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Alice Hawthorn
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Alice Hawthorn was one of the greatest English racemares of all time, extremely game and tough, winning over fifty races in over seventy starts in five seasons. She also produced some high class offspring, including Derby winner and leading sire Thormanby, and Oulston, at or near the top of his generation, and four other good winners. Her daughters were also successful in the stud, and because of them, Alice Hawthorn heads her own branch of Family 4.
Alice Hawthorn's dam, REBECCA, born in 1831 from a mare by Cervantes, was by the outstanding stayer Lottery, who won the Doncaster Cup, among other races, a feat his grandaughter, Alice Hawthorn, would replicate twice. Rebecca entered the stud in 1835, and there is no record of her winning or placing in any significant race. Her first foal, a good racehorse called The Provost, by The Saddler, came in 1836. She then produced a colt, The Jovial Bachelor (by Mulatto), followed, in 1838, by her first filly, Alice Hawthorne, by Muley Moloch. Her next was The Prior, by Muley Moloch, then she missed to him in 1840. |
Rebecca
| | By the late 1830s, if not earlier, Rebecca was installed at Sheffield Lane Paddocks, near Ecclesfield, Yorkshire, owned by Tom Booth, who had acquired the property in 1831 and had made substantive changes to it to house his band of nine broodmares. Booth never raced any of his produce, selling them as yearlings.
In the early 1840s Sheffield Lane Paddocks was sold to Andrew Johnstone, and Rebecca passed into his ownership. For him she produced seven more foals, including Rowena (1841, by Recovery), Annandale (1842, by Touchstone), second in the 1845 Epsom Derby, and Fair Helen (1845, by Pantaloon).
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Annandale later stood at stud where he was foaled, and Fair Helen produced 2,000 Guineas winner Lord of the Isles at Sheffield Lane Paddocks. Rebecca died there in April, 1850, age 19; a portion of her skin was used to cover a chair, which later passed to the stud groom at Sheffield Lane Paddocks, Robert Wilson.
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Muley Moloch
| | Alice Hawthorne's sire was the brown Muley Moloch (1830), by Muley. Muley was a big sturdy handicap horse that won a few races over some good horses in a brief racing career. In the stud Muley was much more successful than he was on the turf, and sired some excellent runners, many of them good weight carriers who could go a distance, including three classic winners. Muley Moloch's dam was the Dick Andrews mare Nancy, who also produced a very good racehorse in Longwaist (1821, by Whalebone). Muley Moloch was bred at the Underley stud of Alexander Nowell in Kirby Lonsdale, near the Yorkshire border, where his sire, Muley stood at stud.
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Muley Moloch was purchased as a yearling by William Henry Vane, (3rd) Earl of Darlington, later Duke of Cleveland (1833), who had owned and bred several classic winners. Muley Moloch won eleven of his sixteen races in a little over four seasons on the turf. He won at all distances, from a mile to four miles, beating most of the famous "flyers" of his time, even though he was best at a distance. He won the Doncaster Stakes twice, some two mile Cups, and other good races, falling lame in a race at age five, and breaking down in his only race the following year. He stood at stud in Yorkshire at horse dealer and breeder Thomas Kirby's Murton paddocks until 1841, when Kirby sold him to John Theobold, who stood him at his Stockwell Stud until 1847, at the then high fee of 20 guineas. He got better fillies than colts, both on the turf and in the breeding shed. His best, other than Alice Hawthorn, were the Park Hill Stakes winner Peggy (1840), dam of Derby-winner Musjid; Disclosure (1838), another Park Hill Stakes winner; Galaor, who won the Manchester Cup; Liverpool St. Leger winner Middleham, Great Ebor Handicap winner Pagan, Queen Mab [Eliza], who won the Ascot Stakes and Suffolk Stakes, and Nassau Stakes winner Mania. His broodmare daughters included Peggy, dam of Epsom Derby winner Musjid; Wasp, dam of Gimcrack Stakes winner Nettle, and third dam of classic winners Common and Throstle; an unnamed daughter who produced Leaconfield (1843, Royal Hunt Cup winner); and Miss Slick, dam of Brocket (1850, Royal Hunt Cup winner), and the dams of many high-class handicap horses.
