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Gohanna
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Gohanna, a stout and speedy racehorse that spent eight years on the turf, was responsible for continuing one of the four successful sire lines that descended from Eclipse. His branch of the line, almost always characterized by sturdy, fast distance horses, extended well into the nineteenth century, represented in the end by Sting in France, and Planet in the U.S.
His sire was Mercury (1778, from the Old Tartar mare), a chestnut son of Eclipse, bred by Dennis O'Kelly, Eclipse's owner, and purchased as a yearling by George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837) for 2500 guineas, the highest price paid for any of that famous mare's well-known offspring, which included Jupiter (1774), Volunteer (1780), Venus (also purchased by Egremont, for 1200 guineas, later dam of an Oaks winner), and the unraced, 14.3. hands tall Queen Mab (1785), the latter dam of Doncaster Cup winner Oberon and St. Leger winner Remembrancer, and of daughters that carried this branch of the female family forward.
Mercury was a good runner, and held his own against the best horses of his generation. His wins at age five included the King's Plate at Lewes (four mile heats, carrying 12 st.), beating two others, including Diomed, who broke down during the running, and a 25 guineas sweep over four miles at Basingstoke, beating Anvil, and he ran second to Fortitude in the King's Plate (four mile heats) at Newmarket October, beating Anvil, and third in Newmarket's Craven Stakes in the fall. At age six he was second to Dungannon in a subscription purse at Newmarket Second Spring over the Beacon Course (4 miles), and was beaten by Anvil in a 300 guineas match at the same meeting.
Retired to Egremont's stud at his Petworth estate in Sussex, Mercury got over forty winners before his death at age 15 in April of 1793. His daughters included two Epsom Oaks winners, Hippolyta (1787) and Platina (1792, second dam of Doncaster St. Leger winner Matilda), and another daughter, Fractious (1792) became the dam of Hannibal (1801), a Derby winner. A Mercury son, Hermes, bred at Petworth, was later sold to the Earl of Strathmore, used as a hack and driving horse and covering mostly half-bred mares, but at the earl's Gibside estate in County Durham, he got Gibside Fairy, the dam of four influential broodmare daughters.
Gohanna's dam was an unnamed filly by Herod. She was extremely well-bred for the time, being out of Maiden, by Matchem, and by the dominant stallion of the era, Herod. Maiden (1770, by Matchem - Pratt's Old Squirt mare), a sister to the superior runner, Pumpkin, was a good staying race mare, winning thirteen races between 1774 and 1778 at Newmarket, York and Morpeth, including a sweepstakes worth 1,000 guineas at Newmarket, a 300 guineas match against Telemachus over the Beacon Course at Newmarket, a subscription purse where she beat her brother, Pumpkin, and other good horses at Newmarket, the King's Plate for mares at Newmarket, and the Great Subscription Purse at York.
Maiden was later the dam of some very successful runners and broodmares, including Otho, Walnut, Young Maiden (from which two American classic winners descended), and Matron, whose tail-female descendants sent Family 24 forward into the present. Maiden's first foal in this useful group was the unnamed filly by Herod (1779), purchased from Sir Lawrence Dundas as a yearling by Egremont; she won a 100 guineas match against Reptile over a mile at Epsom in 1782.
After she retired to the Petworth stud, the Herod filly bred twelve foals between 1787 and 1804, most by Egremont's stallions Mercury, Trentham, Woodpecker and Driver; she died in 1807. Her first foal was Precipitate (1797, by Mercury), a handsome chestnut that grew to 15.2 hands, with ample bone and heavily muscled. He ran in Egremont's ownership for three seasons, winning several classes of the Prince's Stakes at Newmarket beating good fields, the King's Plate at Lewes, and other races , and spent a few seasons at Petworth before going to Richard Watt's Bishop Burton stud in Yorkshire. He got Bobtail (1795), a useful runner and stallion, the unnamed dam of Two Thousand Guineas winner Wizard (1806, by Sorcerer), and some daughters that bred on at Petworth, before being sold to William Lightfoot of Virginia in 1803; he lived for three more years in the U.S. before dying in 1806.
The Herod mare's next foal was Hector (1788, by Trentham), a winner, and then she dropped Gohanna, a brother to Precipitate. Her unnamed daughter by Woodpecker (1798), and her unnamed daughter by (Egremont's) Driver (1801), both bred on through the 19th century; 1862 Prix du Jockey Club winner Souvenir and Melbourne Cup winner Banker were tail-female descendants of Gohanna's dam.
Gohanna was a bay, like his dam, with an excellent shoulder, and a "bloodlike head." He was, said The Druid, "...a plain, powerful, hunter-like style of horse" with a long back. His offspring were like him, The Druid went on, "...with great power, on short legs, and, if they exceeded fifteen-one, it was beyond average. His stock all had broad foreheads, small noses, prominent eyes, and were generally very speedy and staying." Although he saved his highest praise for his own mount, Waxy, Waxy's jockey in many of the meetings with Gohanna (all but one of which Waxy won), did state Gohanna "was one of the most beautiful moulds ever seen, a perfect 'multum in parvo." In other words, he was described as "the gamest of the game," and "the Pride of Petworth."
