|
|
Lord Lyon
|
|
 |
|
|
Lord Lyon, England's third Triple Crown winner, was a game -- and lucky -- racehorse that did not live up to his record on the turf when he entered the stud. He did get Minting in his twilight years, and a few other stakes winners, including his sole English classic winner, Placida, but the overwhelming majority of his offspring were at best useful juveniles and later sprinter-milers, many of which ran at selling plate level. Some of his daughters were good producers, as were those of his sons, and some of their tail-female descendants are racing successfully in the present.
Ellen Horne (1842, by Redshank), a mare bred in the famous Grafton stud, was purchased for 18 guineas by Colonel Mark Pearson as a saddle horse for his wife. At her side was a filly, later named Paradigm (1852), by the Touchstone son, Paragone, for which he paid 12 additional guineas. The 16 hand Paragone had won five races and several matches. Pearson, a colonel (later general) in the 12th Lancers, a regiment well-known for its sporting officers, lived at Oakley Hall, near Kettering in Northamptonshire, celebrated in sport for the Woodland Pytchley hunt; he later moved to Sandy, Bedfordshire. Ellen went on to breed a number of other foals for Pearson, none of them exceptional on the turf, but her 1865 daughter by Thormanby, Rouge Rose, became the dam of the classy golden chestnut Derby winner, Bend Or (1877, by Doncaster), an extremely influential stallion.
According to the stories, after securing Ellen and her daughter, Pearson became increasingly involved in breeding, and then racing, thoroughbreds. While he had some success on the turf, notably with Achievement, who ran in his colors, the thoroughbred world would not be as it is today without the two Ellen Horne daughters he bred: Paradigm, and her half-sister Rouge Rose. Together, these two mares' descendants make up over half the population of Family 1, from which countless good horses descend.
Paradigm, reportedly "nothing special to look at," was raced by Pearson's fellow officer, Captain D. Lane, coming out for the four-furlong Lavant Stakes at Goodwood as a juvenile, and barely beaten by a head by the future Two Thousand Guineas winner Lord of the Isles (by Touchstone) in a field of seven. In her next race, Goodwood's Bentinck Memorial Stakes for juveniles less than week later, she was unplaced, having dislocated her fetlock in the running. She was permanently retired as a broodmare, and proceded to drop foal after foal for Pearson; there were thirteen live ones before she was shot in 1872, age twenty.
Paradigm's first five foals, but one, were by the beautiful, sound, long-running stayer, Kingston. All were winners, but not a one had Kingston's stoutness, although most got his looks; they were speedsters. The best of these was Blue Mantle (1860), "as bloodlike a nag that was ever saddled." Captain Lane raced him, and he did well as a juvenile, winning the Ascot Biennial, Ascot Triennial, Ascot New Stakes, and Newmarket's Rutland Stakes, and dead-heating for second in Newmarket's Chesterfield Stakes. He could not win over a mile, as his later efforts revealed; he placed in good company, finally winning Epsom's Four Year Old Stakes at age four. Paradigm's other Kingston foals included King-at-Arms (1856), winner of Ascot's Royal Hunt Cup at age three; Man-at-Arms (1857), a winner of races a mile and under, and Panoply (1859), another speedster, that, when crossed with Ascot Gold Vase winner Elland (by the stayer Rataplan), produced the stayer Pageant (1871), winner of the Chester Cup (twice) and the Doncaster Cup. Paradigm's next foal was Gardevisure (1862, by the Two Thousand Guineas and dual Doncaster Cup winner Vedette), a useful filly that won the Woodcote Stakes as a juvenile, and the Cambridgeshire Stakes (1 mile-1 furlong) in the fall of 1865.
Pearson, "a strong man with strong views on most subjects," had a breeding theory "...so awful in its simplicity that it may well be here quoted. He was wont to say 'By the winner of the Leger out of the winner of the Oaks -- that's the proper pedigree for a racehorse!" That he chose a Derby winner for Paradigm's next breeding is perfectly understandable, since the stallion was Stockwell, already the sire of two St. Leger winners, with a third to take that race the summer after Paradigm was covered by him. Lord Lyon (1863) was the result of this cross, and the next year Paradigm returned to Stockwell to produce the dual-classic winning filly Achievement (1864). Of all her foals, these two were the ones that could stay best, but even then, their forte was 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 miles, and no further. But all of Paradigm's racing foals were speedy, and there's no question that Lord Lyon carried this trait forward to almost all his progeny, often without the ability to get more than a mile.
Paradigm was bred again to Vedette, the next two years, producing Hatchment (1865) and Noyre Tauren (1866), neither of much use. With the no doubt satisfying success of Lord Lyon and Achievement's terrific juvenile year in 1866, she went back to Stockwell to produce Chevisaunce (1868, dam of classic winner Jannette) and Cognisaunce (1869, dam of Royal Hunt Cup winner Hopbloom and other good ones). For whatever reason -- probably because he was the hot young sire of the late '60s and a Derby AND St. Leger winner -- Pearson shifted to Stockwell's dual-classic winning son, Blair Athol, and in 1870 Paradigm dropped Paraffin, a winner of three races in fifteen starts at ages two and three. Paraffin's five daughters -- most especially the unraced Footlight (1876, by Cremorne) and the one race winner (in eight starts) Illuminata (1877, by Rosicrucian, dam of two classic winners) -- were responsible in tail-female for numerous classic winners, significant broodmares and important stallions.
