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Thormanby
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Thormanby was the best racing offspring of the great stayer and long-running mare Alice Hawthorn. He won the Derby, and some other good races, and in 1869 was leading sire in Great Britain, a pretty good feat considering he had no classic winners that year, but rather a bevy of good two-year-olds. Although he himself could go a distance, winning the Ascot Gold Cup in addition to the Derby, and running second in the Doncaster Cup, in the stud he was decidedly a sire of precocious juveniles and of sprinters, or at best, milers. His sire line was kept alive by his 2,000 Guineas winning son, Atlantic, who became a top sire in France, and left the good racehorse and outstanding sire, Le Sancy, there, to continue the line, which went back to the United Kingdom with Le Sancy's grandson, Roi Herode, who sired the influential The Tetrarch. Thormanby's daughters were generally better than his sons, and he sired several extremely influential broodmares, the most noted being Rouge Rose, dam of the great racehorse and sire, Bend Or.
Thormanby's sire, Windhound, a brown colt of 1847, by Pantaloon, was bred by Lord John Scott at his Cawston Lodge stud, Rugby, Warwickshire, out of Scott's Touchstone mare, Phryne, who produced some good runners for Scott, including Windhound's brothers: Elthiron (1846, winner of the City and Suburban and the Derby Stakes), later sold to stud in France; the handsome Hobbie Noble, a very good runner; and The Reiver (1850), winner of the July Stakes and St. James' Palace Stakes. Her daughters by Melbourne were also successful: Blanche of Middlebie (1855), won the Ham Stakes and ran third in the Doncaster St. Leger, and Rambling Katie (1852), was second dam of Chester Cup winner Paul Jones and Bill of Fare, the latter seen in contemporary stallion Theatrical's pedigree. Another daughter, Katherine Logie (1853), by The Flying Dutchman, produced 2,000 Guineas winner Bothwell and Prince of Wales' Stakes winner King o'Scots, and several daughters that bred on.
Windhound did not make much of a splash on the turf, but Scott retained him for the stud at Cawston Lodge, where he stood for 10 guineas in the mid-1850s, alongside Melbourne, whose stud fee at that time was 50 guineas; two years later Windhound's fee was raised to 12 guineas. As Melbourne's fertility began to fail, Scott increasingly shifted mares destined for Melbourne to Windhound, and to Birdcatcher, who at the time was also at Cawston Lodge. One of these mares, first presented to Melbourne, was Alice Hawthorn, the great staying mare and dual Doncaster Cup winner, by then -- 1855 -- age 18, and the product of this breeding was Thormanby. She "turned from" Melbourne, and three weeks later was put to Windhound. Although the General Stud Book lists Thormanby as by Melbourne or Windhound, most turf observers of the time believed Windhound was his sire.
Windhound was replaced at Cawston Lodge by the Melbourne son Canobie in 1858, and Windhound's brother, the successful racehorse Hobbie Noble, owned by James Merry, joined the stallion line-up at Cawston in 1859. Windhound was sent to Merry's Russley Park stable at Lambourn, along with most of Scott's racing string, all purchased by Merry in 1857-8, in an arrangement organized by trainer Matthew Dawson, who worked for Scott, and went to Russley along with the horses.
Windhound also sired an earlier full sister to Thormanby, from Alice Hawthorne, Lady Hawthorn (1854), who was a decent race filly, winning York's Convivial Stakes at age two, and of sufficent class to be entered in the Epsom Derby, where she did not place. In the stud, Lady Hawthorn produced Royal Hunt Cup winner Acrostic and a number of productive daughters who greatly augmented the success of Family 4. Windhound appears to have gotten nothing else anywhere approaching the class of Thormanby, or even Lady Hawthorn, but he did suffer from periodically standing alongside two extremely successful racehorses and sires, Melbourne and Birdcatcher.
