S wins as a juvenile included the International Two-Year-Old plate (3/4 of a mile, beating five) at Budapest, and the Zukunfts-Rennen Preis at Baden-Baden, beating eleven other youngsters (including OLLYAN-NINCS) by 6-1/2 lengths. At age three he won the Nemzeti dij at Budapest, the Österreichisches Derby, and the Union-Rennen at the Hoppegarten.
FENÉK'S offspring included the filly Perle d'Or (1891, from Echo by Gunnersbury), winner of the Magyar Kanca dij and the Österreichisches Stutenpreis, and Dornroschen (1890, from Dimdl by Cambuscan), who won the Jubilaums Preis in Vienna. He also had a significant influence on the development of the Kisbér Félvérs, and his sire line is still extant in that breed.
Another useful sire son of Buccaneer's was YOUNG BUCCANEER (1870, from Lava, by Orlando). He sired Morteratsch (1880, from Eavice by Lecturer), a winner of the Austria Trial Stakes, and his sister, Gabemie (1881), who took the Preis der Diana. He got another good filly in Matutina (1883, out of Joyeuse by Palestro), also a winner of the Preis der Diana.
Buccanner also got some winners over fences. His son BRIGAND (1867) won the grueling Grand Steeple-chase at Pardubice (Bohemia, Czechoslovakia) in 1875, 1877 and 1878, and was also a winner of the Grand Steeple-chase at Vienna in 1878. GOOD MORNING (1873) won the race at Pardubice in 1880, and the race at Vienna that same year. BRIGANTINE (not his classic-winning filly) also won the Grand Steeple-Chase at Vienna, in 1873. Buccaneer's English-bred daughter, BEATRICE GREY (1865, from Blanche, by Birdcatcher), a winner of two races as a juvenile at Hampton, became the dam of the good jumper Jupiter Tonans (1873, by Thunderbolt), a winner of the Irish Grand National in 1879 and of the Grand Sefton Steeplechase in 1880.
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Buccaneer's Winners of Principal Races in Central Europe |
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Germany |
Austria
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Hungary |
| Name |
ZR |
UR |
DD |
DStL |
GPB |
SS |
HR |
AT |
OD |
Nd |
Kd |
MStL |
| Cadet 1867 |
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X |
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X |
| Flibustier 1867 |
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X |
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X |
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| Andorka 1868 |
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X |
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| Falscapa 1869 |
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X |
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X |
| Amalie von Edelreich 1870 |
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X |
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| Gamecock 1870 |
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X |
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| Lady Patroness 1871 |
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X |
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| Bibor 1873 |
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X |
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| Buccaneer Mare 1873 |
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X |
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| Good Hope 1873 |
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X |
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X |
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| Vordermann 1873 |
X |
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| Pirat 1874 |
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X |
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X |
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| Tallos 1874 |
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X |
X |
X |
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| Nil Desperandum 1875 |
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X |
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X |
| Picklock 1876 |
X |
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| Elemér 1877 |
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X |
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| Florian 1877 |
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X |
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| Bálvány 1878 |
X |
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| Landlord 1878 |
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X |
| Vederemo 1878 |
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X |
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| Veronica 1879 |
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X |
| Vinea 1881 |
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X |
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X |
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X |
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| Budagyönge 1882 |
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X |
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| Grand Buccaneer 1879 |
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X |
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| Dart 1881 |
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X |
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| Fenék 1883 |
X |
X |
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X |
X |
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| Ollyan-Nincs 1883 |
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X |
Germany
ZR-Zukunfts-Rennen 2100 m. 2 yo
UR-Union-Rennen 2800 m. (1837-1887) 3 yo
DD-Deutsches Derby 12 f. 3 yo
DSL--Deutsches St. Leger 14 f. 3 yo
GPB-Grosser Preis von Baden 3200 m. (1858-1886), 2800 m. (1887-93) 3 yo and up
SS-Silberner Schild 2400 m. 3 yo and up
HR-Hertefeld-Rennen 3000 m. 3 yo
Austria
AT-Austria Trial Stakes 1600 m. 3 yo
OD-Österreichisches Derby 2400 m. 3 yo
Hungary
Nd-Nemzeti dij 1600 m. 3 yo
Kd-Magyar Kanca dij 2400 m. 3 yo
MSL-Magyar St. Leger 2800 m. 3 yo
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Buccaneer was also a successful broodmare sire, whose daughters bred winners, not only at the Imperial Studs, but at the state studs in Germany and in private studs throughout central Europe. Very few of these good producers bred on past World War I.