Lord Lyon, standing 15.3-3/4 hands, was described as "magnificently shaped...he was in most respect as perfect a model as one could wish to see, but below the knee he dwindled away to nothing; his ankles were small and bullety, his pasterns--straight, and his feet half the size they should have been." He was, his frequent jockey Henry Custance said, "a nice horse to ride, and free enough, although not a puller." He was "a very slight whistler" which was treated by firing his throat, at the time believed by some veterinarians to be the best treatment. "Whether it did him any good or not," Custance later commented, "I can't say." He was reportedly good-tempered, and had a fondness for cats.
|
Lord Lyon on the Turf
Lord Lyon was leased to Pearson's racing associate, Robert Sutton, and ran in his colors, but both men were involved with decisions on his schooling, as both were involved in breeding decisions regarding mares nominally in Pearson's ownership. Sutton was the gambler of the two, and made quite a bit of money during Lord Lyon's career. Lord Lyon's sister, Achievement, ran in Pearson's colors.
As a yearling, Lord Lyon was shipped by train to Oxford, where he was met by a stable lad who walked him seventeen miles across the Ilsley Downs in the rain and wind to trainer James Dover's Churchill Cottage stables at Ilsley. In addition to his breeding theory, Pearson had a training theory, and that was to try his yearlings early and often. "He was always eager to try them, and to know the best or worst of them nearly as soon as they reached Ilsley." Lord Lyon, then, was quickly backed, and on September 10 of 1864 he was tried "over a severe course" of a half-mile, carrying 8 stone-3 lbs. His partner was the two-year-old Jezabel, carrying 8 stone-10 lbs., who had, that season, won the Biennial at Bath and Worcester's Coventry Stakes. She barely beat him, by a head.
His next recorded trial was in April of 1865, again over a half-mile. This time he had a "field" of horses to contend with, including three other juveniles, Rustic, also by Stockwell, Tinder, by Touchwood, and Iron Clad, by Lifeboat. Rustic and Tinder both nominally belonged to Sutton, while Lifeboat was out of Pearson's mare, Ellen Horne. The four colts carried 8 stone-2 lbs., and were set against the six-year-old mare, Grisette ( 9 st-7lbs.). Rustic won by a neck, with Grisette second and Lord Lyon a length behind, and the others nowhere. Later in his stall, Lord Lyon was "amiss," and there was some question regarding the validity of the trial. While Sutton, at the time, was convinced in Rustic he had a future Derby winner, he could not turn down the rich offer of 5,000 guineas from the Duke of Beaufort for the colt, and so Rustic left the stable, although he was not out of Lord Lyon's life until their racing careers were over.
Lord Lyon's next trials were on August 3 and again on August 17, a couple of weeks before his slated debut in Doncaster's Champagne Stakes. He was put up against his year-older half-sister Gardevisure, who had won the Woodcote Stakes at two, and was nominated to the Cambridgeshire to be run that fall. Grisette was also used. On August 3 they ran over 3/4 of a mile, with Lord Lyon carrying 8 stone, Gardevisure 9 st.-4 lbs., and Grisette 8 stone-6 lbs. Lord Lyon was first by seven lengths "in a canter," with Gardevisure two lengths ahead of Grisette. Two weeks later, over the same distance, Lord Lyon was given another seven pounds, Gardevisure carried 9 stone-3 lbs., and Grisette carried 8 stone, and this time Lord Lyon won by three lengths. On both occasions Gardevisure, who had "a terrific turn of speed" was ahead for the first half mile, and then Lord Lyon pushed ahead to easily beat her. "The Ilsley party, if such a thing had been possible, would have gladly substituted Lord Lyon, two years, for the mare, three years" in the Cambridgeshire: "he had beaten her in such a canter that they thought him her equal at even weights, and they knew he stayed better. The effect of the race, had they needed any further witness, was to make them sure of winning the Derby of 1866."
Lord Lyon's first official race was Doncaster's Champagne Stakes, where he dead-heated for first with Redan, with ten others in the field, including Strathconan, Vespasian, Mineral (later dam of Derby winner Kisber and St. Leger winner Wenlock) and The Primate. At Newmarket First October he received a 100 sovereign forfeit from Mineral. At the Second October meeting he won the Troy Stakes, beating five other youngsters. Then at Newmarket Houghton he took the Criterion Stakes by two lengths, beating the French colt Young Monarque, Janitor (by King Tom), and ten others.
At age three, while not unbeaten, Lord Lyon managed to carry off the Triple Crown races: he won six of his nine starts. He could do 1-1/2 miles, but as his jockey Henry Custance later said, he was "not quite a stayer." His first race was the Two Thousand Guineas, which he won easily by a length. Custance, who had ridden him in all his training gallops, had broken his collar bone, and Dover put his stable lad, Thomas, up on the colt, who rode him creditably, "rousing" him a few strides out from the end of the race to put away the horses running at his flank. Monarch of the Glen and Knight of the Crescent were second and third, with eleven others in the field.