Thormanby, foaled in 1857, was not a particularly attractive animal, described as having an "exceedingly plain head and general want of substance." A light chestnut with an odd-shaped blaze on his face and a flaxen mane and tail, he later darkened, and developed the black spots or "blotches" seen on his grandsire, Pantaloon. He was a wiry, leggy horse, and light of bone, with a "not very grand" shoulder," but "his level, strongly-knit back and powerfully arched loins sent him up the Ascot incline like a steam engine." He moved with a "bounding, elastic action," had showed a great deal of courage on the turf, and was a very tough horse who withstood hard training. He was described as a lazy, good tempered animal. Despite his appearance, he attracted the eye of Mat Dawson, who had been at Cawston Lodge, where Windhound stood when Alice Hawthorne was bred to him, and he purchased the colt, as a yearling, for £350 for his new employer, James Merry, of Lambourn, Wiltshire.
Mat Dawson, who apprenticed first to his father, George, at the family stables at Stamford Hall in Haddingtonshire, second to his brother, Thomas, at Tupgill, Middleham, and then training race horses on his own account in Scotland, secured the position of trainer for Lord John Scott at Cawston Lodge, Rugby, in the mid-1840s, where Melbourne, Windhound and other stallions periodically stood at stud. For Scott, and his partner, Sir John Don-Wauchope, Dawson managed the stud and trained horses at Yes Tree Cottage in Compton, Berkshire. One of his first successes was with the Pantaloon son, Hobbie Noble, who won the July Stakes at Newmarket under his schooling. He later trained Sir John's filly, Catherine Hayes, who won the Oaks in 1853; Catherine Hayes would later produce some foals to Thormanby. When Scott disbursed his racing stock in 1857, Dawson arranged the sale of his horses to James Merry, a wealthy owner whose chief joy in racing was the associated gambling. Merry's stable was at Russley Park, near Lambourn, and Dawson went with the horses in his new position, first as assistant trainer for Merry, and in 1858, as trainer, after Merry had a dispute with his trainer John Prince, over the finish of his horse, Sunbeam, in the St. Leger. Dawson ultimately trained winners of twenty-eight classic races, almost all of them as a public trainer of horses from owners he selected, and many of them for his long-term patron Lord Falmouth. He was also a successful trainer of trainers, and of such jockeys as Fred Archer, and many of the most successful trainers of the late 19th century spent time under his instruction.
Merry was unimpressed with Thormanby, and in an apparently typical mean spirited-fashion, required Dawson to house the colt at his own expense until he showed he had some potential. Dawson remained as a trainer for Merry at Russley Park until 1866, when he opened his own stable at Newmarket, soon moving to Heath House there, where his establishment turned out a succession of high class horses.
Thormanby on the Turf
Dawson trained Thormanby at Lambourn, where, like all of Merry's two year olds, underwent "strong preparation" for racing, and in his first year on the turf won ten of his fifteen races, placing second once and third four times. His wins included his first race at Northampton for a £190 purse; the Biennial at the York Spring meeting, beating Rattlebone and the future Oaks winner Butterfly; the Mostyn Stakes at Chester; the Biennial at Ascot, beating Rupee by three lengths, and nine others; the Lavant Stakes at Goodwood; the Eglinton Stakes; the Gimcrack Stakes, beating future Goodwood Cup winner Sweetsauce and five others; the Prendergast Stakes, and the Criterion Stakes. In his other races that year, he ran second in the New Stakes, won by Rupee over a field of twenty, and third four times: in the Two Year Old Stakes at Epsom, the Findon Stakes at Goodwood, the Convivial Stakes at York, and the Clearwell Stakes at Newmarket.
He began his three year old year by winning the Derby, favored second after 2,000 Guineas winner The Wizard; also in the race were the future Ascot Queen's Vase winner Horror, future Great Ebor Handicap winner The Rising Sun, future Goodwood Stakes winner Wallace, American Richard Ten Broeck's Umpire, Nutbourne, who broke down in the running, and 21 other horses, a very good field. Thormanby lay back until three furlongs to the finish, and then surged ahead to win by 1-1/2 lengths. As he passed the stands at the finish, a turf writer noted "his coat was like a mirror...he seemed to hardly touch the ground." His owner, Merry, won £70,000 in bets, far more than the £6,050 pounds his horse secured by winning the race; Dawson received £1,000 from Merry, and the jockey, Henry Custance, riding in his first Derby, received £100 for his efforts.