While at York, Muley Moloch got Alice Hawthorn. This cross with Rebecca gave Alice 3 x 4 line breeding to the good, long-running stayer Dick Andrews, a sire of classic winners and a source of stoutness. This cross also gave Alice 4 x 4 x 4 line breeding to another top stayer, the St. Leger and Doncaster Cup winner Beningbrough, who also got classic winners, including St. Leger winner Orville, who went on to become a leading sire twice. Her breeder in the GSB is entered as J. Plummer, who may have owned her dam, Rebecca, prior to her ownership by Tom Booth; alternatively, Booth may have bred her, and sold Alice Hawthorn as a youngster to Plummer, who lived at Shipton. In any case, Plummer owned Alice throughout her racing career, although she was leased to George Salvin at the end of her third season on the turf, and ran for him for two more years before her retirement. After that, she returned to the ownership of Plummer's son, Benjamin, for whom she bred ten foals before dying at John Winteringham's historic Croft Stud farm, near Darlington, in April of 1861, not long after the great stallion Touchstone, to whom she was bred twice, died.
Alice Hawthorn on the Turf
Alice Hawthorn was the third of three spectacular racemares that ran in the 1830s and '40s, each of whom, in her time, was awarded the title "Queen of the Turf." The first of these was Queen of Trumps (1832, by Velocipede), the first filly to win both the Oaks and the St. Leger, and a daughter of another great race mare, Princess Royal (by Castrel). The second was Beeswing (1833, by Dr. Syntax), the "Pride of Northumberland."
Alice was three and one-half years old before she was broken for Plummer, by Robert Hesseltine at Hambledon. Later she was moved to the Ashgill, Middleham, stable of John Osborne, Sr., who oversaw her training during her last years on the turf, and who, with good reason, was very fond of her, for she combined extraordinary weight-carrying and staying power with a good deal of speed. Osborne had moved from the south, where he trained for Lord Chesterfield at Bretby Park, establishing his own stable at Ashgill in 1833, from whence came horses such as 1,000 Guineas winner Manganese. His sons, William, Robert and John succeeded him as trainers at Ashgill, with John a highly successful jockey of nine classic horses in twelve classic races before he retired, in middle age, to become a trainer.
In the fall of Alice's three year old year, 1841, she ran her first three races: her first race, an All-Aged Stakes at York in October, she ran fourth to three colts. Next, at Northallerton, she won a £50 plate in two mile heats, beating three other horses; this was the first of her many triumphs with Hesseltine aboard. Her last race of the season was a £50 cup race in two mile heats in which she beat four others.
She started her four year old year by winning the 2-1/4 mile Chester Cup, beating by two lengths Lanercost, who had won the Cambridgeshire, the Newcastle Gold Cup, and the Ascot Gold Cup in the two previous years, and twenty-one others in a high class field that included Vulcan, Satirist, and Cruiskeen, the latter having won the race the previous year. This win was a clear indication of the class and staying ability of the mare, and a harbinger of her greatness. This was followed by a win under light weight of a Free Handicap, beating three, and then the Cheshire Stakes, beating two older mares. At Manchester she ran third for the Cup, beaten by the Physician colt, David, and the Langar filly Collina, but when she came out in August at York, she won the Queen's Plate there in a canter. This was followed by a second in the All-Aged Stakes at Stockton, beaten by Jack Sheppard. She closed her second season on the turf with three successive wins--the Richmond Cup Stakes, the Northallerton Cup, and a sweep in which she beat the Muley-Moloch colt, Pagan.
Alice lost her first two races at age five, in 1843: a return to the Chester Cup found her unplaced in a field of seventeen, and she also lost a £100 plate in a seven-horse race. She then proceeded to rack up a succession of wins, punctuated by one loss, until the end of a very hard season, when she was given no respite and lost five races in a row. Her wins began at Manchester, where she won the Wilton Stakes, beating a good Irish racehorse, Retriever; then a three-mile Queen's Plate, beating five horses; the Lancaster Cup Stakes and a Queen's Plate there; a three-mile Queen's Plate at Newcastle, and also the Members' Plate there; and then, the Queen's Plate at Liverpool, beating four horses, and then her anomalous, unplaced defeat in the Derby Handicap at Liverpool in a twelve horse race. After that loss, she embarked on another succession of wins: The Queen's Plate at York; a £235 race at Stockton; the Doncaster Cup, beating Charles XII and seven others by twenty lengths; the Staffordshire Stakes at Lichfield, and a walk-over for the Queen's Plate there; the Nottingham Queen's Plate; a walk-over for the Richmond Queen's Plate, and the Richmond Cup Stakes, in which she beat the St. Leger winner Nutwith; the Northallerton Cup; the three mile Queen's Plate at Northampton. After this exhaustive schedule, she ran in five more races without success. At the end of this season she was leased to George Salvin, who ran her for two more years.
