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  Family B-25: Alfred Mare
graphic


This north country family traces back to a mare by Alfred, a son of Matchem. She was half-sister to Wonderful, by Young Matchem, both bred by Mr. Emmerson of Stokesley, Cleveland; Wonderful won eight races, including two King's Plates.

The Alfred mare was listed in Volume II of the GSB, with the appended note (shown below in the descent chart). Over a dozen foals were listed out of her, including Nonpareil (b.c. 1806) by Oberon, a decent north country flat racer, and Makeshift, a winner of a sweep for "horses not thoroughbred at Malton in 1810. However, she was subsequently struck from the GSB, the editors determing that her grandam, a mare by Baboon, could not be proved to be of pure descent: George Baker, of Elmore Hall, Durham, the owner of the famous half-bred Jenny Horner in this family, appended a note in his stud book that the Baboon mare was out of a cart horse mare, and most likely shared this information with the compilers of the stud book. In addition, Baker noted that there was "no certainty" that Young Syphon was thoroughbred. Baker was the son-in-law of Cuthbert Routh ( died 1752), who had a stud at Dimsdale and later at Snape, near Bedale, in Yorkshire, a breeder of a number of famous running horses whose stud book was later published by Prior's father, C.M. Prior; Ms. Prior had access to Baker's stud books, and through them was able to link the two famous runners and stallions, The Lawyer and Snowstorm in the tail-female line.

The Young Syphon mare's offspring were all probably bred by William Shipley of Northallerton, and included Jack Horner, who won three match races; Lady Horner, a winner for "horses not thoroughbred" at York at age three, and placed in the Cocktail Stakes at Richmond, in a race for half-breds at Durham, and in a race at Northallerton; and Jenny Horner, a famous "cocktail" owned and ridden by George Baker. She was winner of a two mile heats race at Penrith at age three, of races for half-breds at Morpeth and Penrith at age four, of a two mile heats race at Dumfries, and the Hunters' Stakes at Northallerton and Lambton Park. She also ran second in a King's Plate at age five, and at age six, a match of 200 guineas at York over 3 miles at age 7, and four other races, including three at age 9.

The branch of this family descending from Slammerkin, leading to The Lawyer, was largely developed in the Sledmere (Yorkshire) stud of the Sykes family, where Richard Sykes (1706-61) bred hunters, followed by Sir Mark Masterman-Sykes, who founded the racehorse stud, carried on by Sir Tatton Sykes, who inherited in 1823 and expanded it to 320 head of stock, many of which useless on the turf. Sir Tatton's eldest son, also Sir Tatton dispersed the large stud of his father in 1863, with the exception of a few mares, and rebuilt the stud with high-class horses, from which a number of classic winners and influential breeding stock emerged -- Doncaster (1873, Derby), Mimi (1891, Oaks), Disraeli (1898, 2,000 Guineas, Spearmint (1906, Derby) were just some of the great winners bred at Sledmere, but in addition to runners, the Sykes stud produced hunters used by all the masters of Sledmere. Golumpus was the first sire the first Sir Tatton Sykes ever used.


Notable Descendants



Snowstorm b.c. 1863
(Lord Fauconberg - mare by Professor Buck)
Snowstorm was a steeplechaser; although he won two races on the flat, he won 14 steeplechases for a total number of winnings of £3,237, a considerable sum for a 'chaser at that time. His wins included the Eglinton Handicap (three times), the Leamington Handicap, the Sefton Steeplechase, and the Scottish Grand National in 1870, under the ownership Mr. Dunhill, and ridden by R. Walker. Walker also rode him in the 1871 Grand National at Aintree (won by The Lamb), where he came home in the middle of the pack. He was purchased by Lord Harry Chaplin for £300 for use as a stallion, but Chaplin put him into training again, and ran him in the 1872 Grand National, where he again ran in well after the leaders, although he did "win many good races" for Chaplin. Later he was a hunter for Chaplin, "as good a hunter as it was possible to ride, and even with my weight, 18st., I could leave the field as if they were standing still, if it was necessary." Snowstorm became a famous sire of hunters.

His dam did not race, although her half-brother won a small race; in addition to Snowstorm, she produced Snowflake, a winner of the Thirsk Cup on the flat, and of a steeplechase, and the steeplechaser Dawdler. Snowstorm's sire, the good runner Lord Fauconberg, was a son of Birdcatcher.

