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Newminster
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With his dam a "queen" and his trainer a "wizard," this high-strung, sore-footed scion of the north country won one big race -- the Doncaster St. Leger -- and went on to become a fashionable and successful stallion that twice broke through the stranglehold Stockwell, the "emperor of stallions," held on the top of the leading sires list. And, while of Stockwell's many good offspring, only one, Blair Athol, took his place as leading sire -- four times -- three of Newminster's sons headed that list a total of nine times, followed by a grandson that was also a leading sire in England.
Newminster's sire was Touchstone, himself a leading stallion four times, with another son, Epsom Derby winner Orlando, also twice a leading sire. Touchstone, who could "stay forever," won the Doncaster St. Leger, under the schooling of the famous Malton, Yorkshire, trainer John Scott, "the wizard of the North." Scott would carefully prepare Newminster to win the same race seventeen years later. Newminster's son, LORD CLIFDEN, would take the Leger twelve years after that (1863), and no less than five Newminster grandsons and grandaughters, offspring of his sons, would also triumph in the race. Through his good sire sons, Newminster established a successful tail-male line that extends into the present century.
Newminster's dam, Beeswing (1833, Doctor Syntax-mare by Ardrossan) was the undisputed "Queen of the Northern Turf" of the 1830s. Bred by William Orde, an M.P. with an estate at Nunnykirk in Northumberland, she was a light-boned filly with a straight shoulder, but "capital hips and ribs," that barely reached fifteen-two hands in height. During her eight seasons on the turf she started 64 times and won 51 races, including the Doncaster Cup four times, and the Ascot Gold Cup when she was nine years old. In the stud she produced eight foals between 1844 and 1852, bred to the top sires of her day, including Sir Hercules and Birdcatcher, but she only hit with Touchstone -- her four foals by him were all good, high-class winners. Her first Touchstone foal was Nunnykirk (1846); he won the Two Thousand Guineas and was second in the Doncaster St. Leger. In 1848 she dropped Newminster, a St. Leger winner, and in 1851 the filly Honey-Dew, a winner of Newcastle's Great Northern Derby was born. The next year, 1852, her second Touchstone daughter, Honey-Suckle appeared; she won Doncaster's Park Hill Stakes.
Newminster resembled his dam, both in conformation and temperament; Bee's Wing was also rather nervous and high-strung, especially in her first couple of years on the turf, and a stall-kicker throughout her career. Newminster would get agitated at every new course he visited, both in his stable and at the start of every race, defeating himself with his "delicate constitution." Newminster was very much like his dam in appearance, if not in talent, being long, small and wiry, with a good forehand and a "bloodlike" head, and of a solid bay color without a speck of white, and most observers of the time saw little of Touchstone in him. He had an "awkward walk," something he passed on to many of his descendants, but "sweet action" when in motion, with a low-to-the ground running style that "was beautiful to look at." He was plagued with thin, shelly feet, an attribute inherited from his dam's sire, Doctor Syntax, and it was founder that eventually brought about his death.
Nunnykirk, and then Newminster, were purchased as yearlings and raced by Anthony Nichol, a successful chemist at Newcastle-on-Tyne. The 1856 St. Leger winner, Warlock (1853, Birdcatcher-Elphine), and another good runner in The Wizard, also ran in Nichol's light blue, red-sleeved jacket, and Nichols also had a share in the grand race mare Alice Hawthorn. All of Nichol's horses were trained by John Scott at Malton.
Newminster on the Turf
Scott ran Newminster in a trial with an Exotic filly in the spring of 1851, and after that Scott's assessment was that Newminster was "a great horse." He was duly taken to Epsom to run in the 1851 Derby, but went "dead amiss" just before the race, although he ran anyway, unplaced; Teddington won that one. He did not run again until August, when he was third in the Ebor St. Leger to Calculator and Cnoeus with two others in the field (still, according to The Druid, "amiss"). At Doncaster, still not right, he won the St. Leger, unexpectedly beating the good Bay Middleton filly Aphrodite by two lengths, Hookem-Snivy third, and fifteen other runners. His last race of the season was the Cambridgeshire at Newmarket Houghton, where he ran unplaced to Truth and Ariosto, with thirty other horses in the field.
After over-wintering and a long unraced spring, he appeared at Goodwood, where he won a 300 sovereign sweep, beating Harpiscord by two lengths, with Phlegethon third and one other horse in the race. At the same meeting he did not place in the high-class field that ran in the Goodwood Cup, won by Kingston, with Little Harry second and the Derby winner Teddington third, and five other horses in the race. Sparing the delicate Newminster, Scott ran him only once more, in the Doncaster Cup in the fall, where he failed to place in the race, won by Teddington, with Kingston second, and Hungerford (winner in 1854 of this race) third.
In 1853, age five, again carefully run by Scott in only two races, he failed to place both times, first in the spring in the Chester Gold Cup (won by Goldfinder in a race that included twenty-six other horses), and then at York August, in the Great Ebor Handicap (won by Pantomime, with The Nabob second, and ten others in the field.
Scott and Nichol tried once more, in 1854, taking Newminster back to Chester, but he broke down leading the field near home in the Chester Cup, won by Epaminondas, with twenty-four horses in the race. After that, Newminster was retired from his strange career on the turf, never, said The Druid, "exactly able to show what he could do." He always ran in top company in huge fields in the big handicap races (excluding the sweep that included some high-class horses), surely a testament to Scott's belief in the horse's potential, largely unrealized. While Scott firmly stated years later that Newminster was never "wrong in his feet" while in training, several turf writers alluded to both his sore feet and "delicate constitution" as the cause of his light schedule and the reports of his "going amiss."
Newminster in the Stud
After Chester, Nichol sold Newminster to Richard Lumley-Saville for 1,300 guineas. A former lieutenant in the 7th hussars, Lumley and his family were long associated with Yorkshire racing (the Earls of Scarborough), and Lumley, a steward at Doncaster racecourse, lived at Tickhill Castle near Doncaster, also operating a farm, where the fine stallion Tramp had stood at stud in the 1820s, and where Catton, Barefoot, Langar, Hetman Platoff and Rataplan had, at one time or another, been principal stallions. Newminster stood two seasons beneath Tickhill's "ivy-coloured battlements", and then was leased to Rawcliffe Stud near York for 250 guineas and was finally sold outright to Rawcliffe for 1,500 guineas. His initial stud fee of 10 guineas was raised to 15 guineas when he went to Rawcliffe, and went up dramatically after MUSJID, in his first crop, won the Epsom Derby, rising to 50 guineas, and ultimately 100 guineas, with his book almost always full before the season began.
He was twice leading sire in Great Britain, in 1859, the year before Stockwell began his premiership, and disrupting Stockwell's run in 1863, was several times second and third on the list, and never fell below the top ten sires, with the exception of 1858, the year his first crop were juveniles (he was twelfth on the list), and 1871, when he was fourteenth, three years after his death. His son ADVENTURER, who got many good fillies, became leading sire in 1874 (the year of Apology's triple classic wins), followed by LORD CLIFDEN in 1876 (when Petrarch won the Two Thousand Guineas and the St. Leger), and HERMIT began his seven year run at the top of the list in 1880. LORD CLIFDEN'S son, Hampton, followed HERMIT as leading sire in 1887, after which the Galopin-St. Simon sire line surged to the fore. In 1878 six sons of Newminster were amongst the top fourteen in the leading sires list in England -- Lord Clifden (number 2), Hermit (3), Adventurer (4), Victorious (7), Strathconan (10), and Cathedral (12); this dominance held true for most of the 1870s and well into the 1880s, with the addition of Newminster grandsons to the list. Vaguely Noble, leading sire in England in 1973 and 1974, was a direct tail-male descendant of Newminster's.