In 1844 she won all but three of her races -- including seven walk-overs -- in another crushing schedule--and in those three non-winning races, she ran second once, dead-heated once, and paid forfeit once. She began by running second for the Chester Cup, beaten by Red Deer in a field of twenty-five. She then won £100 in race in which she beat Philip, who, the next day, won the Cheshire Stakes, and six others. She then embarked on another succession of wins all over the north and in the south; in a number of cases, there were no challengers, and she enjoyed walk-overs. Once again, at the end of a very tough campaign year, she faltered a bit, but Salvin was astute enough not to push her when it was clear she was done for the year. She started by winning the 2 mile Queen's Vase at Ascot, beating Robert de Gorham and four others; the Newcastle Cup, which she won in a canter; the Goodwood Cup, beating Prizefighter and seven others; a walk-over for the Queen's Plate at Salisbury; the two-mile Queen's Plate at Lewes; a walk-over for the Dundas Stakes at York; a two-mile Queen's Plate over four horses, and a walk-over for a Queen's Plate limited to mares; at Doncaster, the Fitzwilliam Stakes, a walk-over for the Queen's Plate there, and then the 2-1/4 mile Doncaster Cup for the second time, beating Aristotle; the Richmond Cup; the Roxburgh Cup at Kelso; a walk-over for the Dumfries Cup, and then a 50 sovereign purse race in which she beat William-le-Gros and two others; the Carlisle Cup, and a Queen's Plate there. At Newmarket Houghton, she ran a dead heat with I-Am-Not-Aware for a handicap plate, in which Alice carried 9 st.-10, and the next highest weighted horse was I-Am-Not-Aware at 7 st-2. She forfeited her last race of the season, a match for 500 sovereigns to Faugh-a-Ballagh.
In 1845, age 7, secure in her title of Queen of the Turf, which she inherited from an even tougher and longer-running mare, Beeswing, she ran well, but age and miles were starting to tell. She started the season by winning the Queen's Plate at Chester. She failed to place in the Suffolk Stakes at Newmarket, although highly favored to win. At Ascot she ran a bad third in the Emperor of Russia's Plate (substitute for the Ascot Gold Cup), beaten by The Emperor and Faugh-a-Ballagh, both younger than she and carrying less weight. In her third Doncaster Cup, she ran second to the good Gladiator colt, Sweetmeat, age three, but outstayed the Goodwood Cup winner Miss Elis, also age three. She won the Champagne Plate over two miles at the Yorkshire Union Hunt meet, carrying 12 st-9, and also a £100 sweep. At Newmarket Houghton in the fall, carrying 8 st-12, she ran a dead-heat with two other inferior horses (carrying 7 st-4 and 6 st-9) in a handicap plate, having been forced to the outside about 100 yards from home; in the deciding heat she ran third. This was her last race, and she was retired to the breeding shed.
Alice as a Broodmare
Alice bred six winners from ten live foals; her three daughters proved prolific and successful, and of such quality to elevate Alice to the head of her own branch of Family #4. She was bred three times to the good stayer Lanercost (1835), winner of the Cambridgeshire, the Newcastle Gold Cup, and the Ascot Gold Cup; he had run second to Alice for the Chester Cup. She missed to him in both 1846 and 1847, and then produced a colt, YOUNG HAWTHORN, in 1849. That year she was sent to Birdcatcher, already a popular sire, who would, in 1852, become champion sire in England. To him she produced, in 1850, LORD FAUCONBERG (first called The Skinner), who was a modestly successful racehorse, who later sired Ascot Gold Cup winner First Lord.
Alice's next foal, born in 1851, was the filly TERRONA, by Touchstone, who had already sired a number of classic winners and headed the sire's list in Great Britain three times prior to Terrona's birth. Terrona's daughters continued this branch of Alice's family into the present, with a number of stakes winners..