Early in the development of his stud at Petworth, Egremont trained his horses on the estate, with its own course, but by the time Gohanna was born, the horses were sent to Newmarket for training, where they could get used to the racecourse bustle, rather than schooling in "splendid isolation." One author has stated Egremont trained his horses himself. If ever he did, by the time Gohanna was racing, it is more likely that while he may have directed over-all strategy, the day-to-day training was conducted by others: Thomas Bird, pictured above with Gohanna, served as the earl's racing manager for a number of years, and two other trainers, one called Butler, and the other, William Cooper, who later trained the Duke of York's horses -- Cooper also trained Gohanna's great-great-grandson, Slane for Col. Jonathan Peel -- also schooled Egremont's horses after the turn of the century.
Gohanna on the Turf
Gohanna was a racehorse for eight years, starting at age three. He won 26 of his 48 races (including several walk-overs), mostly at distances between two and four miles. His chief rival and generational opponent was Waxy, the high-strung, elegant son of Pot-8-Os, who beat him five out of the six times they met. Gohanna ran under the name "Brother to Precipitate" until the age of five.
Gohanna's first race was a sweep for 200 guineas at Newmarket Craven, where he was second to a Highflyer colt, Top Gallant, with two others in the field. At the same meeting he won a sweep beating Warwick, by Pot-8-Os. At Newmarket First Spring, "across the flat" (1 mile-2 furlongs) he won three divisions of The Prince's Stakes: on Monday he took the first class, worth 550 guineas, beating Scanderberg, by Volunteer, and three others; on Wednesday he won the second class, worth 550 guineas, beating Xanthus, by Volunteer, and three days later won the third class, worth 500 guineas, beating Druid (by Pot-8-Os), and Top Gallant. He went to Epsom, and was beaten half a length by Waxy in the Derby, with Triptolemus third, and ten others in the field. He did not run again until Newmarket Houghton in the fall, where he won two races "across the flat" four days apart: a sweepstakes for three-year-olds, beating five others, and a 200 guineas match against the three year old filly Coelia.
At age four he won seven of his eleven starts, which included two walk-overs. At Newmarket Craven he did not place in the Oatlands in an eleven horse field, won by Druid, but he turned the tables on Druid a few days later over the Beacon Course (a little over 4 miles), winning a 1,900 guineas sweepstakes, with eight horses in the field. At Newmarket First Spring he won the Claret Stakes for four-year-olds over the Beacon Course. At Newmarket Second Spring Waxy beat him again in the Jockey Club Plate over the 3 mile - 6 furlong Round Course. Several days later Gohanna and Waxy ran a 100 guineas match over the Beacon Course, with Gohanna receiving 3 pounds -- it was the only race in which he beat Waxy. Gohanna was then taken to Lewes, where he won a 1,000 guineas sweepstakes for four-year-olds, beating six others, and at the same meeting was beaten by Waxy for a £50 plate over four miles at even weights; he also took a walk-over at this meet in a subscription sweep. He traveled to Canterbury where he took a walk-over for the King's Plate. At Newmarket Second October he beat the filly Heroine in a 200 guineas match, giving her four pounds, across the flat. He failed to place in one additional race this season.
At age five, in 1785, Gohanna (carrying 9 st.-2 lbs. once again failed to place in the Oatlands at Newmarket Craven, giving weight away to the field of thirteen other horses; Gabriel, age 4, by Dorimant, carrying 8 st.-4 lbs. won. At Newmarket Second Spring he beat Darsham, giving him a lot of weight, in a 200 guineas match over the Beacon Course. At Lewes he took a walk-over for the Duke of Richmond's Purse, worth £50. He then won the King's Plate at Lichfield for five-year-olds in three mile heats, beating two other horses in the first and third heats. He took another King's Plate at Warwick, this time carrying 12 stone, in heats over four miles, beating four other horses.
In 1796, age six, he ran a famous race against Waxy at Guildford over four miles in the King's Plate, each horse carrying 12 stone. Waxy won the first heat by half a head; the second was a dead-heat, and in the third Waxy triumphed by half a length. Gohanna went on to Lewes, where he took a walk-over for the King's Plate, and won the County Plate, beating Kerenhappuck and Bucknor. He met Waxy again at Salisbury in the four mile (heats) King's Plate, and was beat in both heats. His last race of the season was the King's Plate at Warwick, where he beat one other horse.
In 1797, now age seven, he won only one race in four starts. He was sixth and last in the Oatlands at Newmarket, won by the five-year-old filly Hermione, by Sir Peter. At Ascot he was second in a sweep, won by the lightly-weighted Little Devil. Back at Lewes for the County Plate, he was beaten by Play or Pay, with one other in the field. At Egham he took a walk-over for a sweepstakes worth 45 guineas.
The next year, 1798, Gohanna (8 st.-7 lbs.) came out once to run, beating Play or Pay (8 st.-7 lbs.) , Totteridge (8 st.-7 lbs.) and Wrangler (7 st.-11 lbs.) , in the 2-1/2 mile County Plate. The next year, age nine, he ran six times, winning a sweepstakes over a mile at Brighton, beating Trumpeter and several others; and at Lewes, the County Plate, beating two others, and the next day a 100 guineas match against Trumpeter over a mile.
In 1800, age nine, Gohanna (9 st.-2 lbs.) was second to the four-year-old Fugleman (7 st.- 8 lbs.) in a £50 at Epsom in three mile heats, beating two other horses. At Lewes he won the County Plate again, beating two other horses. It was his last race, and he was retired to a much-deserved and successful fifteen-year career at stud at Petworth.