Both LORD CLIFDEN and HERMIT were successful leading stallions, HERMIT more immediately so with his bevy of classic-winning fillies. HERMIT was also significant in France, when his son Heaume, out of Baron Alphonse de Rothschild's mare Bella, went to France to win the Poule d'Essai-Prix du Jockey Club double at age three and entered the Rothschild stud at Haras de Meautry, establishing the sire line in France with his son, Le Roi Soleil and grandson Sans Souci (twice leading sire in France). Hermit also got Ascetic, arguably the best sire of steeplechasers that ever lived. It was LORD CLIFDEN'S line, however, that ultimately persisted, through his Doncaster Cup winning son, Hampton, progenitor of so many great horses through Bay Ronald and others. LORD CLIFDEN'S dual-classic winning son, Petrarch, another good filly-getter, was also the sire of an enormously successful jumper stallion, Hackler. Newminster's son CAMBUSCAN got some good sons, but is best known now as sire of that outstanding race mare, Kincsem, the toast of Europe.
It was well-recognized during his lifetime that Newminster's sons usually did not resemble him, almost without exception throwing to their dams. He did not stamp them in phenotype, with the exception of one minor characteristic -- most, like him, lacked any significant white markings -- but their success on the turf and in the stud was a testament to his ability to get those qualities in abundance. He crossed successfully with all types of mares of a wide range of type and pedigree, and his sons likewise showed no preference for particular crosses in getting good runners. Virtually none of his sons had instant success at stud, but gradually built their reputations with mares that at first were not of the highest class.
Newminster's Principal Sire Sons
The handsome ADVENTURER (1859, Palma by Emilius) was the Newminster son that most resembled his sire, although more on the leg and with pasterns that were longer than desirable. He was not a good runner at ages two and three, but at age four won some important distance races, including Epsom's City and Suburban Handicap (1-1/2 miles), the two mile Great Northern Handicap and the 1-1/4 mile Flying Dutchman Handicap (both at York), Epsom's Craven Stakes and the Ascot Gold Vase, carrying a 14 pound penalty. At age five he won at Doncaster. One of Newminster's better sire sons, he was noted for his superior fillies and was later a good broodmare sire; he failed to get a successful sire son.
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Adventurer
| | ADVENTURER was purchased by John Johnstone and Robert Jardine for 2,500 guineas and sent to their Sheffield Lane paddocks (near Sheffield) in 1865, joining the stallions Warlock and Colsterdale. His initial fee was 25 guineas, with 3 guineas for half-breds, and in his first few seasons he saw mostly underperformed and unraced unfashionably bred mares, both throughbreds and half-breds. But from these mares came a dual-classic winning son, Pretender, and over half a dozen good juvenile winners. Within a very few years he was getting visits from some high-class stakes winning mares with premium bloodlines, and by the mid-1870s his fee had risen to 100 guineas, elevating him to the ranks of the top stallions of the day. In 1869, with Pretender's wins, and those of his staying son Border Knight, he was third on the list of leading sires in England, and from then until his death in May of 1882 he was only once out of the top twenty on the list; he was first in 1874, and second twice, in 1879 and 1880.
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Pretender (1866, Ferina by Venison) won both the Two Thousand Guineas and the Epsom Derby, but could not beat Pero Gomez, his generational rival, in the Doncaster St. Leger; his other win included the Great Northern Leger at Stockton, and he placed second in the Newmarket Derby, but after that descended into plater company and did not win again. He later joined his sire at Sheffield Lane Paddocks, but his ruined reputation from his later races and his apparent development into a roarer resulted in low patronage, even at a fee of 15 guineas, and he was a failure as a stallion.
ADVENTURER'S good-running sons included Border Knight (1866, from Miriam by Malcolm), winner at age three of Doncaster's Great Yorkshire Handicap (1 mile-6 furlongs) and the Brighton Cup; Chivalrous (1870, Auld Acquaintance by Birdcatcher), who took York's 1-3/4 mile Great Ebor Handicap; another Doncaster Great Yorkshire Handicap winner Pirate (1870, Kate Dayrell by Wild Dayrell); Glen Arthur (1874, Maid of the Glen by Kingston), winner of a number of races including the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Ascot over 13 furlongs, and second in the 1877 Epsom Derby; Ruperra (1876, Lady Morgan by Thormanby), who won Newmarket's July Stakes as a juvenile and the Great Yorkshire Stakes at age three; Ishmael (1878, Lina by Stockwell), a consistent high class runner that won the Great Yorkshire Stakes at age three, the Liverpool Summer Cup at age four and the 2 mile Ascot Stakes at age five; and winners of the Manchester Cup, Liverpool Cups, Newcastle's Northumberland Plate, and various Queen's Plates. None of these horses were more than useful as stallions, the best of them probably Ishmael, who in Ireland got some good runners, including two that took the four-mile Royal Whip. Ruperra, sent to Austria-Hungary got winners of the Austrian Derby and the Hungarian St. Leger. Several had daughters that bred on.
ADVENTURER got good running fillies, and many daughters that had an impact on the breed in the second or third generation. From the Rataplan daughter Mandragora he got Agility (1867), described as "varmity" in appearance, a winner of 21 of her 53 races, including Goodwood's Nassau Stakes, Doncaster's Park Hill Stakes (beating Oaks winner Gamos), the Warwick Cup, the Doncaster Stakes (dead-heat with Enterprise), several Queen's Plates and the York Cup. Agility's sister, the fine "slashing" Apology (1871), won the One Thousand Guineas, the Epsom Oaks and the Doncaster St. Leger, as well as Ascot's Coronation Stakes, carrying heavy weight, at age three, and at age five the Ascot Gold Cup. A third sister, the unraced Analogy (1874), was purchased by the Comte Berteaux and shipped to his stud in France where she became the dam of Elf (1893, by Upas). Both Agility and Apology bred stakes-winning sons that became useful stallions.
Three other outstanding race fillies by ADVENTURER were Aventurière (1871, from City and Suburban handicap winner Cantine by Orlando), winner of Goodwood's Nassau Stakes, Doncaster's Park Hill Stakes, the Cesarewitch at Newmarket (2 miles-2 furlongs) and the Goodwood Cup (2 miles-5 furlongs); the high-class Wheel of Fortune (1876, from the famous Queen Bertha by Kingston), whose wins included the One Thousand Guineas, the Epsom Oaks, the Yorkshire Oaks, and Ascot's Prince of Wales's Stakes; and Bal Gal (1878, from Cantinière, a good running daughter of Cantine's), a brilliant juvenile.