In 1852 Alice produced OULSTON, her second best runner, to Melbourne, who stood at Cawston Lodge in Yorkshire, and was already a popular stallion who, the next year, would lead the sire's list. Oulston was a good two year old who won the Wilton Park Stakes, and a very good three year old: he was second to Wild Dayrell in the Ebor St. Leger, won a biennial at Bath, the Steward's Cup at Stockbridge, the Drawing Room Stakes at Goodwood, and the two-mile Ascot Gold Vase. In the stud he got good a modestly good son in Russley, who ran second the Sapling Stakes to Kettledrum, second to Diophantus in the Mottisfort Stakes and also third to him in the Molcomb Stakes, and second to Preceptress in the Prendergast Stakes..
In 1853 Alice produced FINDON to Touchstone, a moderately successful racehorse. After foaling she was sent to Windhound at Cawston Lodge, and from that breeding produced LADY HAWTHORN, who was purchased by Cawston Lodge's owner Lord John Scott. She won York's Convivial Stakes at age two for Scott, and he entered her in the Epsom Derby of 1857, but she did not place in it. Her daughters were excellent producers responsible for a good portion of the success of Family 4: Her Newminster daughter, Lady Alice Hawthorn, a fair race filly, was dam of Gold Vase winner Thorn; Royal Hunt Cup winner Acrostic; Hawthorn Bloom, from whom descended a number of stakes winners across Europe; Hawthorndale, dam of good stakes winners, including Hauteur, who won the 1,000 Guineas and was ancestress of French crack and sire Alcantara II, Belmont Stakes winners Hourless and Hurry Off, and two South African Derby winners, among other good horses; the Doncaster daughter Lotus, dam of stakes winners and tail-female ancestress of a host of good winners; the See-Saw daughter Lady Lumley, another tail-female powerhouse ancestress. .
Another Lady Hawthorn daughter by Newminster, May Bloom, was dam of Cesarewitch and Coronation Stakes winner Corisande, and tail-female ancestress of 2,000 Guineas winner Bona Vista and Derby winner Sir Visto, among others. Lady Hawthorn's Rataplan daughter, Gibside Lady, was another influential tail-female ancestress of such horses as Italian cracks Antonio Canale and Appiani, Derby and St. Leger winner Coronach, and Irish classic winner and sire Soldennis. A fourth Lady Hawthorn daughter, Queen of the May, by King of Trumps, was tail-female ancestress of the great broodmare Fanfreluche, and of St. Leger winner Woolwinder, among others. Lady Hawthorn's daughter Poinsettia, by Young Melbourne, was the dam of the grey Gem of Gems, dam of the good racehorse and influential sire Le Sancy, and tail-female ancestress of many good stakes winners in France, South America and elsewhere.
In 1855 Alice produced a colt by Flying Dutchman, COXWOLD, who does not appear to have done anything on the turf. She was barren to English Triple Crown winner West Australian the following year, and then, age 19, produced her best youngster, Derby winner Thormanby, in 1857.
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Thormanby
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He was entered in the General Stud Book as by Melbourne or Windhound, but Mat Dawson (ultimately trainer of 28 classic winners), who at that time was working for John Scott at Cawston Lodge -- where both Melbourne and Windhound stood at stud --said "Old Alice" was "a very hopeless subject, but the spring brought her renewed strength, and she did not turn from Windhound, as she had done three weeks before from Melbourne, who got not foal at all that season." Thormanby won a number of races at ages two and three, and like his dam, was a good stayer; he was the best of his generation at age 3. He later led the sire's list in Great Britain.
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In 1858 Alice produced her second prolific and successful daughter, SWEET HAWTHORN, by the unbeaten Sweetmeat. This filly ran at ages two and three, and won a few small races; she was entered in the 2,000 Guineas in 1861, but failed to place. Like Thormanby, she passed into the hands of James Merry, and was trained by Mat Dawson. Her daughter, Rebecca, by Lord Clifden, won the Yorkshire Oaks. From her daughters descend such animals as Irish Derby winner and good sire Ben Battle; dual-classic winner Miss Jummy, and a host of other stakes winners in England, Ireland, South America and Europe.
In 1859 Alice foaled a colt by Derby winner Wild Dayrell that died after a week. She was bred back to Windhound, but came up barren, and was bred in 1860 to Wild Dayrell, but died in the Spring of 1861, age 23.
--Patricia Erigero |
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