Gohanna in the Stud
Gohanna got over 150 winners during the course of his stud career, including two classic winners, and several useful sire sons -- Derby winner Election, a leading sire that got three classic winners; Hedley, sire of a Derby winner, and Golumpus, sire of a St. Leger winner and a son, Catton, that got classic winners and sons that continued the line. Gohanna's daughters bred good winners: one was the dam of Tramp, and one produced the dam of Venison. The daughter of his son, Wanderer, was the dam of Sir Hercules. Although he was never a leading sire, Gohanna was heavily patronized, but it was largely his foals bred at Petworth that were the winners. In 1811, although Sorcerer's offspring apparently won more prize money, Gohanna had more winners (22 versus Sorcerer's 19) that won more races (53 versus 49) than any other stallion in England. The next year, 1812, he was second to Sorcerer among winning sires -- Sorcerer had 18 runners that won 42 races, Gohanna 15 runners that won 34 races -- but exceeded other stallions by a good margin.
Egremont, one of the richest men in the kingdom, and one, along with his brother, Charles Wyndham, devoted to the improvement of the breed, "...always paid attention to what is termed stout, or honest, blood." Gohanna was a prime example of this, and many of Egremont's sixty plus broodmares were put to him during the course of his life. Because so many of Gohanna's winners were bred at Petworth, often from dams that themselves had been bred there, his more notable offspring, frequently siblings, will be listed under the relevant dam. Most of these mares were by Mercury, Woodpecker, Driver, Trentham, and later crossed happily with Whalebone, all of which, in their time, were stallions at Petworth, that for over sixty years was among the dominant studs in England, and certainly the largest.
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Cardinal Beaufort
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Gohanna's first big winner was CARDINAL BEAUFORT (1802), out of Colibri (1793), by Woodpecker. Colibri was bred at Petworth, as was her dam, Camilla, by Trentham. Colibri's sisters, Catherine (1795) and Humming Bird (1799), were also broodmares at Petworth and produced foals to the cover of Gohanna. Their dam, Camilla, also produced Egremont's Ragged Jack (by Highflyer), a winner of seven races, and the "jadey" JERBOA (1803), by Gohanna, a winner of 250 guineas at Egham as a juvenile, and other races; she bred several winners, including Stag (July Stakes) and Tarandus, and her daughter, Fawn, became the dam of the two-time leading sire Venison. Jeroboa's tail-female descendants include St. Simon and Orme.
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CARDINAL BEAUFORT won the 1805 Epsom Derby, and followed by taking the one mile Pavilion Stakes at Brighton (a big race usually worth over £1,000 at the time), carrying seven extra pounds as the Derby winner, and a race worth 200 guineas, also at Brighton. He was second in the Ladies' Plate at Lewes that year. At age four he lost matches, to Parasol and to Staveley. In 1807, age five, he won three races at Newmarket races in the names of several owners. In 1808 he won a sweep at Newmarket second spring, and at Brighton a race worth 100 guinea for his last owner on the turf, General Gower. He died before the 1809 season began.
Colibri died two weeks after dropping her other good Gohanna offspring, CANOPUS (1803), who ran in the names of both Lord Egremont and his brother, Charles Wyndham. He was best at ages four through six. In 1807 his principal wins were the Egham Cup, beating five other good horses, both the Oatlands Stakes and the King's Plate over the Beacon Course at Newmarket First October, plus races at Goodwood, Brighton, and other races at Egham and Newmarket. The next year he won the Egham Cup a second time, and races at Ascot, Bilbury, and two fifties at Newmarket, placing third in both the Brighton Gold Cup and Brighton's Somerset Stakes. In his last season he took a walk-over for the Jockey Club plate at Newmarket, and won the King's Plate there over three miles. He broke his leg after the spring meeting at Newmarket, but it was successfully set, and he was taken back to Petworth as a stallion, dying fairly early at age fourteen, in 1817. He got Scarecrow, winner of the 1816 Goodwood Cup, and an unnamed daughter (1812) that produced two Epsom Derby winners by Whalebone at Petworth -- Lap-Dog (1823) and Spaniel (1828, "the little Whalebone weed," bought over the Petworth dinner table for £150) -- Lapwing (1826), a good runner that was later a useful sire in Ireland, and Fanchon (1827), also by Whalebone. Fanchon was the dam of One Thousand Guineas winner Cara (1836, by Belshazzar) and Manchester Cup winner Paquetta (1848, by The Provost); 1981 Arkansas Derby winner Bold Ego and the great Argentian runner Yatasto (1948) descended from this Canopus mare.
Colibri's sister, Young Camilla, sold to Thomas Panton, produced Allegretta (1801, by Trumpator). Allegretta, bred to Gohanna, produced a GOHANNA MARE (1810), who was purchased by Egremont and taken back to Petworth, where, bred to Octavius, she produced Cricketer (1822), a winner of the Goodwood Cup, and to Whalebone, dropped Tom Thumb (1824), a winner of Newmarket's July Stakes.
Colibri's sister, Humming Bird, bred to Gohanna, produced MOUSE [CORSICAN FAIRY] (1804). MOUSE won some good races at Newmarket and the Magna Charta Stakes at Egham (1 mile for 3 year-olds, beating CORIOLANUS) for Egremont, and later was the dam of Vittoria (1811, by Sorcerer), a winner of the July Stakes.
Colibri's sister, Catherine, produced three important Gohanna foals at Petworth: HEDLEY, GOLUMPUS and WANDERER. HEDLEY (1803) won several races worth 100 guineas at Newmarket in 1807 and 1808, and retired to stud at Wingfield Place, near Windsor in Berkshire. He got Idle Boy, a good winner; an unnamed colt that won Epsom's Woodcote Stakes; Toy, winner of a Royal Plate for hunters at Ascot; and Prince Leopold (1813, from the Duke of York's homebred mare Gramarie, by Sorcerer), the 1816 Epsom Derby winner for the Duke of York. Prince Leopold gave his owner and trainer some trouble with temperament, winning only one other race, Newmarket's Port Stakes, in two seasons on the turf, and he died after gelding in 1818.