The Epsom Derby was next, where, as favorite at 6 to 5, he met a very good field of colts, including Savernake, his old trial buddy, Rustic (both by Stockwell), Westwick (who would win the Great Ebor Handicap, also by Stockwell), Plutus, Laneret, Abergeldie, Strathconan, and eighteen others in the field. By the time the field reached the straight, Lord Lyon had taken the lead, but was challenged strongly and passed by Savernake. Custance "called vigorously" on Lord Lyon at the stand, and surged ahead of Savernake in the last stride, with Rustic three lengths behind. The race was so close that Savernake's owner, Lord Ailesbury, convinced his horse could have won, switched jockeys when the Doncaster St. Leger rolled around.
Lord Lyon went on to Ascot, but its famous hill was a bit too much for him, and he was second by half a length to Rustic in the Prince of Wales's Stakes, with four others well behind. His next engagement was Doncaster's St. Leger Stakes, where he was part of a field of eleven, and started favorite at 9 to 2. He lay near the lead, as did Savernake (second in the Derby) until the bend in the course, where he took up the lead, with Savernake dogging his heels, and pulling almost even with him, stride by stride, in the last 100 yards. The two were running "head to head" and "nose to nose" over that distance, with Lord Lyon declared the winner by "a very short head." Custance later said, "neither [Tom] Chaloner, Savernake's jockey nor myself knew which had won after passing the post...Savernake was unlucky that day; he...had to carve a route through the other horses, yet he was catching Lord Lyon, who was tiring very fast." Another stride, the consensus was, and Savernake would have won. Knight of the Crescent was third by four lengths. This win made Lord Lyon the third horse to take the Triple Crown, as it came to be called. He also became Stockwell's fifth St. Leger winner.
He came out a few days later for the Doncaster Cup, where he ran third to Rama (1863, by Lord Fauconberg, also winner of the Goodwood Stakes and Lewes Grand Handicap that year), and Ackworth (who had won the Cambridgeshire in 1864 and the Doncaster Cup the year before); he was within a head of Ackworth, but both horses were eight lengths behind Rama.
At Newmarket for the fall meetings, he won the Grand Duke Michael Stakes in a canter by six lengths, with Knight of the Crescent second and two others in the field and the Select Stakes, beating Strathconan (in receipt of 2 pounds) and Mr. Pitt (more lightly-weighted). At Newmarket Houghton Lord Lyon (carrying 8 st.-10 lbs.) was second to two-year-old Friponnier (carrying 6 st.-12 lbs.), with Rustic (8 st.-10 lbs.) third. His last race of the season was a 1,000 sovereign match against Rustic, at even weights, which he won by twenty lengths.
In 1867, age four, he was unbeaten in seven successive races, including sweepstakes at Northampton, plates at Newmarket, Newmarket's Craven Stakes, Ascot's Biennial (beating Wild Moor by twelve lengths), and the Stockbridge Cup (beating Ostreger by a length with five others in the field). In his last race, the two mile Queen's Plate at Lincoln, he was beaten by Rama by a head, with the good staying Stockwell daughter, Regalia (Oaks and numerous Queen's Plates winner, second Ascot Gold Cup), third.
His losses to Rustic in the Prince of Wales's Stakes, and to Rama in the Doncaster Cup and Lincoln's Queen's Plate caused Custance and others to consider him a good winner at classic distances, but, "not quite a stayer."
Lord Lyon in the Stud
As might be expected of a triple classic winner, Lord Lyon started off at a stud fee of 30 guineas, placed at James Sawrey-Cookson's Neasham Hall Stud at Darlington, and he stayed there for several years, with full books his first couple of years. But Cookson, who had hastily sold Buccaneer just before his juvenile crop proved what a great sire he was, got rid of Lord Lyon after the 1870 season. In this case Cookson's assessment was justified; Lord Lyon was producing some winners, but they were mostly at selling plate level, and the best of them could go no more than a mile when older horses.
In 1871 Lord Lyon moved to the Hurstbourne Park Stud in Hampshire, the seat of Isaac Newton Wallop, 2nd Earl Portmore. He did somewhat better there, and in 1873 he bred two mares ( at 30 guineas) that produced his only classic winner, PLACIDA (1874), and the speedy TOUCHET (1874), later a useful stallion. These two, along with a number of lower-level runners, put Lord Lyon fourth on Great Britain's leading sires list in 1876, and fifth in 1877, the highest rankings he ever achieved. Inexplicably, his stud fee was raised to 50 guineas at Hurstborne in 1874, a real error in judgment, because he saw very few mares that year.
In 1876-77 he stood at Edmund Tattersall's Old Oak Farm at Shepherd's Bush, three miles from Tattersall's famous sales facility at Albert Gate (London), built in 1866. His fee had cannily been dropped to 25 guineas to attract those who might be on the fence regarding Lord Lyon as a stallion, but who might take a chance on him, thanks to PLACIDA and TOUCHET; in 1877 he was advertised with a "book nearly full." He spent the next year, 1878, at G.S. Thompson's Moorlands Stud Farm in York. The following year, 1879, Archibald Primrose, (5th) Earl Rosebery, brought him to the Crafton Stud in Berkshire, which his new wife, Hannah (married in 1878), had inherited from her father, Baron Mayer de Rothschild upon his death in 1874, possibly because Rosebery's Lord Lyon colt, TOUCHET, was showing promise. In 1880 he was sold to John Winteringham, who operated the historic Croft Stud near Barforth on the Durham-Yorkshire border. It was here that he covered Yorkshire sportsman Clare Vyner's Mint Sauce, after he "had been almost erased from breeders memory." The result of this breeding was his only truly superior racehorse, MINTING (1883).