The Lawyer br.c. 1858
(The Libel - mare by Hampton)
A four mile specialist in an era when the focus in racing had mostly shifted to the shorter classic races, he was a popular runner that won thirty races in England and Ireland, including the Railway Stakes, the Wolverhampton Stakes, the Beresford Stakes, and the Royal Whip at the Curragh, and fifteen Queen's Plates. "...Sixteen hands and half high, dark brown, and the most perfect horse in England," he was bred by Sir Tatton Sykes at his famous Sledmere Stud in Yorkshire in 1858, by The Libel (sire of 1851 Cambridgeshire winner Truth; Truth became second dam of Old Joe, winner of the 1886 Grand National), son of Pantaloon. His dam was ridden to hounds by Sykes at Birdsall, and also used as a hack; her sire, Hampton ("undersized, but he got stock full of quality"), was a chestnut by Sultan, who got a number of short-legged, strong chestnut mares in the Sledmere stud, and was so favored by Sir Tatton that the home paddock was called "Hampton Court." Her family had been bred for three generations at Sledmere. The Lawyer, one of the most famous of the early half-bred stallions, stood at stud for several seasons at Shifnal, Shropshire, and later in Ireland, where he got Woodbrook, the 1881 winner of the Aintree Grand National.


Descent Chart


Mare (f) by Baboon
 Mare (f) by Rainbow
  Wonderful's dam (f) by Dainty Davy
   Wonderful (b.c. 1776) by Young Matchem
   Mare (f) by Alfred*
     Mare (f) by [Young] Syphon
     |  Jack Horner (br.c. 1811) by Golumpus
     |  Lady Horner (blk.f. 1815) by Adonis
     |  Jenny Horner (br.f. 1814) by Golumpus
     |    Miss Horner (b.f. 1827) by Filho da Puta
     |     Mare (f, 1834) by Agricola
     |     |  Little Jack Horner (b.c. 1843) by Tomboy
     |     Mare (f, c1841) by Dardanelles
     |      Mare (b.f. c1857) by Professor Buck
     |      |   Snowstorm (b.c. 1863) by Lord Fauconberg
     |      |   Snowflake (b.f. 1865) by Magnum
     |      |   Dawdler (b.c. 1876) by Loiterer
     |      Leading Article (b.c. c1854) by Fernhill
     Makeshift (b.c. 1805) by Young Laurel
     Nonpareil (b.c. 1806) by Oberon
     Slammerkin (br.f. 1810) by Smasher
      Mare (f. 182-) by Minos [son of Camillus]
      |  Sledmere (br.c. 183-) by Comus
      |  Mare (br.f. c1836) by Comus
      Mare (f. 183-) by Grey Walton [son of Walton]
      |  Mare (br.f. c1851) by The Caster [son of Emilius]
      |  Lalla Rookh (ch.f. 1862) by Daniel O'Rourke
      |  Mavourneen (bl.f. 1865) by Rapparee [son of Rataplan]
      Mare (f 1830) by Cervantes
       Mare (b.f. c1844) by Hampton [son of Sultan]
       |  Mare (b.f. 1851) by Caster
       |   Lady Sykes (ch.f. 1862) by Colserdale [son of Lanercost]
       |    Miss Sykes (f. 1875) by Dalby [son of Daniel O'Rourke]
       |    Jessica (ch.f. 1878) by The Mallard [son of Knowsley]
       Mare (b.f. c1845) by Hampton
        Mare (ch.f. 1857) by Young Barefoot
        |  Donato (ch.c. 1863) by Fandango
        The Lawyer (br.c. 1858) by The Libel
        Chancery (br.f. 1859) by The Libel
        |  Barrister (br.c. 1866) by Hubert
        |  Chance (ch.f. 1869) by Angelus
        |   Hazard (ch.c. 1876) by The Baron
        Little Goy (ch.c. 1861) by Colsterdale
        Bolero (ch.c. 1862) by Fandango
        Grace Clitheroe (ch.f. 1863) by Fandango
*Noted in GSB: "This is an uncertain pedigree, but this mare has no descendants in the Stud Book"








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