The "hardy" GOLUMPUS (1802) did not race, and ended up at stud at Low Catton, near Kexby Bridge, seven miles from York, in the ownership of William Horsley, where he initially served mostly hunter and coaching mares. But, then, in 1812, his son Beverley (1808) won 400 guineas at Newmarket, his son Otterington (1809) won the Doncaster St. Leger, his son Uncle Toby (1809), won the Gold Cup at Shrewsbury and races at Newcastle and Stafford --and the next year would win the Royal Plate at Lichfield in four mile heats -- and his son Catton (1809) won 235 guineas over two miles at York, beating a good field, and was second in Doncaster's Gascoigne Stakes. Catton would go on to run for five seasons, winning twenty-two of his thirty-two races. He became a successful north country stallion, with over 90 winners to his credit, including two Derby winners. He got two sire sons that continued the sire line in the U.S., England, and France, and some important daughters.
GOLUMPUS also sired Aimwell, a solid winner for Thomas Stanley, the "famous" half-bred winner Jenny Horner (Northallerton's Broomfield Stakes, the LH Stakes at Lambton Park and other wins), Jovial (Cocked Hat Stakes, Shrewsbury), and Savernake (Gold Cup at Burderop and other races).
The Gohanna-Catherine colt WANDERER (1811) was one of the last of Gohanna's better runners, and, through a daughter, Peri, one with influence on the breed. WANDERER, said Nimrod, was "..not inaptly named, as for many years of his life he was never known to lie down, but was generally in action in his box. He was a noble specimen of the horse, and one of the best bred ones in the world for all the purposes for which horses of speed and strength are wanted, being by Gohanna, out of a sister to Colibri, by Woodpecker, our esteemed stoutest blood." One account of his behavior after his retirement from the turf said the horse was perpetually busy, when his stall was open, picking up and moving the "litter" in his box to his paddock.
WANDERER was a versatile winner over everything from a mile to four miles, his best years at ages four through six. In 1815 he won three Royal Plates in four mile heats at Guildford, Salisbury and Lewes, in addition to Newmarket's Audley End Stakes. At age five he won the Newmarket Handicap at Second Spring, took a walk-over for the Jockey Club Plate, won the Oatlands Stakes at Newmarket October, and took the Royal Plates at Newmarket Spring, and at Guildford, and at Lewes for a second time. In his last season he won the Oatlands Stakes at Newmarket Craven and a Gold cup over the Two-Year-Old course, a handicap sweep at Newmarket July, and the Oatlands Stakes at Newmarket Second October. Egremont retired him to Petworth, where he stood for 5 guineas -- and free to Egremont's tenants and neighbors looking to improve their half-bred stock. He got some modest winners, such as Rasselas, who won the Somersetshire Stakes at Bath and was second in the Goodwood Cup. His daughter Peri (1822), sold to Ireland, became the dam of Sir Hercules (1826, by Whalebone), an unbeaten juvenile winner in Ireland and sire of Birdcatcher and his brother, Faugh-a-Ballagh, Derby winner Coronation, and many other good horses. WANDERER'S son, also called Wanderer (1826) in Australia (Young Wanderer in Great Britain), was imported into Western Australia in 1831 by the Henty brothers; there he got Miss Millar, the taproot of Colonial Family C-18.
Egremont purchased a Herod mare (1780, from Young Hag, by Skim) from Thomas Charles Colyear, Viscount Milsintown, in the early 1780s. As a foundation mare at Petworth, she produced Grey Trentham (1788) to the cover of Trentham, Silver (1789) and his sister Oaks winner Platina (1792) by Mercury, and some other good horses, but her daughters by Woodpecker, Grey Skim (1793) and Chestnut Skim (1794), both retained at Petworth as broodmares, were the ones that had a lasting influence on the breed.
Platina, Egremont's third Epsom Oaks winner, produced over a dozen foals at Petworth, including Mercury (by Woodpecker), second place in the 1800 Epsom Derby, and several by Gohanna. One of her Gohanna foals, JULIANA [LADY THIGH] (1810), became the dam of Woodcote Stakes winner Ladyfoot, of the good runner Netherby, and of the Doncaster St. Leger winner Matilda (1824, by Comus). Matilda later produced Doncaster Champage Stakes winner Eliza (1836), and other daughters that bred on, but the female line was not long-lived.
Chestnut Skim's son, ELECTION (1804), was Gohanna's second Epsom Derby winner, and the only one of his sons to become a leading sire in England (in 1825). The Druid referred to ELECTION as "...one of the smallest and most delicate" of Gohanna's sons, but the "delicate" part must have referred to his looks, and not his constitution, because ELECTION was a long-running, weight-carrying stayer that spent five years on the turf, winning eighteen races, including a four mile Royal Plate at age seven, carrying 12 st.