ADVENTURER bred a number of successful broodmare daughters, many of which produced winners of England's biggest handicaps. Bon Accord (1867, from a Birdcatcher mare) produced Ballyroe (1872 by Belladrum), a filly that placed once in four starts, but in the stud bred the magnificent runner and successful sire Barcaldine and his half-sister, Miss Augusta, the dam of Irish Derby winner Royal Arch. Other ADVENTURER daughters included Strategy (1867), dam of Madame du Barry, winner of the Irish Derby, the Manchester November Handicap and Goodwood Cup in successive years; Performer (1857), the dam of Teviotdale, twice winner of the two mile Ascot Stakes; Adversity, whose son Chippendale (1876, by Roccoco), was an excellent stayer that won the Cesarewitch and Ascot's Hardwick Stakes at age three, and the Ascot Gold Vase, the Jockey Club Cup, and Epsom's Great Metropolitan handicap at age four, and repeated his Jockey Club Cup win again at age six. Chippendale was later a more than useful stallion. Adversity also produced Sheraton (1882), a winner of Ascot's St. James Palace Stakes. Other ADVENTURER daughters bred winners of the Cesarewitch, the Northumberland Plate, the Ascot Gold Vase, the Goodwood Cup, the Prince of Wales's Stakes, the Doncaster Cup, and the Chester Cup.
In Austria-Hungary ADVENTURER daughters bred winners of the Hungarian St. Leger, Austrian Derby, and the Furstenberg Rennen. In France his daughter Kleptomania bred Reluissant, winner of the 1885 Prix du Jockey Club and the Prix Jean Prat. Woodcote Stakes winner Cadogan, out of ADVENTURER daughter Chance (1867, from Eveline by King Tom) was later a successful stallion in New Zealand. Peradventure ((1871, by ADVENTURER, from Manganese by Birdcatcher) was imported into South Australia by Sir Thomas Elder in 1876, where she established a very successful family of winners. Quite a few other ADVENTURER daughters bred on, and became tail-female ancestresses of such horses as the stout American stallion Princequillo (1940); the outstanding New Zealand runner Kindergarten (1937); and the French-bred Prix du Jockey Club winner Mieuxce (1933), later a successful stallion and good broodmare sire in England.
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Lord Clifden
| | LORD CLIFDEN (1860, from The Slave), "the largest and hardest of Newminster's sons," strongly resembled his dam's sire, the successful leading sire Melbourne. He was a high-class racehorse at ages two and three, barely beaten in the Epsom Derby -- some claimed he had won -- and in the fall he came from 50 lengths behind to win the Doncaster St. Leger, one of the most exciting ever run. His owner, Lord St. Vincent, switched trainers after that, and at age four the only race that fell to him was a forfeit at Goodwood, where he took a walk-over. He was a source of speed and stamina, and not a few good steeplechasers were offspring of his sons and grandsons.
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Standing first at Moorlands Stud, Skelton, near York, LORD CLIFDEN got off to a shaky start at stud, and was sold four years later to Thomas Gee, who was establishing a new stud at Dewhurst Lodge in Sussex. He died unexpectedly five years later, at age fifteen, having redeemed himself. He got four classic winners, all of which won the St. Leger, and two of which won other classic races: Hawthornden (St. Leger), Wenlock (St. Leger), Petrarch (Two Thousand Guineas and St. Leger), and his "charming" filly Jannette (unbeaten at age two and winner of the Oaks and St. Leger). Petrarch was later a sire of classic winning fillies, and he got The Bard, a successful stallion in France, and Hackler, a dominant sire of steeplechasers in the early twentieth century. Lord Clifden's Doncaster Cup-winning son, Hampton, a leading sire in England, got four classic winners, a good son, Bay Ronald, that carried on the Newminster sire line, and two grand broodmare daughters: Perdita II -- the dam of those three St. Simon brothers, English Triple Crown winner Diamond Jubilee, Persimmon and Florizel II, and Maid Marian, dam of Polymelus.
LORD CLIFDEN also got Buckden, imported into the U.S. as a yearling and a fairly good runner there, and a useful sire that got 1884 Kentucky Derby winner Buchanan, and host of precocious, fast winners of 1-1/4 to 1-1/4 mile "dashes," as those races were called then; his sire line continued to his grandson, Dr. Leggo, and several Dr. Leggo daughters bred on. LORD CLIFDEN sons also sired two winners of the Grand National--Barefoot got the 1886 winner, Old Joe, and Winslow got the Aintree specialist Roquefort. Lord Clive, another son, sent to France, got a Prix du Jockey Club winner, and a good steeplechaser that won the Grand Prix de Paris.
In addition to Jannette, second dam through her son Janissary of Epsom Derby winner Jeddah, LORD CLIFDEN'S daughters were the dams of Epsom Derby winner Sir Hugo (Manoeuvre), Deutsches St. Leger winner Maria (Kissasszony), Derby Italiano winner Enio (Redpole), Magyar St. Leger winner Statesman (Stately), and other good runners. His daughter, Lady Rosebery, was second dam of the champion runner and three-times leading sire in France, Perth, and another daughter, Instep, was second dam of Melbourne Cup winner Auraria and her brother, VRC classic winner Aurum; Instep established a successful and significant female line in Australia.
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Cambuscan
| | CAMBUSCAN (1861) was bred at the royal stud at Hampton Court, where his dam, The Arrow, by Slane, was a broodmare, and was purchased by George Harry Grey (7th Earl of Stamford, 3rd Earl of Warrington) at the annual yearling sale. CAMBUSCAN was "full of style," a handsome liver chestnut somewhat on the leg, lacking the lengthy look of the ususal Newminster youngster. He ran in top company, winning nine races in his four seasons on the turf, including Newmarket's July Stakes as a juvenile and the Newmarket Biennial at age four. In Blair Athol's Derby he was fourth, and was third that year in the Doncaster St. Leger. Like other Newminster sons, he could stay, and at age four he was second to Ely in both the 2-1/2 mile Brighton Gold Cup, and the Goodwood Cup.
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CAMBUSCAN stood at stud in England until 1872; after the breeding season that year he was sold to the Hungarian national stud at Kisber. He was a useful sire in England, placing sixteenth on the sire's list in 1871, seventh in 1874 and tenth in 1875 when his son Camballo (1873, Little Lady by Orlando), in his last English crop, was winning big races as a juvenile, and he also got a number of winning steeplechasers and good hunters. In Austria-Hungary CAMBUSCAN was the sire of many successful runners, most notably the famous, unbeaten toast of Europe, Kincsem.
His sons were also moderately successful at stud; Camballo was among the top twenty sires in England six times, and placed fifth in 1884 and sixth in 1887 when he had youngsters that won classic races -- The Lambkin (Doncaster St. Leger) and Minthe (One Thousand Guineas). CAMBUSCAN'S son Cambuslang (1870, Hepatica by Voltigeur), a winner of the Manchester Cup, got the Grand National Steeplechase winner Come Away and other good Irish-bred winners. CAMBUSCAN'S principal legacy, however, was through his daughters, including Kincsem, Idalia (dam of Cheviot and a leading sire in the U.S., Sir Modred), and Fair Alice (dam of Orbit, sire of Old Man, a champion runner and sire in Argentina), whose offspring were good winners and influential breeding stock in Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, New Zealand, the United States and South America.