Thormanby did not run again until the Doncaster St. Leger, in which he was favored. St. Albans won the race, and Thormanby ran fifth -- "his defeat was greeted with a perfect yell of frenzy in the enclosure." He then ran second three times in a row, in the Doncaster Cup, beaten by Sabreur, in the Grand Duke Michael Stakes, beaten by The Wizard, and in a sweep at Newmarket, beaten by Tom Bowline.
At age four he won the Claret Stakes, followed by two walk-overs at Newmarket. His next real race was the 2-1/2 mile Ascot Gold Cup, which he won easily by two lengths, again coming from behind, trouncing a good field that included the previous year's St. Leger winner, St. Albans, who broke down in the running, Parmesan, who won the Great Metropolitan Handicap that year (these three carried the heaviest weight at 8 st-7), and Cesarewitch winner Dulcibella, among others. His last race of the season and of his career was the Goodwood Cup, in which he ran fourth, beaten by the American-bred Starke, The Wizard, and another American, Optimist; both Starke and Optimist were part of the contingent brought to England to race by Richard Ten Broeck.
Thormanby at Stud
Thormanby stood for a number of years at Moorlands Stud near York, which was owned by the the father-son team of Henry and George Thompson, who also owned Fairfield Stud a few miles closer to York, the latter later sold to John Jackson, who had owned Blair Athol, and who managed stallions for other owners, such as Lord Clifden for Lord St. Vincent. Another stallion at Moorlands at the same time as Thormanby was Ascot Gold Cup winner Scottish Chief.
His first crop of youngsters were "fine and grand" but turned out to be "slow, heavy animals." That soon changed, however. His two-year-olds began to win, and by 1869 he topped the sire's list in Great Britain, with juvenile speedsters such as Sunshine, Hester, Normanby, Atlantis and Barford pushing him to the top in progeny earnings. Most of his offspring were precocious and fast, with good action "...and their hearts were mostly in the right place," but very few trained on: he got three classic winners: Hester, who won the 1,000 Guineas, and Atlantic and Charibert, both of whom won the 2,000 Guineas. Despite his own demonstrable success over a distance, he was unable to get many who could go as well beyond a mile, and he never sired a Derby, St. Leger, Doncaster or Ascot Gold Cup winner.
Although Thormanby had excellent legs and feet, "a large percentage of his stock had contracted or club feet, and some of them were not overdone in the matter of bone." Again, although Thormanby himself was sound in the wind, he sired bleeders in Little Princess, Thuringian Prince, Wanderer and Atlantic, a flaw attributed by some to his paternal great-grandsire, Castrel, and further back, to Herod.
With the exception of Atlantic, who became a good sire in France and left his son Le Sancy, to continue the sire line, Thormanby's sons were not a success at stud, although Thuringian Prince's daughter, Gaze, who sold for 7 guineas at auction, produced the spectacular broodmare Admiration, dam of the crack racemare Pretty Polly and a host of other good runners. Thormanby's daughters, however were good producers, and he had a really good racing daughter in Sunshine.
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Atlantic
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ATLANTIC (1871), bred by Lord Falmouth, and trained by Mat Dawson, was Thormanby's best son, both on the turf and in the breeding shed. He was out of the 1,000 Guineas winning mare, Hurricane, by Wild Dayrell. At age two won the Ham Stakes at Goodwood, beating the future triple classic-winning filly Apology, and the Buckenham Stakes, showing, as many Thormanby offspring did, his precocious turn of speed. At age three he won the 2,000 Guineas. He "met with an accident while on his way by train to Epsom; and was, therefore not at his best when beaten [into third place] in the Derby by George Frederick and Couronne de Fer." He ran second in the 1 mile-5 furlong Prince of Wales' Stakes, carrying 9st. llb. to the winner's 8 st. 3lb., and then first in the Ascot Derby. He ran unplaced in the St. Leger, his last race, won by Apology.