Lord Lyon died at Croft Stud on Easter Monday, in April of 1887, "having completely broken down." His feet had always been a challenge, and became increasingly problematic when he was at stud, "...except when his services were actually required, he spent the whole of his time in lying down; he could not exercise himself, and it would have been cruelty to attempt to force him." It is unclear if he suffered from navicular (given the description of his feet, the likely problem), laminitis, osteitis, or some other problem in the hooves, but one thing is clear; his son, MINTING, would suffer from the same problem after retiring to stud. His only other useful sire son, TOUCHET, had died a month earlier at High Wycombe, "of paralysis," at the young age of thirteen, perhaps, given his sons Juggler and Necromancer, depriving the Lord Lyon line of a superior stallion to continue the line.
TOUCHET continued the sire line in England and Ireland, briefly, through Necromancer -- a leading sire in Ireland -- and Juggler. MINTING, another big disappointment when he hit the stud, got Ugly, a noted sprinter, whose son, Spanish Prince, also good on the turf and later exported to the U.S., was almost leading sire in the U.S. in 1924, but the latter's best were daughters, and that was the end of the Lord Lyon line in the U.S. MINTING also got Minor Forfeit, a leading sire in South Africa, whose son, Unequalled, was also a good stallion, but the latter was the end of the sire line in that country. Significantly, Australasian breeders, who valued sound stayers, brought in over a dozen Stockwell sons or sire line descendants (including Stockwell's son, The Marquis, sire of the Australian Newminster, twice leading sire), but none descended from Lord Lyon.
Lord Lyon's daughters, equal to or better than his sons on the turf (excluding MINTING), were not that much better than his colts in the breeding shed. Oaks and Guineas winner Mimi (1888), Prix du Jockey Club winner Ermak, the excellent stayer Buccaneer (1888, by Privateer), and other some other good winners were out of Lord Lyon daughters. TOUCHET and MINTING, and some of their sons, were actually better broodmare sires.
|
Minting | | MINTING (1883) was Lord Lyon's best racing son by a good measure, born in Lord Lyon's declining years, when all expectations of a superior son had been given up. He was bred by Richard C. Vyner, and born at Vyner's Fairfield Stud in Yorkshire, out of Mint Sauce (by Young Melbourne), a winner of one race in two seasons. Despite her race record, Mint Sauce had "the stuff," also producing Doncaster St. Leger winner The Lambkin and his sister, One Thousand Guineas winner Minthe, both by Camballo, a stallion at Fairfield.
|
MINTING was so good, his trainer, Matt Dawson, was sure he would win the classic races, and his views seem justified as Minting reeled off five successive races in a row at age two, including Newcastle's Seaton Delaval Stakes, Goodwood's Prince of Wales's Stakes, the Newmarket Triennial Produce Stakes, Doncaster's Champagne Stakes and Newmarket's Middle Park Plate. But, there was another colt in the wings, Ormonde, also an unbeaten juvenile, that has since been often mentioned as the best racehorse of the nineteenth century. At age three the two youngsters met in the Two Thousand Guineas, which Ormonde won easily by two lengths. Rather than put MINTING up against Ormonde in the Derby, Vyner and Dawson took him to France, where he won the Grand Prix de Paris by five lengths; in the meantime, Ormonde won the Derby. Injured after his French race, MINTING sat out the rest of the 1886 season.
At age four MINTING won the Jubilee Cup at Ascot, but a few days later succumbed to Ormonde again, in Ascot's 1-1/2 mile Hardwicke Stakes, when he was beaten by a short neck in a race long-remembered afterwards. At age five he won Kempton Park's Jubilee Stakes easily, carrying 10 stone, and then ran in the Hardwicke Stakes again, this time taking the race. His last run of his career was Newmarket's Champion Stakes in October, where he was beaten by Friar's Balsam.
MINTING got a few good runners, but on the whole was, like Lord Lyon, a disappointing sire. His son, Ugly (1892), was a superior sprinter that later got Spanish Prince (1907), a versatile horse that mostly won sprints, but could extend to 1-1/2 miles. Spanish Price was exported to the U.S., and spent some years in American John Madden's Hamburg Place Stud in Kentucky, where he was a very good stallion, placing second on the sire's list in the U.S. in 1925. His most notable runner was Princess Doreen, the second highest money earning filly to that time in the States. None of his sons were more than adequate at stud, and the Lord Lyon sire line ended in America with him. MINTING was also sire of Minor Forfeit (1894), exported as a yearling to South Africa, where he was a modest handicap winner, but a leading sire in that country in 1915-16, and consistently in the top ten. Minor Forfeit also got a great racing daughter, Dignity, later the dam of three good runners, and a son, Unequalled (1910), that was second on the leading sire's list in South Africa in 1931. But Unequalled, like Spanish Prince, could not get a good sire son.
Many MINTING daughters were good producers, and a few managed to do pretty well on the turf, although on the whole, most ran at selling plate level, often did not place after their juvenile seasons, and if they did run at ages three and up, were sprinters. His best-known daughter was Maid of the Mint (1893), a non-winner that became the dam of Derby and Grand Prix de Paris winner Spearmint. But he got an equally important filly in One I Love (1893), exported as a foal to the U.S. She was a good juvenile, the crack filly of the Eastern Division in 1895. Her daughters Love Cliff and Affection both established successful tail-female lines, and Affection, dam of five stakes winners, was second dam of three champion juveniles in the U.S. MINTING also got New Guinea (1890), a winner of the Newmarket Oaks and Newmarket St. Leger, later second dam of Anna Bolena, a winner of the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, whose daughter, Mary Tudor, another winner of that race, produced the Epsom Derby and Ascot Gold Cup winner Owen Tudor. Many other MINTING mares were good producers and established successful tail-female lines.