ELECTION'S first race was the Epsom Derby, "a very fine race" where he ran against twelve other horses, coming from behind to win by a length, beating Gill Scroggins and CORIOLANUS (by Gohanna) third. In 1808 ELECTION won six races, including Ascot's Swinley Stakes, the King's Plate at Lewes over four miles and at the same meet the Ladies' Plate, and the King's Plate at Newmarket October over the Beacon Course, winning the Oatlands Stakes at the same meeting. In 1809 he won the Royal Plate at Lewes again, and in 1810 he won two Royal Plates over four miles carrying 12 st, at Guildford and Lewes (taking two other races at Lewes while he was at it), the Egham Gold Cup (a walk-over) and races at Goodwood and Brighton. In 1811, age seven, he won the Royal Plate at Guildford a second time, again carrying 12 st. |
Election
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ELECTION was the first stallion purchased and installed at Hampton Court after George, Prince of Wales, became Prince Regent (1811) and soon thereafter ordered the refurbishment of the paddocks and buildings at the royal stud. ELECTION spent ten years at Hampton Court at a fee of 10 guineas, and was sold to the Duke of Grafton after the Prince Regent ascended the throne in 1820. ELECTION died at the Grafton stud at Euston from "inflammation" in 1821, age 17, and posthumously attained the top ranking on the sires list in 1825, due to his Euston-bred offspring, notably One Thousand Guineas winner Tontine and second-placed Epsom Derby winner Rufus, both from long-established and highly successful Grafton female lines. His Hampton Court-bred son, REGENT (1816, out of a Stamford mare) was purchased as a yearling by Maurice Prendergast, and by winning ten races at age four in Ireland, put Election at the top of the leading sires list in that country in 1820. REGENT was later a stallion in Prendergast's stud in Ireland.
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ELECTION got three classic winners: the Two Thousand Guineas winner Manfred (1814, Miss Wasp by Waxy), Epsom Derby winner Gustavus (1818, Lady Grey by Stamford), both bred at Hampton Court, and One Thousand Guineas winner Tontine (1822, Pope Joan, by Waxy), bred at the Grafton stud. None of his sons were able to continue the sire line, but he is present in pedigrees through his daughters and the daughters of some of his sons.
Manfred's dam, Miss Wasp (1807), was out of the Prince Regent's (then Prince of Wales) mare, Trumpetta, that had been sold at the dispersal of his bloodstock when he gave up racing; useless as a runner, Miss Wasp had been a saddle horse and was purchased by the royal stud after Hampton Court's refurbishment. Manfred, purchased as a yearling by Mr. Stonehewer, was her first foal; she would later produce Mazeppa, a good brother to Manfred, and Oaks winner Vespa (by Muley). Manfred was only useful on the racecourse: he won four races at Newmarket, including the Two Thousand Guineas, the Oatland Stakes at Newmarket Second October, and a match against Little Dick over the Two-Year-Old course, but could not place in Azor's Derby. He ran eighteen times at ages three and four, winning four races. The best of his offspring was Malvina (1826) born in France, and a winner of the Grand Prix Royal (Prix Gladiateur).
Gustavus was a little better. He was purchased at the Hampton Court yearling sale by J. Hunter, who tried to dispose of "the shabby little grey" after buyer's remorse set in, but had no takers. Gustavus was started in the July Stakes as a juvenile, and won it, to the surprise of his owner and everyone else, having gone off at odds of 100:6. The next year he won the Newmarket Stakes, which set him up as favorite for the Derby, which he won by half a length, beating the Haphazard colt, Reginald. He did not place in the St. Leger that year, and was second to My Lady in the Gascoigne Stakes, run at the same meet. At age four he won Newmarket's Claret Stakes, beating a good field, but won only one other race in his subsequent career, and retired to stud after the 1822 season. In the stud he got Forester, a July Stakes winner, Chantilly, a Royal Plate specialist, and not much else.
ELECTION'S other winners included Annabel (1814), second in Neva's Oaks Stakes and a winner of a match against Neva at Newmarket the next year, as well as two other Newmarket races; Hospitality (1815, from a mare by Alexander, the dam of Bronze, Rubens, and Selim), bred at Hampton Court, a good distance mare that won the Oxford and Egham Gold Cups, and the King's Plates at Ascot and Winchester; Electress (1819, from a mare by Stamford), bred at Hampton Court, winner of Ascot's Windsor Forest Stakes and Newmarket's Oatland Stakes, and two other races, and her brother, Regent, sold to Ireland where he won ten races, including the Wellington Stakes three times, and running in England a winner of several races; Rufus (1822, Prudence by Waxy), bred at Euston, second in Middleton's Derby, that took a walk-over for the Jockey Club Plate at Newmarket; Tipsy (1818, from Mirth by Trumpator), a winner of Newmarket's Town Plate; and a few other minor winners.
ELECTION was a useful broodmare sire. An unnamed daughter, "Sister to Hospitality," (1814, from Hospitality's dam, by Alexander), was a minor winner and later produced July Stakes winner Palais Royal (1820); both Palais Royal and her half-sister The Witch (1821) bred on, establishing a branch of Family 2-r, with many stakes winning descendants, especially in Ireland, New Zealand and Australia (Phar Lap). ELECTION'S unnamed daughter (1815, from Fair Helen by Hambletonian) was the dam of Margrave (1829, by Muley), winner at age two of Newmarket's Criterion Stakes, and of the Doncaster St. Leger and Doncaster's Gascoigne Stakes, and the Grand Duke Michael Stakes at age three, and later a useful stallion in America. Electra (1817, from Miss Manager) bred Aaron (1826, by Moses), winner at age four of the Goodwood Stakes and the Brighton Stakes. Minima (1822, from Leopoldine by Walton) produced Locomotive, winner of the Heaton Park Gold Cup, later sold to Germany as a stallion. Electress returned to Hampton Court after her career, where she bred Landgravine (1829, by Smolensko), a winner of the Lavant Stakes, who died enroute to her new home in Germany. Pigmy (1822, from Pawn), a Grafton stud product, bred Exile (1828, by Emilius), a useful runner whose wins included Warwick's Leamington Stakes. ELECTION'S classic winner Tontine produced a Langar filly, Florence, a good race mare that was second in the One Thousand Guineas, and at age four second in both the Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire, and Falconer, a useful runner.