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At the end of the 1874 season, Falmouth sold Atlantic to Baron Arthur de Schickler in France, who installed him at his Haras de Martinvast, near Cherbourg, alongside the aging black stallion Suzerain, and the Vermout son Perplexe. There he sired a number of moderately successful race horses. His most significant offspring, in terms of the breed, was the grey Le Sancy (1884), from the Strathconan daughter, Gem of Gems. Le Sancy won 27 races in his 43 starts, including the 2600 meter Gran Prix de Deauville twice; many turf observers, certainly those in France, considered him the equal of Ormonde on the turf. He had a relatively short stud career, dying in 1900 at the age of 15, but he got a series of top winners in France, where his fee of 500 guineas was the equivalent of St. Simon in England, and his influence on the French turf equal to that of St. Simon's on the British turf. Le Sancy's son, Le Samaritain, who also won the Gran Prix de Deauville, sired the game -- and fast -- stayer Roi Herode, who was imported into Ireland, where he sired the brilliant The Tetrarch, who was in-bred five times to Thormanby and inherited his black spots and his extraordinary hind-end power. The importation of Roi Herode was a deliberate decision to bring the Byerley Turk-Herod sire line back to England.
CHARIBERT (1876), Thormanby's only other colt to win a classic race, was out of the Queen Bertha daughter, Gertrude, by Saunterer, and bred by Viscount Falmouth. At age two he won Doncaster's Champagne Stakes. He easily won the 2,000 Guineas at age three, beating Rayon d'Or, who would go on to win the St. Leger, and who beat Charibert into second place in the St. James' Palace Stakes. At age four Charibert won seven races, including the July Cup at Newmarket, the Gold Cup at Sandown, the Rous Stakes at Brighton and the Queen's Stand Plate at Ascot. In all, he won nineteen times in 37 starts. Like most other Thormanbys he had problems going a distance. His best offspring was probably Hagen, a good winner in Germany who captured the German Derby and other races.
THURINGIAN PRINCE, born in 1871 out of Eastern Princess, by Surplice, won Ascot's Royal Hunt Cup (a little over 7 furlongs) at age four. He sired Bird of Freedom (1882), winner of the Ascot Gold Cup and the Ascot Gold Vase, and a few good producing daughters, among them Gaze (1886), dam of Admiration, who won races in Ireland, produced the great race mare Pretty Polly, and the good runners Admiral Crichton and Admiral Hawke.
Other Thormanby sons of fair racing class included NORMANBY (1867), owned by Lord Samford, who ran second to Kingcraft (later a Derby winner) in the Buckenham Stakes at age 2, and second to MacGregor in the 2,000 Guineas at age 3, and second that year also in the All-Aged Stakes at Newmarket. Another Thormanby son, BARFORD (1867), owned by William Alington, won the Goopsall Park Stakes at Leicester at age two, beating the future Oaks winner Gamos. Colonel Pearon's Thormanby colt, CAP-A-PIE (1865), ran second in the Ascot Derby at age three. THORWALDSEN won Ascot's Queen's Vase in 1869. The bay PLAUDIT (1864), ran for a number of years and passed through several hands, still placing at age 6, when he ran third in the Stewards' Cup at Goodwood. His principal achievement was beating the great race filly Achievement by a head (winner of the 1,000 Guineas, St. Leger and Doncaster Cup), when they met at age two in the Clearwell Stakes, ending her amazing two year old winning streak. None of these colts made a mark in the stud.
Thormanby's Daughters
Thormanby had two good daughters on the turf: the classic winner Hester, and the very good Sunshine, and a number of others that did well enough, particularly as juveniles. His daughters were also good producers, the most noted one being Rouge Rose, dam of Bend Or, but many others established extremely productive tail-female lines that are still turning out stakes winners today, and several were dams of classic winners in countries other than Great Britain.
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Rouge Rose
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The chestnut Thormanby daughter ROUGE ROSE (1865) was a broodmare of significance, having produced the great race horse and broodmare sire Bend Or (1877, by Doncaster), in 1877. She was bred by Colonel Mark Pearson of Oakley Hall, Kettering. Her dam was Ellen Horne (1844), by Redshank, who also produced Paradigm (by Paragone), the dam of ten winners, including two classic winners, Lord Lyon and Achievement (the latter bred and owned by Pearson throughout her life), and tail-female ancestress of a host of top horses all over the world. Rouge Rose was retained in the Pearson stud until age ten, when she was sold to the Duke of Westminster. She was an "upstanding, roomy kind of mare" with a terrible cribbing habit, which a number of her grandchildren also exhibited.