Lord Stamford spent 720 guineas on another Hampton Court yearling by Newminster, ARCHIMEDES (1862, from Equation by Emilius) the year after he bought CAMBUSCAN. At Stamford's dispersal sale the colt sold for 3,000 guineas, an outrageous sum for an unraced colt, and Stamford repurchased the colt, as he had Cambuscan, and by the spring of 1865 he was back galloping in trials with Cambuscan at Enville. He was beaten by a neck by the fabulous Gladiateur in the Two Thousand Guineas, went unplaced in Gladiateur's Derby, and was third in the St. Leger. He did win six races, including Goodwood's Post Sweepstakes, but was considered temperamental and was gelded after unsuccessful races at age four, after which he never regained his form. |
Hermit
| | HERMIT (1864), out of Seclusion, by Tadmor, was a small, elegant chestnut yearling that resembled Ion, from his dam's sire line, but at ages two and three was "rather scraggy" and "ewe-necked." He was short and round, the opposite of the long, wiry Newminster. As a juvenile he won four of his six races, including Biennials at Ascot and Stockbridge. Despite problems with bleeding, he won the Epsom Derby at age three, and went on to take the second year of the Biennial at Ascot and the St. James's Palace Stakes; that fall, he was second to the brilliant filly Achievement in both the Doncaster St. Leger and the Doncaster Cup, and a day after the Cup won a 1-3/4 mile sweepstakes over the St. Leger course. He ran second twice more in three starts that year, and at age four failed to win.
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Despite his Derby win and his good showing in other races, HERMIT's bleeding problems kept many breeders away from him for his first few years at stud at Blankney Hall in Lincolnshire, when his fee was a low 20 guineas. But, as he filled out from the "scraggy" look of his racing years, and topped out at 16 hands, and more importantly, as his offspring bred at Blankney-- such as Trappist (24 wins), Ambergris and Gunnersbury -- began to win, he began to get better mares, and with them, even more winners. He led the sire's list in England seven times, between 1880 and 1886, and was among the top ten broodmare sires for sixteen years, and had a significant impact on throughbred bloodlines in France and the U.S., and on steeplechase breeding in the U.K.
HERMIT got four classic winners, three of them fillies -- the talented Thebais, winner of the One Thousand Guineas, the Oaks, the Ascot Gold Vase and other good races, One Thousand Guineas winner St. Marguerite, Oaks winner Lonely, and Two Thousand Guineas and Derby winner Shotover. St. Marguerite later produced the dual-classic winner Seabreeze, and was second dam of the English Triple Crown winner Rock Sand. Shotover became third dam of Frizette. HERMIT'S son St. Blaise won the Derby, and purchased by American August Belmont and shipped to the U.S., became a leading sire there in 1890.
HERMIT'S other significant offspring included the versatile Tristan, who won the July Stakes at age two, and later took the Ascot Gold Cup, the Epsom Gold Cup (twice), and the Champion Stakes (three times). He was sire of the important broodmare Canterbury Pilgrim (dam of Swynford and Chaucer, both leading sires). HERMIT'S son Friar's Balsam was an unbeaten brilliant juvenile winner, later sire of Voter, an influential sire in the U.S., and also sire of Mother Siegel, the dam of the dual-classic winner Minoru. HERMIT'S son Heaume, a Prix du Jockey Club winner, had an influence in France through his grandson Sans Souci II. HERMIT also got Ascetic, the most influential sire of steeplechasers in the history of the sport. HERMIT'S daughters became the dams of Gallinule, of One Thousand Guineas winner Briar-root, of Amphion (sire of Sundridge), of McGee (sire of Exterminator in the U.S.), of the outstanding U.S. racemare Beldame, of the U.S. leading sire Star Shoot, and of the U.S. colt Peter Pan, among many other important horses.
Newminster's Other Useful Sire Sons |
Musjid
| | MUSJID (1856) was in Newminster's first crop, and was bred by Lumley at Tickhill, out of a Tickhill mare, Peggy (1840, by Muley Moloch), who "showed better form than fortune on the turf." She had produced nothing of any use until MUSJID. Her second foal by Newminster, AURORA (first called Minaret), sold as a yearling for 300 guineas at Doncaster and subsequently a good juvenile that won Newmarket's Clearwell Stakes, proved the cross was not an anomaly. MUSJID was a rich brown with a well-shaped neck, "splendid" shoulder and depth of girth, with muscular quarters, thighs, and gaskins and clean hocks and knees. He was unlike his sire in that he had a long, plain head, and while he had Newminster's length, he was notably short-legged, and he reached 16 hands when full grown, becoming one of the few Newminsters to reach that height.
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MUSJID also inherited Newminster's "bad walk," a tendency to place his hind legs off-track and twist his leg when pushing off, but this did not affect his racing, although he only raced five times, and it may have served to limit his book of mares when at stud.
MUSJID was purchased as a yearling by Sir Joseph Hawley for 300 guineas, with a 500 guineas contingency if he won the Derby, and was placed in training with George Manning, based at Hawley's recently-established Cannon Heath Stables near Basingstoke in Hampshire. This owner-trainer combination would be almost instantly successful, with Fitz-Roland's 1858 win of the Two Thousand Guineas, and Beadsman's triumph in the Derby that same year.
MUSJID started three times as a juvenile and won once. He came out at Ascot, running third to the good two-year-old North Lincoln and ROSABEL, a Newminster filly, in the New Stakes, beating a fairly big field of other juveniles. At Stockbridge he won the Mottisfont Stakes, beating Sir Hercules, Electric, and six others. In the late fall at Newmarket Houghton he lost a 500 sovereign match by a neck to the three-year-old Blacksmith (by The Confessor). Over the winter he improved significantly, and showed himself so good in trials against Cannon Heath horses that Hawley began to lay wagers on his success in the Derby.
His first race as a three-year-old was a match for 400 sovereigns at Newmarket Craven against an Orlando filly, which he won by ten lengths. The public, following Hawley's lead, began to lay wagers on MUSJID for the Derby, and he entered that race as the favorite at 9:4. With three horses trained by William Day in the field, MUSJID faced combined strategic interests to defeat him, but after being pinned by jockeys paid by bookmakers to slow him down, he managed to shake free in the straight and drove through to win by half a length, beating Marionette (partially owned by Alfred Day) and Trumpeter (owned by Danesbury "conspiracy" owner Henry Hill and ridden by Marionette's partial owner Alfred Day, with the Two Thousand Guineas winner The Promised Land (owned and ridden by William Day) fourth, having run too fast too early. Others in the field included City and Suburban handicap winner Glenbuck, Wolverhamptno Stakes winner Gaspard, Doncaster Cup winner NEWCASTLE (by Newminster), Doncaster St. Leger winner Gamester, and other good horses. Hawley won over £75,000 in bets on this race, which was MUSJID'S last. Hawley elected to pay forfeits for his engagements in two matches slated for Newmarket in the fall, and retired MUSJID to stud at his farm in Leyburne, Kent. He was soon moved to Smallwood's stable at Middlethorpe in York, where he stood for 35 guineas in 1862.
It is difficult to assess MUSJID'S stud career since he died early, in September, 1865, at age eleven. Like most Newminster sons, he started out slowly, but he did get some good runners, and it is a matter of speculation as to whether he might have broken through to become a useful sire. His winners included the gelded Vagabond (1866, from Hawley's mare Vaga by Stockwell, a sister to Beadsman), winner of Ascot's Trial Stakes at age three; Henry Saville's Leybourne (1863, from a Melbourne mare), winner of the Column Produce Stakes and two other races at age three; Wroughton (1864, Miss Aldcroft by Ratan), a winner of York's North of England Biennial and the Reading Stakes as a juvenile and at age three the Bentinck Memorial Stakes Triennial at Goodwood and Doncaster's North of England Biennial, placing second in Newmarket's Biennial; Islam (1866, Village Lass by Pyrrhus the First), second in the Great Northern St. Leger, but turned out to be a sprinter that had a long career on the turf, winning five races at age seven, including the Grand Stand Plate at Carlisle, the 7 furlong Town Welter Handicap at Stockton, and the 6 furlong Great Northern Welger handicap at Ripon.