ELECTION had a sister, a GOHANNA MARE (1803, from Chestnut Skim); she became second dam of 1829 Epsom Derby winner Frederick, and through a different grandaughter, third dam of Derby winner The Merry Monarch (1842, in-bred to Gohanna).
Grey Skim, the Petworth-bred sister to Chestnut Skim, produced the Gohanna foals CASTANEA, "SISTER TO CASTANEA" (1807), HIRONDELLE (1809), YOUNG GOHANNA (1810), and SKIM (1813), the latter the best of the lot. CASTANEA (1806), won some races, including 210 guineas at Egham at age three. She was purchased for the Duke of York's stud, and at his dispersal sale was sold to Lord Sligo and sent to Ireland, where she got some good foals. Her daughter Cuirass (1823, by Oiseau), continued the tail-female line of CASTANEA (Family 5-d), which included Derby winner Hermit (1864) and many other winners that extend into the present. CASTANEA'S 1826 Waxy Pope son, Cant, won Doncaster's Champagne Stakes. SISTER TO CASTANEA produced Epsom Derby winner Moses (1819, by Seymour or Whalebone), dam's sire of Gladiator, and her tail-female descendants produced many winners in Poland and Hungary. HIRONDELLE (1809) won several races at age three, including Newmarket's Oatland Stakes, some races at Ascot, and was third in the 1812 Oaks Stakes. She was sold to France, where her tail-female descendants included 1840 Prix du Jockey Club winner Tontine and 1866 Grand Prix de Paris winner Glaneur.
Grey Skim's 1810 grey colt by Gohanna, YOUNG GOHANNA, got some stakes winners when he went to stud, the best being Legal Tender. His daughter, Gift (1818), a winner, was the third dam of Queen Mary. His daughter, the grey Gulnare (1822) was sent to Australia in 1830, where she produced Zohrab (1832), to the cover of Rous' Emigrant. Zohrab was an important early stallion in Australia, of special signficance as a broodmare sire; one of his daughters was Sappho, the taproot mare of the prolific and still successful Colonial Family C-1.
Grey Skim's grey colt, SKIM (1813), was the best runner of the brood, typically getting better as he aged. In 1817, age four, he won several races at Newmarket over four miles. In 1818, age five, he won Newmarket's Craven Stakes and the King's Plate at Newmarket First Spring, as well as a handicap. His wins the following seasons included Royal Plates at Newmarket and Lewes. He was retired to Petworth, where he served mares at ten guineas, and was free to Petworth tenants and neighbors. He got a number of noted Sussex hunters, and was dam's sire of Woodcote Stakes winner Bracelet (1832, by Mameluke) and the Irish-bred King Dan, winner of the Royal Whip at the Curragh, among other horses.
Two other sister broodmares at Petworth were Skysweeper (1782) and her unnamed sister (1791), by Highflyer. They were out of an Eclipse mare, and half sisters to Chanticleer (1787, by Woodpecker, bred at Petworth), a good runner and later an important stallion in Ireland. Skysweeper had two foals by Gohanna. Her son, CORIOLANUS (1804) was purchased by Warwick Lake, the Duke of York's recently-appointed stud and racing manager, on behalf of the Duke. CORIOLANUS was third to ELECTION in the Epsom Derby of 1807, his first race. He was second to MOUSE [CORSICAN FAIRY] in the Magna Charta Stakes at Egham, and won the rich Pavilion Stakes at Brighton (one mile) later that season. He was retired as a stallion to the Duke's Oatlands stud, at a fee of 3 guineas, but failed to get much of note and was sold to France in 1818, where his influence was minimal.
Gohanna's son, TRAFALGAR (1803, afterwards HARPOCRATES), was one of several winners bred at Petworth out of Sister to Skysweeper (1790). TRAFALGAR ran for the Prince of Wales. He debuted in the Epsom Derby, and was beaten by half a head by Paris, but went on to win the rich one mile Pavilion Stakes (worth 950 guineas) and the Egremont Stakes (1100 guineas) at Brighton. The next year, at York, he won two matches, beating Shuttlecock over 1-1/2 miles for 1,000 guineas at York, and at the same meet and same distance, Julius Caesar for 500 guineas. The next season, 1808, he won five races at Newmarket. He went to stud at Leaconfield Parks, near Beverley, in Yorkshire at 5 guineas, but left little of note.
Sister to Skysweeper also produced the winners SCORPION (1805), STINGTAIL (1808), and WASP (1811) to the cover of Gohanna, all bred at Petworth. SCORPION was a stout weight-carrier, like his sire. At age three he won three races at Newmarket, each worth 200 guineas, and the Magna Charta Stakes at Egham, and was third in the Pavilion Stakes at Brighton. At age four he took the Swinley Stakes and another race at Ascot, after which he was sold to Lord Charles Somerset, who would, in 1814, assume the Governorship of the Cape Colony in South Africa, where one of his more felicitous pursuits was the introduction of a number of imported thoroughbreds into the Cape and encouraging the development of racing. For the rest of the season SCORPION won two races at Exeter, including the Gold Cup, the King's Plate at Warwick in four mile heats, and races at Kingscote and Tewkesbury. In 1810 he won six races, including the Blandford Cup, the Exeter Cup and the Kingscote Stakes. The next season, 1812 -- his last -- he took eight races, including the King's Plate at Winchester over four miles, carrying 12 st. In his last season he was victorious in four races, including the Gold Cup at Burderop. He died in 1813.