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There was some question raised over whether Bend Or was Rouge Rose's son, since records at the Duke of Westminster's stud, at Eaton, were poorly maintained, but the question was officially settled by the Epsom stewards following Bend Or's Derby win, although it is brought up periodically, even today [See Bend Or].
In addition to the golden chestnut Bend Or, who had the black spots exhibited by Thormanby, Rouge Rose produced his sister, Rose of Lancaster, dam of Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Voltoi, and second dam of Robert le Diable (1899), and another Thormanby filly, Rose of York (1880, by Specululm), dam of the French Oaks winner Commanderie, and also the dam of the very good French race mare Roxelane (1894), who became dam of Roi Herode, who sired The Tetrarch mentioned above. Another Rouge Rose foal was Red Rag, dam of Manchester Cup and Prince of Wales' Stakes winner Red Ensign.
Thormanby's daughter HESTER (1867, out of Tomyris by Seostris), won the 6 furlong Gimcrack Stakes at York, the Criterion Stakes at Newmarket, and the 1,000 Guineas. In the Criterion, she beat Sunshine, but ran out of gas in the Epsom Oaks, in which Sunshine ran second. Hester was the dam of several good daughters and tail-female ancestress of stakes winners in Europe, South American and the U.S.
The Thormanby daughter SUNSHINE was owned by Merry and trained by Dawson, and like her sire, was given a tough first season by them. She was an exceptionally good juvenile who won the Woodcote Stakes, the Doncaster Champagne Stakes, the Newmarket July Stakes, Goodwoo'ds Lavant Stakes, the North of England Bienniel at York, a £1500 race at Newmarket October, and ran second at the end of the season to Frivolity in the Middle Park Stakes. At age three she ran second to Gamos in the Epsom Oaks, and went on to win the 1 mile Coronation Stakes. She produced three good winners in the stud, including Bushey Park, winner of the Queen Alexandra Stakes, and a number of daughters whose success in the breeding shed has elevated her to head her own branch of Family 1 (1 - h). Her granddaughter, Ventimiglia (1893), in Italy, became the ancestress of a great many Italian classic winners. Sunshine's other descendants include such horses as the good race horses and sires Orvieto and Laveno; the 1941 winning Duce daughter Dubiosa, who was dam and grandam of a number of classic winners in Germany and Hungary; the great French stayer Mon Talisman (1924); the great American stayer Stymie (1941), and a host of other classic winners and stakes winners around the world.
The chestnut filly ATLANTIS (1867), out of the 1,000 Guineas winner Hurricane, and so sister to Atlantic, won the Clearwell and Prendergast Stakes at Newmarket, in the latter beating the good two year old colt Hawthornden. In all, she won five races from eleven starts. She was owned by Lord Falmouth, and trained by Mat Dawson after he left James Merry's employ. She was the dam of such good winners as King Ban and St. Leger, and was tail-female ancestress to a number of classic winners in New Zealand and Australia, and of Melbourne Cup winner Sirius.
The grey filly ROSE (1864), owned by Mr. Watts, won the Sapling Stakes at York in 1866. A Thormanby filly out of Lady Roden, LADY COVENTRY (1865), who was trained and owned by Mat Dawson, ran second, by a head, in the Middle Park Plate at age two, and at age three ran second in both the 1,000 Guineas and the Epsom Oaks (to Formosa both times; Formosa also won the Doncaster St. Leger); in all she ran seven times, and in the stud produced Lady Golightly, winner of the Champagne Stakes, the Nassau Stakes, the Yorkshire Oaks, the Newmarket Oaks and Derby, the Great Yorkshire Stakes, and other races; Farnese, winner of the Prince of Wales' Stakes, and others, and Peeping Tom, who won Newmarket's International Free Handicap and other races.