Touchet
TOUCHET (1874, from Lady Audley, by Macaroni) raced for the Earl of Rosebery, and was first trained by James Dover, and then Robert Peck. A 15.3 hands dark brown horse with "splendid action" and "good power" he was not quite a top class racehorse, placing second in many good races. In the stud got two useful sire sons --Juggler and Necromancer -- that were brothers, and some broodmare daughters that continued good tail-female lines. His best ranking on the sire's list in the U.K. was eighth, in 1887.
At age two TOUCHET won six of his ten starts: two small races in Scotland -- Ayr's Nursery Stakes and Kelso's Berry Moss Stakes -- and four matches, placing second to Blue Riband in a maiden plate at Ascot, to Monachus in Goodwood's Prince of Wales's Stakes, and to Strathdoon in Ayr's Juvenile Stakes (giving the winner 22 pounds). At age three he ran seven races: he won a match at Ascot, and placed second in the City and Suburban Handicap at Epsom (six lengths behind Julius Caesar, with 28 in the field), in the Ascot Biennial (field of three), and the Ascot Triennial (won by PLACIDA). At age four he won the Triennial Stakes at Ascot and "was a good horse for running second in big handicaps," runner-up in the Cambridgeshire to the unexpected winner, Isonomy; in Epsom's City and Suburban Handicap, and in the Liverpool Autumn Cup. In 1879 he started out well, winning the one mile Lincolnshire Handicap, but "returned to his old ways" with a second in the Chester Cup to Reefer, with the good American horse, Parole, nowhere; that year he also won a 300 guineas match at Newmarket, beating the classic winner Belphoebe over 1-1/2 miles.
TOUCHET was retired to Tom Robinson's stud at High Wycombe, where he died unexpectedly at age thirteen. His sons, Necromancer and Juggler, out of Enchantress, by Scottish Chief, were both speedy runners and useful sires. Their sister, Fair Vision (1886), who won Stockbridge's Troy Stakes in a walk-over (her only race), went to James Keene's stud in the U.S., where she was the dam of some good runners and useful bloodstock, including Peter Quince (1905, by Commando) and Runaway Girl (1897, by Domino), second dam of Upset (Latonia Derby, only horse to beat Man o' War, in the Sanford Stakes).
TOUCHET's daughter, Abeyance (1885, out of Minnie Hauk by Mornington), won Croydon's Spring Two Year Old Stakes and Newmarket's Hersham Two Year Old Stakes in five starts as a juvenile, and at age three took five races in eighteen starts, including Sandown's Autumn Handicap and Railway Plate, and Worcester's Autumn Handicap. She later produced ten winners, including Ballantrae (1899, winner of the Criterion Stakes and the Cambridgeshire), and is seen in tail-female in the pedigrees of Equipoise and Djebel, among other good horses. TOUCHET also got Fullerton (1883), a winner of Newmarket's July Cup and Epsom's City and Suburban Handicap, among other races; Le Cassier (1883), who took the Great Ebor Handicap at York, and Lockhart (1887), a winner of the Gimcrack Stakes.
TOUCHET'S son Necromancer (1882) was another stallion in the Lord Lyon line that was a source of speed, rather than stamina. He himself was a useful juvenile, winning the British Dominion Two Year Old Race at Sandown, Kempton's Great Breeders Produce Stakes and two other races in seven starts, and at age three a good miler that won the Fern Hill Stakes, Kempton Park's Grand Prize for Three Year Olds, Goodwood's Singleton Plate, Kempton Park's Great International Breeders Foal Stakes, and Derby's Chatsworth Stakes, in all coming from behind with a lot of speed to win by slim margins. At age four he won Doncaster's Milton Stakes, and was out of the money in the rest of his races in eight starts. His owner, George Baird, sold him to Ireland, where he got a lot of good juvenile winners, including Delphos (1893), whose wins in the Anglesey Stakes and other races worth a total of £5,000 that made him the champion horse (of any age) in Ireland that year. Delphos helped boost Necromancer to leading sire status in Ireland in 1893 and put him fifth on the sire's list in Great Britain (the only time he made the top twenty in the U.K.). Other good juveniles included two winners of the First Two Year Old Race at the Curragh, Melba, the winner in 1893, and Calasay, winner in 1894.
A good broodmare sire, Necromancer's daughters included Bellinzona (1889), dam of the good Irish juvenile Fariman (1900, by Gallinule), himself a good broodmare sire, and of Valenza (1898, by Winkfield), whose wins included the Coronation Cup. Valenza was later dam of the useful Valens (1892), a sire of speedsters. Other Necromancer daughters included: Creve Coeur (1891), dam of Cambridgeshire winner Berrill; E.P. (1890), dam of Santry (1901) and of In Front (1900), a winner of the Curragh's Madrid Handicap; Stella (1890), dam of seven winners, including Irish Oaks winner Blakestown (1902) and the winning sprinter Flying Orb (1911, sire of Cos and other important mares); La Cigale (1890), dam of Free Gift, a winner of the Madrid Handicap.