STINGTAIL and WASP were fillies. STINGTAIL was sold to Sir John Shelley. Her best race was a win of Newmarket's Town Plate at age four; she bred some winners but the line did not continue. WASP won a subscription purse worth £50 at Newmarket Craven, but more importantly bred Addy (1820) and Chateau Margaux (1822), both by Whalebone, both born at Petworth. Chateau Margaux, a weight-carrying distance horse with speed, won twenty-two of twenty-eight stakes races through age six, including the Ascot Gold Cup, the Claret Stakes, the Brighton Gold Cup, and several King's Plates. He got some winners and good broodmare daughters in England before he was purchased by the Virginia-based bloodstock company Merritt & Co, and sent to the U.S., where he was a useful stallion. Addy, second dam of the 1859 Grand National Steeplechase winner Half-Caste, became the tail-female ancestress of a number of winners through the 20th century, including the California-bred Ormondale (1903, by Ormonde).
Nutmeg (1800), by Sir Peter Teazle, was a Grosvenor-bred mare purchased by Egremont for Petworth. Bred in 1804 to Gohanna, the next year she dropped BRIGHTON LASS, who was sold to Lord Stowell, for whom she won Brighton's Hippocampus Stakes and some other races. At age four BRIGHTON LASS was bred to Selim, and sold at Stowell's dispersal in 1809 for 220 guineas, but her line is no longer extant. However, her sister, BRIGHTONIA (1808), sold to A. Goddard, won several races at Kingscote and Newmarket, and in the stud produced an unnamed daughter by Rubens (1814), and her siblings Wouvermans (1815, by Rubens), and Rowena (1816, by Rubens). The Rubens mare was second dam of Fitz-Gladiator (1850, by Gladiator). a winner of the Derby Continental de Gand and several other races, and later an influential sire in France, with two good sire sons. Rowena bred on in tail-female; her descendants included St. Leger winner Challacombe (1902), and the California runner and sire Vigors (1972, Santa Anita Handicap, Hollywood Invitational).
Two daughters of Woodpecker bred at Petworth in the 1890s from a Sweetbriar mare became broodmares at Petworth. One of these Woodpecker mares, born in 1795, bred Chester, a good runner for Richard Grosvenor (1st Earl Grosvenor), and his unnamed sister, both by Sir Peter Teazle. Chester's sister (1800) produced five foals to the cover of Gohanna; of these, INTERLOPER (1807), who took the Brighton's 1810 Pavilion Stakes, and his brother, ROBIN ADAIR (1809), were winners.
Another mare at Petworth, was a Herod mare bred by Lord Mislintown, from Desdemona, by Marske, that was out of Young Hag, and so closely related to the Herod mare that was the dam of Grey Skim and Chestnut Skim. This Herod mare (1780), produced foals to various Petworth stallions, including Mercury, Woodpecker, Precipitate, Driver, and finally, she produced CEREBUS (1802), her last foal, by Gohanna.
CEREBUS, who like many Gohannas, got better as he got older, passed through several hands during his career, winning the Winchester Gold Cup at age five, two races at Newmarket and a 400 guineas stakes at Brighton at age six, and the Northampton Gold Cup and Wretham Stakes at Newmarket, among other races, in 1810, at age eight. He went to stud at Richard Watt's Bishop Burton stud in Yorkshire, where he got some good runners, including Captain Candid (1813, from Mandane), a winner of races at Newmarket; The Giant, who took the King's Plate over two miles at Ipswich at age three, and in later years won races at Newmarket; and Torelli (1815, from Miss Cranfield), a half-sister to the GOLUMPUS son Beverley (1808), and a fine staying mare that was second in the Doncaster St. Leger, won Chester's Stand Cup and the Royal Plate at York August (four mile heats) at age four, and took other good northern races. Torelli had a sister, Cerebus mare (1820), that bred on; she was third dam of Goodwood Cup winner Miss Elis. CEREBUS was one of several Gohanna sons to make the top twenty on the sires list in 1817.
Several Gohanna winners descended from Egremont's Woodpecker mare (1785), a half-sister to Derby winner Skyscraper, out of the Eclipse daughter, Everlasting. At Petworth, the unnamed Woodpecker mare produced Fractious (1792), by Mercury, and Fraxinella (1793), by Trentham. Fraxinella became the dam of a GOHANNA MARE (1803), that ended up at Bishop Burton stud in Yorkshire. At Bishop Burton she became the dam of several good winners, most notably Tramp (1810, by Dick Andrews), who had the look of Gohanna about him and Beggar Girl (1815), a winner and later a good broodmare in Ireland that produced Cruiskeen (in-bred to Gohanna through Sir Hercules) and other good runners. This GOHANNA MARE also produced Toss (1822), a winner, later imported into the Hunter River (Australia) Glendon Stud of the Scott brothers, where he got many good runners and had a significant influence on the development of several early colonial female families. Tramp, a Doncaster Cup winner, got five classic winners and several good sire sons, including Lottery, and good broodmare daughters, including the dam of Alice Hawthorn.