Several of MUSJID'S daughters bred on: Vagary, sister to Vagabond, became tail-female ancestress of some good stakes winners in Brazil; True Heart (1864, Mary Jane by Pompey) went to Ireland, where she was second dam of Gazetteer, a Railway Stakes winner, and third dam of Certosa, a winner of Newmarket's Criterion Stakes; Nyl Gau (1866, from Bas Bleu by Stockwell and so half-sister to Derby winner Blue Gown (by Beadsman)), was second dam of Deutsches St. Leger winner Padischah, and had tail-female descendants that won classic races in Austria-Hungary and New Zealand.
CATHEDRAL (1861), although not a very good race horse, was a useful sire son of Newminster's. He was bred at the Ashgill stud of John Osborne Sr. by Osborne's long-term client, William Hudson of Brigham, near Driffield. He was out of "a big, coarse" Melbourne mare, Stolen Moments (1852), who had also been bred by Hudson, and had also produced Lady Trespass (1857, by Birdcatcher), a winner of two small handicaps at Derby and Doncaster's Park Hill Stakes at age three, and later a good broodmare at Ashgill, producing the Great Yorkshire Stakes winner Castlereagh (1875, by Speculum).
CATHEDRAL, who resembled his dam in being too long in the back and "slackly coupled," but with great bone and "substance" and a "fine temper", also from his dam, was trained by Osborne at Ashgill. A late-maturing Newminster, he ran once as a juvenile, and at age three was not successful on the turf, and in home trials didn't show much, either. At age four he was a minor handicap winner, one of his most impressive races a dead-heat in the two mile Queen's Plate at Newcastle with Oppressor, winning the run-off by two lengths; both horses broke down in running the decider.
CATHEDRAL stood briefly at Newmarket before going to John Watson's stud at Waresley, where he got big, strong foals "generally better coupled than himself, but neither he nor his stock can be said to resemble the quandam pride of Rawcliffe [Newminster]." Despite his lack of distinction on the turf, he turned out to be a surprisingly good stallion, mostly of stayers. He first hit the top twenty leading sires list in England in 1872, placing fifteenth, ahead of Rataplan, Wild Dayrell, Marsyas and Kettledrum. After that, except for two years, he was always within the top twenty sires through 1880, his highest placing was sixth in 1874 -- the year Newminster's son ADVENTURER was at the top -- with winners of £8,958, significantly aided by Dalham, winner of Goodwood's Chesterfield Cup and Organist, who took the Chester Cup and Ascot Gold Vase. He was shot in 1883.
CATHEDRAL'S winners included the mare Molly Cobroy (1866, from Peg Fife by Snowdon Dunhill), winner of the Ascot Stakes at age six; Dalham (1871, Gertrude by The Marquis), winner of the Chesterfield Cup and Epsom's City and Suburban; Organist (1871, Gaily by Weatherbit), winner of the Chester Cup and Ascot Gold Vase at age three, and the Ascot Stakes at age four; Clocher (1875, Convent by Voltigeur), winner of the 8 furlong Sussex Stakes at age three and at age four in France, the two good distance races at Lonchamp, the Prix du Cadran (4200 meters) and the Grand Prix de l'Imperatrice (Prix Rainbow); El Plata (1876, Lady Sophie by King Tom), a winner of Ascot's Hardwick Stakes, and Belfry (1877, La Naine by West Australian) who took the Yorkshire Oaks. CATHEDRAL was dam's sire of the best juvenile of 1881, Kermesse (1879 by Cremorne-Hazledean), also a winner of the Newmarket Oaks despite injury, and later tail-female ancestress of Miss Grillo and other good ones. His daughter Anthem (1870) bred Discord (by See Saw), who won the Craven Stakes and bred on; he was also dam's sire of Ascot's Golden Jubilee winner Beldemonio and MacIntosh (by HERMIT and so in-bred to Newminster) that won races in Austria-Huntary, including the Austria Trial Stakes. CATHEDRAL'S son Clocher, in France, became the sire of the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris winner, Saida.
VICTORIOUS (1862, out of a Jeremy Diddler mare), was a short, long-backed colt, more similar to Jeremy Diddler than Newminster. Owned by the bookmaker George Hodgman, he was a very good juvenile, winning six races in eight starts, including Epsom's Two Year Old Stakes, Goodwood's Nursery Stakes in a huge field, and an all-aged sweepstakes at Goodwood where he beat two three-year-olds. He was also second to Wild Agnes by a neck in the Eglinton Stakes, and third in Doncaster's Fitzwilliam Stakes to the five-year-old ADVENTURER. He lost form after, and was retired to the Middle Park Stud in Eltham, Kent, where he was a moderately successful stallion, placing four times in the top twenty leading sires list, and reaching seventh on it in 1878. His winners, a number of which had "queerly shaped hocks," included Rosbach (1874), winner of Ascot's Wokingham Stakes and Doncaster's Portland Handicap, and Antoinette, a winner of the Irish Grand National. Some of his daughters bred on.
Newminster's grey son, the fiery-tempered STRATHCONAN (1863, from Souvenir by Chanticleer), "inclined to stand rather back in the knees," was, in appearance and color, "a confessed descendant of Chanticleer," with a look of "quality and symmetry." Bred and raced by Francis Watt of Bishop Burton Stud in Yorkshire, and trained by Jim Watson (also trainer of ADVENTURER) at Belleisle, near Richmond, he was a versatile horse that won over all distances. His female line, all bred at Bishop Burton, went straight back to the grand broodmare Mandane, who at the Bishop Burton stud bred two classic winner, Manuella and Altisidora, and the grand racehorse and stallion, Lottery. Manuella, who returned to Bishop Burton as a broodmare after her racing career was over, was the dam of Nitocris, by Whisker, a good handicap winner for Richard Watt, and third dam of Strathconan.
At age two STRATHCONAN won Stockton's Lambton Plate and was second in York's Convivial Stakes. His wins after that included the Great Yorkshire Stakes (1-1/2 miles), York's Great Northern Handicap, the Stockton Handicap, and the York Gold Cup (2 miles); he was fourth to Lord Lyon in the Doncaster St. Leger.
STRATHCONAN retired to Watt's stud, but was poorly patronized. In 1870, age seven, he was purchased at Watt's dispersal sale for 600 guineas by Lord Scarborough and moved to Tickhill Castle stud, where he succeeded Rataplan, first at a fee of 15 guineas and then rising to 25 guineas, he started to get some winners. He first showed up on the leading sires list in 1878, when he was tenth, and stayed tenth or eleventh until 1881, when he rose to sixth position (the year Buchanan won the Lincolnshire Handicap), and was sixth and seventh in 1882 (the year he died) and 1883. He hung on in nineteenth place for two more years after that. He got about 227 foals, half of which were grey, like himself; a contemporary observer said some of his youngsters had "an unmistakable Newminster cut about them," but most were "tight-backed greys and roans of the Birdcatcher stamp." His good runners, were, like him, versatile, winning at all distances.