TOUCHET'S son Juggler (1885) also raced by George Baird, was, like his brother, a precocious juvenile and a sprinter/miler in later years, and, like Necromancer, known for his speed. He was good at two, winning five of his ten starts, including Liverpool's Knowsley Nursery and the Two Year Old Stakes at Kempton Park (worth £1800), and placing second or third four times. He won Liverpool's Stewards' Cup at age three, and at ages four and five won four races, including the Hylton Handicap and the Stockbridge Cup. As a stallion at the Heath Stud Farm at Newmarket for some years, he was in the top twenty on the leading sires list four times, reaching tenth place in 1903, and twelfth in 1900, with winners at all distances; he got a lot of winners --123 -- but most ran at handicap level and below, with total earnings of £27,695.
Juggler's offspring included Kunstler (1898), a winner of nine races, including Ascot's Royal Hunt Cup; Brambilla (1900), a winner of the 1903 City and Suburban Handicap; Jest (1894), who took Lincoln's Brocklesby Stakes at age two, and Chicane (1898), a winner of Newmarket's Chesterfield Stakes.
Juggler's daughters included Conjure (1885), fairly useless on the turf in two seasons and purchased as a hunter broodmare. She ended up the dam of Ascot Derby winner Pilliwinkie; Third Trick, a modest winner of two races as a juvenile and later a successful broodmare; One Thousand Guineas winner Winkipop (1907, also winner of the Nassau Stakes, Coronation Stakes and Yorkshire Oaks at age three), and Winkie, dam's sire of the great Australasian horse, Phar Lap. Conjure's tail-female line, with successful stakes winners, continues to the present. Juggler was also sire of Jongleuse (1902), the dam of Torloisk, a speedy juvenile and later winner of Newmarket's July Cup; Edmee (1896), a winner of eight races at plate level, later dam of the classy filly Perola, winner of the Epsom Oaks that became a significant matron in Germany. He also got Noreen Agnes (1901), the dam of Agnes Sard (1917, by Sardanapale) who went to the U.S. and produced Brooklyn Handicap winner Peanuts (1922), and some good daughters; a great many high-class winners in France and the U.S. descend from Noreen Agnes, including 1978 Epsom Oaks winner Fair Salinia, and the good stallions Grey Dawn (1962) and Green Dancer (1972), that won the Poule d'Essai des Poulains, among other races.
Other Lord Lyon Sons
Lord Lyon got more than a dozen other sons that won races. Of these, ZADIG (1881, from Zara, by The Ugly Buck), was probably the highest class; he only placed at selling plate level at age two, but at age three he won Epsom's Metropolitan Handicap (2-1/4 miles) for Sir George Chetwynd, and the next year took the Newmarket Biennial and the one-mile Windsor Spring Handicap. POURSUIVANT (1872, from Editha by Ethelbert), bred by James Dover's neighbor, Joseph Lowe, at Ilsley, was another long-running Lord Lyon colt that was a pretty good high-class sprinter. His wins included Newmarket's Flying Welter Handicap, the five furlong Surbiton Handicap, The Flying Stakes at Hampton (beating ten) and the Curragh's Alexandra Plate (3/4 mile) at age three. The rest were pretty much on the level of SUBDUER, a sprinter that ran just above selling plate level, occasionally rising to higher class sprints, and often sinking to selling plates. SUBDUER (1878, out of Solitude, by Tim Whiffler), who changed hands several times via claiming during his career, took a number of races through age seven, including Doncaster's Fitzwilliam Stakes (3/4 mile), Kempton Park's All-Aged Plate, and Newmarket's Alexandra Plate. The aptly-named SPEEDWELL (1872) won six races at age three, including the Grandstand Handicap (one mile) and two other races at Alexander Park, Chesterfield's Innkeeper's Welter Handicap (6 furlongs), and York's Londesborough Cup (3/4 mile). COEUR DE LION won Epsom's Heathcote Plate (five furlongs) and the Peel Handicap at Huntingdon at age three. And so on.
Lord Lyon's Daughters
Lord Lyon's only classic winner in England was PLACIDA who was also one of his few high class runners at ages four and five. He also got LIONNE (1873), a winner of the Magyar Kanca dij (Hungarian Oaks). As a whole, his daughters were the equivalent of his sons on the turf; a few moderately high class racehorses, and many low level winners, almost all of them limited in scope to a mile or less. Two classic winners -- Mimi (Epsom Oaks and One Thousand Guineas, England), and Ermak (Prix du Jockey Club, France) -- were out of Lord Lyon daughters. A few other Lord Lyon daughters were dams of successful stakes winners, and a handful of others were in the chain of descent of later good winners.
|
Placida
| | PLACIDA (1874, from Pieta by Pelion) was Lord Lyon's sole classic winner, leading from the start in the Epsom Oaks in a rainstorm, beating One Thousand Guineas winner Belphoebe, Lady Golightly, and seven other fillies by 3/4 of a length. She was bred and raced by J. Fiennes, whose nom-de-course was "Mr. Pulteney," assumed to avoid offending his father, "a cleric of some note." PLACIDA was a smart juvenile winner of seven races in nine starts, including a maiden plate at Epsom, beating seventeen; the Doginersfield Stakes at Odiham, Stockbridge's Champagne Stakes, Sandown's six furlong Gold Cup, Goodwood's Halnaker Stakes, the Astley Stakes at Lewes, and the Lewes Nursery Stakes.