At Petworth, Fraxinella's half-sister, Fractious, produced some good runners, including Derby winner Hannibal, by Driver, and his sisters, Carthage (1798), Amazon (1799), and Dora (1802). To the cover of Gohanna, Carthage bred PUNIC (1809), winner of the 1813 Newmarket Town Plate, and his sister, TUNIS (1811), winner of Middleham's Craven Stakes at age three. Her sister, Dora, bred the Gohanna daughter DORINA (1808), a winner of races at Chippenham and Monmouth. Of these horses, DORINA was most successful in the breeding shed, producing Oppidian (1825, by Rubens), who ran second in a lot of good races, including the Northampton Gold Cup, a big stakes at Winchester, Newmarket's Grand Duke Michael Stakes, and Newmarket's Audley End Stakes, in addition to winning some plates at Newmarket.
Amazon produced five foals to the cover of Gohanna. One of them, HARPALICE (1814), was the dam of Lurcher (1832, by Grey Leg), a colt purchased by Allen Davie of North Carolina and later a useful stallion in Tennessee; HARPALICE also became the third dam of the influential broodmare Pocahontas.
Mercury's sister, Venus (1773, by Eclipse) also ended up at Petworth, purchased by Egremont from Dennis O'Kelly's (owner of Eclipse) for 1200 guineas. One of her daughters bred there, Martha (1789), by Woodpecker, produced CESTRIAN (1805) by Gohanna. He was sold to Thomas Egerton, and like other Gohannas, had a long career on the turf, running until age eight; he won mostly at Chester, Preston, Shrewbury, Wrexham and Knutsford, and retired to Oulton, near Tarporley, in Cheshire, at a stud fee of five guineas. He got some winners over fences and on the flat, including the half-bred mare Antiope (1821), that won a two mile sweepstakes at Wrexham.
Another Venus daughter, Tag (1786, by Trentham), won the Oaks Stakes for Egremont, and at Petworth bred a filly, Lazy (1800, by Driver). At age five Lazy produced ANDERIDA (1805), by Gohanna, the third generation in this family to be bred at Petworth. ANDERIDA won the Ascot Gold Cup, and was also a winner of other races at Ascot, Brighton and Lewes. Anderida did not breed on.
Cunegond (1769, by Blank), was an early foundation mare at Petworth. She bred July Stakes winner Ostrich and a number of other runners, and several daughters by Trentham. One of these Trentham mares (1779) produced Certhia (1793, by Woodpecker), that became the dam of the Gohanna daughters LAMIA (1809) and QUAIL (1805). LAMIA won at Abingdon and elsewhere, and later bred Gratis, a winner at Newmarket, and Cetus, who won Newmarket's Criterion Stakes and the Ascot Gold Cup. QUAIL, a winner at Brighton and Egham as a juvenile, later produced another Ascot Gold Cup winner, Banker, that also won Ascot's Swinley Stakes, and Merchant, a good juvenile that won Newmarket's Prendergast Stakes and Clearwell Stakes.
There were several other notable Gohanna foals that did not have lengthy ties to Petworth.
BRIGHTON (1804), was from a Trentham mare, bred at Petworth and used by Egremont as a hunter for several years. At age three he won at Brighton for Egremont, then was sold to William Fermor, of Oxfordshire, for whom he won at Lewes. At age four he won the Ascot Gold Cup and several races at Newmarket.
ROMANA (1807, from a Sir Peter Teazle mare), won the Salisbury King's Plate over four miles and the Winchester Cup, among other races. Her sister, an unnamed GOHANNA MARE (1814) had stakes winning tail-female descendants through the end of the 19th century.
THE DANDY (1807, from Active, by Oberon), owned by Sir Frank Standish, ran second in the Epsom Derby Stakes, and was winner of four good races at Newmarket that same year. On May 1, 1811, he was one of several horses that died in agony from the deliberate poisoning -- with arsenic -- of a trough where his trainer, Mr. Prince, commonly watered his horses after exercise; this was one of several poisonings that occurred over several years at Newmarket and Doncaster by Daniel Dawson, a professional "watcher" employed by betting rings to keep tabs on various horses. Dawson, apparently on his own, decided to help with the odds by making the horses sick, but ineptly over-dosed the water at Newmarket. He was eventually caught and hanged.
SILVERTAIL (1815, out of an Orville mare), won several good races at Newmarket, including the Oatlands Stakes, and was later tail-female ancestress of stakes winners, including the great Argentinian runner Botafogo (1914, by Old Man).
Gohanna died in April of 1815, age 25. He was one of those stallions, encountered periodically in the history of the turf, whose usefulness -- not discounting his game, stout qualities -- was clearly determined by ownership...and wealth. He was patronized by some mares other than his owner's, but virtually all his influence as a stallion derived from Petworth mares, most of which had been bred at Egremont's stud for two, three, or even four generations in the female line and incorporated some of the pre-eminent stallions of the preceding forty years, such as Eclipse, Herod, Highflyer, Sir Peter Teazle, and Woodpecker. While many of his offspring, sold as yearlings from Petworth, won for other owners, many of his winners raced, at least initially, for Egremont. It is somewhat ironic, therefore, that the son destined to continue Gohanna's sire line, GOLUMPUS, was an unraced cull that ended up as a coach horse and hunter sire in Yorkshire for the small-time partners William Horsley and Sam King. And perhaps lucky that the next stallion in the sire line, Catton, went into the ownership of another wealthy magnate, this time in the north, whose decision to make his horse a public stallion broadened the line's influence to the U.S. and France.
--Patricia Erigero
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