STRATHCONAN'S winners included Bersaglier (1873, from Reveille), winner of the 1876 Great Yorkshire Handicap at Doncaster; Bishop Burton (1875, from Hermione by Kingston), a juvenile winner of Lincoln's Brocklesby Stakes; Strathern (1876, Charmione by Orlando), won Ascot's New Stakes as a juvenile, and Ascot's Royal Hunt Cup at age four; the bay filly Ellangowan (1876, from Poinsetta by Young Melbourne), winner of Newmarket's Criterion Nursery Stakes and Lincoln's Chaplin Stakes as a juvenile, and later of York's Lonsdale Plate and York's Great Northern Handicap and two more races; Buchanan (1877, Flurry by Young Melbourne), whose wins included the one mile Lincolnshire Handicap. Midlothian, another versatlie winner, (1874, from Lufra by Windhound) won the Brocklesby Stakes as a juvenile, and at age four won the six furlong Stewards' Cup and the 1-1/2 mile Chesterfield Cup, both at Goodwood. Eastern Emperor (1881, Annora by Rataplan) was probably his best; a handsome and powerful grey horse bred by R. Botterill and raced by the Duke of Beaufort, he won the 7 furlong Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot at age four, and the 2-1/2 mile Chester Cup by half a length in an exciting finish at age five. Several of STRATHCONAN'S colts were later sires of winners, but none made much of a mark.
STRATHCONAN bred some good broodmare daughters, most importantly the grey Gem of Gems (1873), a poorly performed sister to Ellangowan. She was sold to Baron Arthur de Schickler and sent to Haras de Martinvast in France in foal to Doncaster. The resulting filly, the staying Escarboucle (1882) won the Prix Royal-Oak, and the 4800 meter Prix Gladiateur and later was dam of French classic winner Fra Angelico. To the cover of Atlantic, Gem of Gems bred the grey Le Sancy (1884), a late maturer that won 27 races and as a four time leading sire in France got multiple classic winners. Le Sancy was grandsire of Roi Herode, who reintroduced the Herod sire line into Great Britain. Ellangowan also bred on, with a number of stakes winners descending from her in tail-female.
STRATHCONAN'S daughter Sly (1874, from Slut by West Australian) also went to France, where she was second dam of the good French runners Le Capricorne and the in-bred Le Sagittaire (by Le Sancy), the latter later a leading sire in France that got a number of good ones, including Maintenon, also a French leading sire, and the French One Thousand Guineas winner Diavolezza, later an important broodmare. Wee Agnes (1882, STRATHCONAN-Fair Agnes by Dollar) was the dam of the big, attractive (despite his name) Ugly, a top sprinter than won 22 races, including Newmarket's July Cup. Another STRATHCONAN daughter, Scampavia (1880, Legacy-Brother to Bird on the Wire) produced Gimcrack Stakes winner Bentworth, and her daughters bred on in tail-female. Konigin (1881, England's Queen by King of Trumps) bred two good winners in Germany: Konigskrone, a winner of the Furstenberg Rennen, and Konigswinter, who won over 8 furlongs in the Mehi-Mulhens. Empress Queen (1882, Annora by Rataplan) was the dam of Brocklesby Stakes winner Minting Queen (1890).
Many of STRATHCONAN"S daughters had tail-female stakes winners. One daughter, Mrs. Grundy (1878, from the half-bred Tissue by Rowsham, H-B Family 23) was a winner in hunter shows and bred Golden Fringe (1883), a minor winner that was a good broodmare, producing a Manchester Cup winner, champion hunters, and winning steeplechasers. Another, Sweet Briar (1870, Verbena by Sir Tatton Sykes), was the dam of the good Irish steeplechaser Eglentine, a winner of the Irish Grand National in 1887. STRATHCONAN'S daughter Griselda (1878, Perserverence by Voltigeur) produced Pastorella, a juvenile winner of the Ascot Biennial and the Zetland Stakes and later dam of the unbeaten American racehorse Colin.
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Vespasian
| | VESPASIAN (1863) was bred at the Rawcliffe Stud Company and was the first Newminster foal from Vesta, a daughter of Stockwell. Vesta's dam, Garland (1835, by Langar) had been a good stayer that won six races and was second nine times; her female line had been north country runners for over one hundred years. Except for his color, identical to Newminster's, he was "Birdcatcher [Stockwell's grandsire] all over, and his forehand much resembles that of old Oxford [a son of Birdcatcher's]." With an iron constitution and six seasons on the turf, he was rated by most turf authorities as the best miler of his day. He did not inherit Newminster's "...staying powers, which have been so bountifully conferred upon Adventurer, Cathedral and Strathconan, as well as on Victorious in his two year old prime, and on Hermit, Cardinal York and Lord Clifden..." and, it must also be noted, his brother, the grand stayer Sabinus.
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Purchased by William Craven, VESPASIAN debuted at Bath, where he won the Weston Stakes beating thirteen other youngsters, including Rodomonte, who had won the Bath Biennial and would win Stockbridge's Mottisfont Stakes. At Epsom he failed to place in the Woodcote Stakes, and at Ascot ran third to Chibisa and Young Monarque in the New Stakes. He was second to Student in Goodwood's Molecomb Stakes, and at York ran third to Ischia and STRATHCONAN in the Convivial Stakes, winning a sweepstakes the next day. He failed to place in Doncaster's Champagne Stakes, and was sold at the end of the season to Harry Chaplin.
At age three he won three races: Earl Spencer's Plate at Northampton, beating a good field, including the five-year-old Peon, an Ascot Derby winner, and Qui Vive that had won five good juvenile races the year before; the Kimbolton Cup at Huntingdon, beating Great Suffolk Handicap winner Ostreger, Merry Hart and three others; and a handicap at Derby. He was third in Ascot's Fernhill Stakes (won by Hippia), in the Liverpool Cup (won by Terror), and in Warwick's Trial Stakes. He did not place in five other races, including the Epsom Derby.
At age four he was unplaced in ten starts, and when he came out in 1858 at age five, it was in the ownership of Sir Charles Legard, from an old Yorkshire sporting family, another patron of the stables managed by Captain James Machell (who managed HERMIT for Chaplin). He won twelve races and placed third once that season in twenty starts, some of them important races against high-class opposition. Among his wins were the Bath Handicap (one mile, carrying 9 st-12 lb), York's Zetland Stakes (1 mile, by fifteen lengths), Newmarket's Trial Stakes (beating Hippia and five others by four lengths), and Warwick's Bradgate Cup (1 mile, carrying 9 stone and beating Nine Elms and nine others).
At age six he won six good races and placed second or third four times in fourteen starts. His wins included a £500 match against Blue Gown by two lengths at Newmarket First Spring over one mile two furlongs, York's Craven Stakes, Goodwood's Duke of Richmond Plate (1 mile) and the same day the Chesterfield Cup (1-1/4 mile, carrying 10 st.-7 lbs) by three lengths beating seventeen horses (including The Palmer, See Saw and Alpenstock), and Newmarket's Trial Stakes (1-1/4 mile). At age seven he was second by half a length to Rosicrucian in Goodwood's Craven Stakes in what was described as a "splendid race," and did not place in the Chesterfield Cup at the same meeting. That was the end of his career on the turf.