GOURA (1872, out of Gorse, by King Tom, and so sister to GOOD HOPE), a broodmare at Graditz, became the dam of Preis der Diana winner Glocke (1880, by The Palmer), and Geheimniss (1883, by Chamant), the latter, also a broodmare at Graditz, the dam of Deutsches Derby winner Geier (1890, by Flageolet, also winner of the Union-Rennen), and of Gastfreund (1896, by Gouverneur), a winner of the Zukunfts-Rennen at age two and the Union-Rennen at age three. Her tail-female family continued through the mid-twentieth century.
COMTESSE CAROLINE (1886, out of Mariolin, a half-sister to KISBÉR, by Cambuscan) was the dam of Impuls (1892, by Fulmen), bred by Baron E. von Falkenhausen at Gestüt Görlsdorf, the champion racehorse in Germany in 1895 whose wins included the Deutsches Derby and the Union-Rennen.
BAJOS (1877, from Louisa Bonne by Lambton) became the dam of Uram-Batyám (1886, by Gunnersbury), another Deutsches Derby winner that also won the Nemzeti dij.
Pistache (1886), another successful Gunnersbury - Buccaneer daughter cross, was out of GINEVRA (1876), a sister to GAMECOCK (Buccaneer - Game Pullet); Pistache won the Österreichisches Stutenpreis.
Several Buccaneer daughters were put to Doncaster at Kisbér. These included BARONESS SAROLTA (1880, from Tripaway by Young Melbourne), the dam of Benczur (1888 by Doncaster), winner of the Nemzeti dij and the Austria Preis at age three; BECSES (1876, out of Water Nymph by Cotswold, and so closely-related to Kincsem), the dam of Jubilaums Preis winner Virad (1890 by Doncaster) and of Harczos (1882 by Purde), who won the Szent Laszlo dij at age two; and PARAIBL (1876, out of Pearlfeather by Newminster), the dam of Prado (1887, by Doncaster), who won the Szent Laszlo dij as a juvenile and the Nemzeti dij and Austria Trial Stakes at age three. PARAIBL also produced Lilinokalani (1889, by Craig Millar), a winner of the Österreichisches Stutenpreis.
Buccaneer daughters also produced winners to Cambuscan at Kisbér. FREGATTE (1867, out of Donna del Lago by Lord of the Isles) was the dam of Frangepan (1880 by Cambuscan), a winner of the Magyar St. Leger. PANIQUE (1870, from Catastrophe by Pyrrhus the First) produced the filly Cambrian (1880 by Cambuscan), a winner of the Magyar Kanca dij. LADYLIKE (1873, from Lady of the Lake, also related to Kincsem, by Teddington) became the dam of La Gondola (1878, by Cambuscan), who won the Grosser Preis von Baden.
Buccaneer's daughter HANNAH (1869, from Sophia Lawrence by Stockwell), bred to stallions at Graditz in Germany produced Lucretia (1884, by The Palmer), winner of the Fürstenberg-Rennen, and her half-sister Herzdame (1885, by Recorder), the winner of the 1888 Preis der Diana. LEA (1869, from Yaller Gal by Woolwich) bred the 1880 Fürstenberg-Rennen winner Kaleb (1877, by Compromise).
BRISEIS (1880, out of Bimbo by Ostreger) was the dam of the double classic winner Achilles (1888 by Ruperra), winner of the Magyar St. Leger and the Österreichisches Derby. ISABEL (1881, from Anonyma by Thunderbolt) produced several foals to the cover of Buccaneer, including Vep (1886, by Craig Millar), who won the 1890 Austria-Preis.
--Patricia Erigero; Thanks to Tim Cox for his assistance with Buccaneer's race record |
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