|
PLACIDA went on to race through age five, but she was a sprinter-miler, not a stayer, or even a classic distance horse in succeeding years. Her four wins in eleven starts at age four included the five furlong Great Surrey Handicap at Epsom Spring, the one mile Rous Stakes at Epsom Summer, and the Grand Stand Plate (six furlongs) and Brighton Autumn Cup (1-1/4 miles, her best distance after the Oaks) at Brighton. In 1879, age five, she won three of her fourteen starts, with five second placings, her wins the Kempton Park Trial Stakes (six furlongs), the five furlong Sandown Park Gold Cup, and a sprinter's Cup at Lewes; her second places included Newmarket's Champion Stakes, where she was behind Rayon d'Or. PLACIDA'S sister, PRAXIDICE (1877), won Newmarket's Bretby Stakes as a juvenile. Neither mare continued the tail-female line with any high class horses.
Other Lord Lyon fillies with any pretence to class in England included: LADY LYON (1870, out of Lanky Bet by The Cossack), a winner of Richmond's Zetland Plate as a juvenile; WATER LILY (1873, out of Atonement, by Oulston), a winner of six starts in thirteen races as a juvenile, including Manchester's Copeland Stakes, the Brighton Nursery Handicap, Gloucester's Derbyshire Stakes, and two races at Alexander Park -- by 1878, age five, the best she could do was place second at Epson in a selling welter handicap at Epsom. LADY RONALD (1874, out of Edith, by Newminster) was a hard-raced sprinting mare whose wins included a five furlong handicap at Oxford, the Kenilson Plate at Weymouth, and the five furlong Harford Welter Handicap at Kempton Park; her descendants made their way to the U.S., where there were some stakes winners in the 1920s. W.S. Cartwright's FAIR LYONESE (1875, out of Fairminster, by Newminster), the best of this lot, won Bath's 1-1/4 mile Somersetshire Stakes (beating ten), and was second in York's North of England Biennial (2 miles), but could not place in the Oaks (sacrificed to stablemate Eu de Vie) or other high-class races. She was later dam of Le Senateur (1895, by Berenger), a winner of the Queen Alexandra Stakes, and her French-bred daughters (some of them in-bred to Lord Lyon via Ermak) continued the female line with some stakes winners, including two Royal Hunt Cup winners in the 1920s -- Priory Park and Songe. BONNIE MARDEN (1877, out of Cornelia, by Beadsman), bred by Cookson, won Doncaster's Hopeful Plate and a half-mile race at Morpeth as a juvenile, and at age three was second to Jenny Howlett in the Epsom Oaks; some stakes winners in various countries descended from her daughters.
The French-bred Baionnette (by Nunnykirk or Bon Vivant), purchased by Lord Portsmouth and brought to England, produced LIONNE (1873) to the cover of Lord Lyon; while still a foal, LIONNE and her dam were purchased by and sent to the Hungarian Imperial Stud, where LIONNE won the Magyar Kanca dij (Hungarian Oaks) in 1876. LIONNE was later a broodmare in the Imperial Stud at KisbČr, where she bred winners, including Balzsam (1884, by Buccaneer). Lord Lyon's daughter, CATACLYSM, also later went to Hungary.
|
Cataclysm
| | Bred by Evelyn Boscawen, 6th Viscount Falmouth, at his Mereworth Castle estate near Maidstone in Kent, CATACLYSM (1872), was out of Falmouth's One Thousand Guineas winner Hurricane (1859, by Wild Dayrell), who was also dam of Two Thousand Guineas winner Atlantic (by Thormanby) and his sister Atlantis, dam of King Ban (by King Tom). CATACLYSM was a useful juvenile that won York's Convivial Stakes, beating seven, and Newmarket's Home Bred Produce Stakes, beating three, and placing second to Balfe in a sweepstakes at Newmarket. At age three she ran eleven times without success, her best a second place (of three) in a Newmarket Biennial, and third four times in short distance races, including the Great Eastern Railway Handicap and the Ancaster Welter Handicap at Newmarket.
|
In 1877 CATACLYSM was purchased by Francis Cavaliero on behalf of the Hungarian Imperial Stud, and sent to KisbČr where she produced a number of winners, including Kethely (1880, by Cambuscan), a winner of the Freudenauer and Taurus Handicaps, and Rajta Rajta (1885, by Ruperra), who won the Szent Laszlo dij and the Österreichisches Derby.
Another Lord Lyon daughter that ended up in Hungary, THEMIS (1870, out of Fairy Footstep, by Newminster), was bred by J. Newton. She did not race, and was purchased for £630 and sent to KisbČr, where she was the dam of Thesis, Trefas, Artemis, Tourist and Takaros.
|
Biserta
| | BISERTA (1880) and her dam, Parma (by Parmesan), were purchased by Leopold de Rothschild from a Marsworth farmer for a small sum in 1880; the package also included Parma's yearling filly, Isabel (by Plebian), later the dam of the great runner St. Frusquin. All three went to Rothschild's Southcourt Stud at Leighton Buzzard. BISERTA was a moderate runner, winning a feather plate over the Cesarewitch course, and a welter handicap over the Ditch Mile at Newmarket as a juvenile. At age three she won the Chester Cup, but that year, 1883, was pretty much the nadir of the running of that famous race, with only six entrants, and BISERTA, with her modest juvenile form, the only one with even a hint of the ability to stay.