He spent part of his unremarkable stud career at A. McIntyre's Gibside Park Stud at Durham, but was at Middle Park Stud at Eltham during his last years in England, standing for 30 guineas alongside of Rosicrucian, Saunterer, VICTORIOIUS, and several other stallions. In 1877-78 Vespasian was purchased to Australia and installed at Fernhill, near Penrith, the thoroughbred stud of the preeminent New South Wales breeder Edward King Cox, where the famous Yattendon was the reigning stallion (Yattendon died in 1880). It was a risk to import VESPASIAN at age fifteen, particularly since he was not a success in England, but in Australia he got some good runners and some successful broodmare daughters. Cox died in 1883, and at his dispersal sale in April of 1885 Vespasian, age 23, sold for 155 guineas to Queensland breeder Alexander Gordon, who operated The Grange stud, and got one or two small crops there before his death. Gordon also purchased the champion runner Darebin at the Cox sale, and it was from The Grange that James Ben Ali Haggin purchased Darebin for his Rancho del Paso Stud near Sacramento, California, where Darebin got Emma C., the dam of American stallion Commando.
In England, none of VESPASIAN'S youngsters won big races, but a few of his daughters bred stakes winners, including Pomona, the dam of Doncaster's Champagne Stakes winner Bud; Fair Vestal (1875), the dam of Goodwood's Stewards Cup winner Upset and of Metal, later a useful sire in Australia (several times among the top ten leading sires and dam's sire of Poitrel (1914), a staying winner of 17 races); and the French-bred Gipsy (1877), dam of Gil Peres, a winner of Longchamp's Prix d'Ispahan. His daughter Reate (1878, from Sweet Galingale by Blair Athol), bred Ruler (by Isonomy), that was sent to Russia, where he won the Moscow Derby and other good races.
VESPASIAN'S daughter Realisation (1875, from Hopeful Duchess by The Flying Dutchman) was imported into New Zealand by Major Frederick Nelson George, a member of the Auckland Racing Club, owner of the Wapiti stud in Epsom. There, to the cover of Musket, she produced Maxim (1884), a winner of eight races in ten starts -- like other Muskets he had problems with soundness -- including the New Zealand Derby and the Canterbury Cup. Maxim stood for two seasons in New Zealand, and left some good runners there, including Blue Fire, winner of the New Zealand Derby and the New Zealand Oaks, and Bellicent, winner of the New Zealand Oaks and later dam of an Oaks winner, Isolt, that also won the New Zealand St. Leger, the Great Northern Oaks and other races in New Zealand and Australia. Purchased for $20,000 by James Ben Ali Haggin, Maxim was installed at his California stud, where he got some good, sound winners, including Altamax, a top three-year-old sprinter in California that was later the sire of precocious juveniles.
VESPASIAN'S most significant daughter, however was the unraced Reticence (1874, from HERMIT'S dam, Seclusion). She bred two winners, including the filly Be Cannie (1891, by Jack of Oran), winner of seven of her eleven starts as a juvenile, including Doncaster's Glasgow Plate and Kempton's Twickenham Two-Year-Old Stakes. In the stud Be Cannie was the dam of Chesterfield Cup winner King's Courtship and of Mother-in-Law, a winner of five races at age two and later the dam of the outstanding stayer and source of stamina, Son-in-Law.
In his brief time at stud in Australia VESPASIAN got a half dozen high-class runners, only one of which won over more than 12 furlongs, among them several sons that later got some winners. His daughter Vespasia (1883) won the 12 furlong AJC Summer Cup twice, and his son, Blairgowrie (1883) won the AJC Champagne Stakes (6 furlongs) and the VRC Flying Stakes (6 furlongs), and later got some winners. Most of the rest were winners in Queensland, either bred there by Gordon or bred by Cox and purchased by Gordon at Cox's dispersal sale. These included three siblings from the Cox mare Grey Esperance: Touchstone (1884), who took the 12 furlong Queensland Cup and was later a modest sire, Greywing (1885), winner of the QTC Derby, and Grey Gown (1887), who won the QTC St. Leger Stakes, the QTC Royal Stakes and the VRC Bagot Handicap. VESPASIAN'S Australian daughters produced over a dozen stakes winners, including the good horse Sir Leonard (1898, by Legado), a good juvenile that won the Caulfield Futurity Stakes and later a winner of the AJC St. Leger, the AJC Cumberland Stakes (16 furlongs), the QTC Queen's Plate, and several other good races.
VESPASIAN'S dam, Vesta, also produced the grand SABINUS (1867) to the cover of Newminster. Unlike his brother, was an excellent stayer, "one of the best geldings that ever trod the turf," that won the spring double event -- Epsom's Great Metropolitan Stakes (both 2-1/2 miles), and Epsom's City and Suburban on successive days -- and the Ascot Gold Cup, placing third in the Chester Cup (won by Our Mary Anne, carrying 5 lbs. less) at age three, and the Cambridgeshire handicap stakes at age four, in addition to other lesser races.
There were other Newminster colts that were good racehorses and/or had some impact at stud.
Newminster's son CARDINAL YORK (1866, from Licence by Gameboy) was described as a "light, corky, elegant horse" with "far more of the Gameboy sort about him." A good stayer and weight-carrier, he won some races for his owner Mr. Pryor at ages two and three, including a free handicap at Newmarket Houghton, beating St. Leger winner Pero Gomez (giving away 30 pounds) and Border Knight (by ADVENTURER), and at age four won the Cesarewitch Stakes handicap. He went to stud at Finstall Park Farm, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, where his fee was 40 guineas and where he got yearling with "good shapes, fine quality and true action." His best runner was Chester Cup winner Havok (1878, from Nanny Thormanby). His daughter, Miss Flory, produced the 1893 Cesarewitch winner Red Eyes, and another daughter, Esther Stockwell (1879), was sold to South Africa, where she bred two winners of the South African Derby.
KILDONAN (1858, from Shamrock by Young Priam) was described as a 16.1 hands high bay with a handsome neck and head, an "elegantly laid back shoulder," "powerful arms and thighs, with plenty of bone and sound feet and legs." He won Epsom's Walton Stakes, Newmarket's Sales Stakes over 1 mile-2 furlongs, the Goodwood Derby (1 mile-2 furlongs) in a canter, the Stamford Biennial Stakes at Wolverhampton, the Zetland Biennial Stakes (carrying 9 st., beating Caller Ou), and a handicap at Chesterfield; he was third to Caller Ou and Kettledrum in the Doncaster St. Leger. He went to stud at Francis Gowing's Killeen stud in Phillipstown, Ireland, where he got some useful horses, including Mrs. Star (1868), a top-winning money earner in Ireland in 1877.
Another early Newminster son, DANIEL (1856, from Lioness by Ballinkeele), a 16 hand high dark bay, was bred by Lord Fitzwilliam and purchased as a yearling by Lumley. At age three he won the Gold Cup at Newcastle-on-Tyne and at Carlisle the Lottery Stakes and the two mile Queen's Plate. Purchased by Thomas Gowing, he went to Ireland where he won two races. At age four he won the Lord Lieutenant's Plate and the Queen's Plate (3 miles) at the Curragh, and other races, and the next year won four distance races at Cork and the Curragh. He went to stud at Kilminchy near Marlborough in Ireland.