The bay MAYFLOWER (1864) ran second to the great race filly Achievement in the 1,000 Guineas, and placed in some other good races at Newmarket at ages 2 and 3. She was tail-female ancestress of Mavourneen, by Barcaldine, who was the dam of Voter; Celt and some good American fillies who have run within the last twenty years, such as Maplejinsky, are tail-female descendants of Mayflower. Her dam, Sunflower (by Chanticleer), also produced the Thormanby daughter, CROCUS (1866), who was owned by James Merry and won five racesa as a juvenile and ran, but did not place in both the 1,000 Guineas and the Oaks. She became the dam of three good racehorses --Coltness (1873), winner of the Great Yorkshire Stakes and the Princess Alexandra Stakes; Glengarry, winner of the Prince of Wales' Stakes and Leilab, who won the Coronation Stakes. One branch of Crocus' family produced Little May (1896, by Ascetic), tail-female ancestress of Grand National winners Royal Mail (1929) and Well-to-Do (1963). Other horses descending from Crocus include Snob II, Summing, Galeottia, and English Triple Crown winner Gay Crusader.
NANNY THORMANBY 1866 produced Havoc by Cardinal York, winner of Chester Cup. The Rifleman daughter, Carbine, produced two good youngsters to Thormanby: the brown colt GLENGARRY (1866) and his sister, SABRE (1865), tail-female of the good Irish horse Beau Sabreur and many others. Another Rifleman daughter, Yorkshire Oaks winner Miss Armstrong, produced the Thormanby daughter LA FAVORITA (1868), tail-female ancestress of Princequillo.
The in-bred CHAMBERMAID (1866) produced the German classic winner, Brocken (by Savernake) and his sister, Savella, who produced some top horses in Hungary. Chambermaid was out of Melbourne daughter Rambling Katie, a full sister to Windhound, making Chambermaid 3 x 3 to Thormanby's grandam, Phyrne.
VIOLET (Family 8-c) 1864 from Stockwell daughter Woodbine, produced Bay Windham (1873 by Lord Clifden), who won the Woodcote Stakes and a series of good daughters who went far to establish this line of Family 8: Bay Windham's sister, Lady Rosebery, who is tail-female ancestress of the great French crack Perth and the French-bred winner of the Prix del'arc de Triomphe, Priori; Violet Melrose (1875, by Scottish Chief), dam of dual-classic winner Melton and a number of good daughters, from whom spring such horses as the classic winners Mid-Day Sun, Tide-Way, Sunstream, and Sir Ivor; Violet Melrose's sister, Miss Middlewick, was dam of three good horses, including Oaks winner Mrs. Butterwick.
Another Woodbine daughter by Thormanby, the bay FERONIA (1868), the dam of ten winners, heads her own branch of Family 8 (8-d). She produced the good racehorse and sire, St. Serf, and a slew of good producing daughters who are seen tail-female in such horses as St. Leger winners Royal Lancer and Touching Wood; Bold Ruler; dual classic winner and sire Ayrshire; Damascus; and a host of other classic winners in various countries.
The chestnut Thormanby daughter, THORSDAY (1864), out of the Birdcatcher 1,000 Guineas-winning daughter Manganese, produced York's Gimcrack Stakes winner Holy Friar and Freia, both by Hermit. Freia went on to produce the important broodmare Basse Terre, dam of French crack and sire Bruleur, and tail-female ancestress of top French racehorses and, further down the line, 1981 Oaks winner Blue Wind.
Thorwater (1867), from the Loup-Garou mare Fairwater, produced Gimcrack Stakes winner and sire Derwentwater, by Doncaster, and his sister Buttermere, ancestress of Irish and Chilean classic winners.
Fair Star (1866), out of Star of India, by Longbow, produced French Oaks winner Chere Amie.
Although Thormanby is generally thought of as an ancestor of The Tetrarch and all the fast horses that descended from him, mostly through his famous daughter, Mumtaz Mahal, it is clear that Thormanby had a significant impact on thoroughbred racing and breeding through his many successful producing daughters.
--Patricia Erigero |
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