|
At Rothschild's Southcourt Stud BISERTA became the dam of some good runners. including Utica (1892, by St. Simon), a juvenile winner of Newmarket's Chesterfield Stakes, and at age three a winner of the St. George Stakes at Liverpool, and second to Le Var in the Princess of Wales's Stakes at Newmarket; she was a very bad fourth in the Doncaster St. Leger, won by Sir Visto. Utica was later dam of Khammurabi (1902), a winner of the Imperial Produce Stakes. BISERTA also produced Ayah (1895, by Ayrshire), a winner of Doncaster's Champagne Stakes and Newmarket's Chesterfield Stakes as a juvenile, and later dam of Goletta (1894, by Galopin), another good juvenile that won the Coronation Stakes at age three and the Princess of Wales's Stakes at age four. Grand National Steeplechase winner Double Chance (1916) and Euology (1911), one of New Zealand's most significant broodmares, were both out of Goletta.
Lord Lyon's more notable broodmare daughters, besides any mentioned above, included the following.
An unnamed LORD LYON MARE (1870, out of Sadie, by Voltigeur) belonged to Thomas Lant, for whom she bred Stethoscope and Zoetrope, both winners by Speculum, who was standing at that time at Moorlands Stud in Yorkshire. A "fine lengthy mare," she was purchased at auction for 25 guineas by Sir Tatton Sykes and sent to his Sledmere Stud. For Sykes she produced Mimi (1888), whose wins included the One Thousand Guineas, the Epsom Oaks and the Newmarket Stakes. Mimi was later dam of Cesarewitch winner Mintagon, and the good handicapper and useful stallion St. Maclou. Mimi's half-sister, Priestess (1889, by Hermit) became the dam of Sir Joseph Blundell Maple's One Thousand Guineas winner Nun Nicer (by Common), and this branch of the family continues to the present.
Two half-sisters (by Lord Lyon) to Epsom Derby winner Bend Or, out of Rouge Rose, by Thormanby, and so in-bred to Lord Lyon's second dam Ellen Horne, were useful producers. RED RAG (1870), dam of Prince of Wales's Stakes winner Red Ensign (1890, by Paradox), had daughters that continued her branch of the Rouge Rose female line -- 1952 One Thousand Guienas winner Zabara, 1987 Two Thousand Guineas winner Don't Forget Me, 1984 Epsom Oaks winner Circus Plume, and the good Busted son, Mtoto (1983) descended from RED RAG in tail-female. Her sister, RED FLAG (1871) was second dam of two winners of the Austrian Derby, and had other classic winners in Hungary descend from her. Another sister, BLOOD RED (1875) is seen tail-female in the pedigree of the 1933 Preakness Stakes winner Head Play.
LYNETTE (1871, out of Alarum, by Alarm), became the dam of the black Cameliard (1878, by Cremorne), whose wins included Newmarket's Craven Stakes, and of his sister, Bellicent (1875), a winner of Ascot's New Stakes, whose daughters carried her line forward. Three successive generations of fillies from her line in Poland won the Nagroda Liry in the teens and 1920s.
THE LADY OF URRARD (1872, out of Mayonaise, by Teddington) was the dam of McMahon (1880), a winner of the 1-1/2 mile Newmarket October Handicap in 1883.
TANTRUM (1874), was out of the Goodwood Stewards' Cup winner Vex, by Vedette. She was another speedster that won four races at Croydon, Windsor, and Manchester at age three. Sold to Ireland, her foals included The Baron (1884, by Xenophon), a winner of the Woodcote Stakes at age two, and of Newmarket's Craven Stakes at age three, and El Diablo (1889, by Robert the Devil), a winner of Ascot's Wokingham Stakes in 1897. TANTRUM's daugher Kaled (1885, by Arbitrator) was the dam of the in-bred La Cigale (1890, by Necromancer), who produced Madrid Handicap winner Free Gift. A branch of La Cigale's female descendants included Buck's Hussar (1919), a winner of the Queen Alexandra Stakes and the Jockey Club Cup -- his half-sister started a branch that did well over fences, and included 1958 Grand National Steeplechase winner Mr. What (1950), twice third in that race and also a winner of the Troytown Steeplchase, and the great L'Escargot (1963), a winner of the Grand National Steeplechase in 1975 (and twice placed in that race under huge weights), the Cheltenham Gold Cup (twice), the Meadowbrook Steelechase in America (1969), and races over hurdles and on the flat.
PRIMULA (1877, out of Giantess by North Lincoln), from Rothschild breeding, was another hard-raced race filly that won three of sixteen races -- all under a mile -- at age four, including Sandown's Royal Stewards Plate. She was the dam of the good stayer Buccaneer (1888, by Privateer), a winner of the Great Ebor Handicap at age three, of the Ascot Gold Cup, City and Suburban Handicap, and Jockey Club Cup at age four, and the Liverpool Spring Cup at age five.
TEE'S TREASURE (1878, out of Weatherbeaten, by Young Melbourne) was the dam of Delamont (1887), a winner of the Curragh's Madrid Handicap, and of Loot, who won the Anglesey Stakes at the Curragh at age two.
--Patricia Erigero
|
|
|
|