Irish sportsman James Cocklin purchased and raced KIDDERMINSTER (1864, from a Camel mare), another Newminster son that could "stay any distance." He won the Queen's Plate at the Curragh, among other races, and at stud in Ireland got a Conyngham Cup winner, Yellow Gown, and some daughters that bred on. But Cocklin got a better Newminster son, just as versatile, when he bought CROWN PRINCE (1863, from Princess Royal by Slane), a blood bay 15.3. hands high, with a "splendid back, loin, shoulders, arms and thighs," bred by Sir H. DeVeux. As a juvenile he had won two good handicaps at Doncaster and Newmarket, in one beating the future Oaks winner Tormenter and the future Cambridgeshire winner Acton, and went on to win over five furlongs at Chester and the Rothamstead Stakes at Harpendon, carrying 9 stone. He was then purchased by Cocklin, and at the Curragh won the Scurry Stakes carrying 9 st.-10 lbs, and the next day won the 2-1/2 mile Queen's Guineas. Back in England he won over 6 furlongs at Ratcliffe, and the next day both the Chesterfield Cup and the Bolton Plate. At Chesterfield he won the Innkeeper's Stakes and the 6 furlong Stand Plate. At stud in Ireland he got some excellent runners, including Miriam (1875), winner of the Irish Cesarewitch and twice winner of the Royal Whip (4 miles) at the Curragh. He also got J.C. Sullivan's Irish Grand National winner Antoinette (1876), but his name will be ever-green in pedigrees as the sire of Grace, a not particularly talented mare used for hunting, that became the dam of Cloister, one of the best steeplechasers of all time, and in-bred to Newminster through Grace and through his sire, Ascetic, a son of HERMIT.
NEWCASTLE (1856, from Mary Aislabie by Malcolm), was a good stayer that won the Doncaster Cup and Queen's Plates at York, Lichfield, Lincoln and elsewhere. At stud at Park Paddocks, Newmarket, for the first part of his relatively undistinguished stud career, his winners included Sir Hugo (1868), a winner of Ascot's Trial Stakes, Charnwood (1865), who took Goodwood's Chesterfield Cup, and the filly Abstinence, a useful juvenile that later was tail-female ancestress of stakes winners.
The gelded OLDMINSTER (1858, Sybil (dam of Tim Whiffler) by The Ugly Buck (a Venison son)) and STANTON (1858, Miss Teasdale by Sweetmeat), "the most perfect model that Newminster ever begot," in the opinion of The Druid, were yearlings together at Jervaux Abbey stud farm in Yorkshire. Another good stayer, OLDMINSTER won a big handicap at Stockton and the Great Yorkshire Stakes at age three, Newcastle's Northumberland Plate at age five, and four races at age six, including two Royal Purses, at Weymouth and York. STANTON was sturdy, long-running stayer that won the two mile Ascot Stakes at age five, and numerous Royal Plates at various venues, as well as various flat hunt races.
Other Newminsters that took important races included: JOEY JONES (1858, Mrs. Dodds by Birdcatcher), trained by John Osborne at Ashgill, won the Northumberland Plate (2 Miles), Stockton's Corporation Plate handicap and other races; Mr. Dennison's YORKMINSTER (1859, The Bee by Gladiator) won four races in Ireland at age three; Lord Stamford's ONESANDER (1860, Vivandiere by Voltigeur) won the Ascot Derby; BEDMINSTER (1862, Secret by Melbourne), was a winner of Newmarket's Prendergast Stakes, later a sire of jumpers; HEIR-AT-LAW (1862, The Heiress by Birdcatcher) won Ascot's 8 furlong Trial Stakes at age three; LASARETTO (1862, Patience by Lanercost) won the St. James Palace Stakes at Ascot, as did THE BEADLE (1861, Plush by Plenipotentiary). LANERET (1863, from a Venison mare) won the Golden Jubilee (All-Aged Stakes) at Ascot. MIDNIGHT MASS (1861, Media Noce by Weatherbit) was a good juvenile, winner Epsom's Two Year Old Stakes and Doncaster's Glasgow Stakes; so was R.C. Naylor's PRATIQUE (1860, Patience by Lanercost), winner of Goodwood's Findon Stakes, and William Day's MUEZZIN (1860, Infidelity by Voltaire), who took Epsom's Two Year Old Stakes, beating a big field. BOGUE HOMA (1865, Zoe Mou by Voltigeur) won the Grand Sefton Steeplechase and other races over fences. There were many more winning Newminster sons -- juveniles, mid-distance runners, stayers, and jumpers.
A few Newminster sons went to the U.S. The best of these was HURRAH (1862, from Jovial by Bay Middleton), a Rawcliffe Stud product. He won some races in England for his owner, Mr. Alexander, taking a handicap plate at Newmarket, a handicap stakes at Shrewsbury, and a race at Drayton. He was retired after he met "with a slight accident." 16.2. hands high and a rich bay without a speck of white, he was described as "good looking and sound, one of the stoutest bred animals living...with capital legs and feet, straight grand action, sound in every respect." He stood for several years in England and then Ireland, marketed as a hunter sire, but ended up at John Reber's Lancaster, Ohio, stud, where he was shown in some agricultural fairs and got some runners for Charles Reed, owner of Brook Stud Farm in New York, who liked the horse and sent mares to him; ironically, some of his better winners, such as Hermit (1878, Emma G. by Phaeton), were sprinters. He is seen in some American quarter horse pedigrees.
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Newminster's Daughters
Unlike his sons, Newminster's daughters tended to look like him. One contemporary turf observer noted, "...that if out of a bevy of broodmares" one saw "...a whole colored matron, long and low, with a beautiful tapered head, full eye, and the indescribable gift of 'quality,' exquisitely molded and turned..." the chances were high you were "...taking stock of a Newminster mare. Breeders strove hard and paid long prices to fill their quivers with them, regarding them in the light of 'givers of tone' to the common herd, as things of beauty and joy forever."
Despite their "winsome looks," however, Newminster's daughters were not as successful as his sons, either on the turf or in the breeding shed, according to the general consensus of the time. He got only one classic-winning filly, NEMESIS, that did little as a racehorse after her triumph in the One Thousand Guineas. As a rule, his daughters, like his sons, were early maturers and ran well as juveniles, but unlike his colts, his fillies often lost form in following seasons, although some of those that continued went on to win some big handicap races. As broodmares, their immediate influence on bloodstock was minor -- of the 120-130 Newminster mares in the stud book in the late 1870s, the best of their combined produce in the first generation included several cup winners and two Cesarewitch winners, and "the greatest miler of his day," but only one English classic winner -- Scottish Queen -- and none of the racing dominance expected from the "delusive charmers" bred by Newminster. Further, although Newminster daughters frequently resembled him, their best colts and fillies most often looked like, and ran like, their sires.
Newminster's Tickhill daughters included ARIADNE (1856, from Infidelity byVoltaire), ADULATION (1856, from a Tomboy mare), ROSABEL (1856, from a Jereed mare), CAST OFF (1856, from The Lamb by Melbourne), DEBONNAIRE (1856, Mrs. Taft by Doncaster), DOESKIN (1856, The Doe by Melbourne), AURORA (1857, Peggy by Muley Moloch), a sister to MUSJID bred by Lumley, CONTADINA (1857, Mathilde by Mango), EDITH (1857, Deidamia by Pyrrhus the First), LOVEBIRD (1857, Psyche by Lanercost), NERIO (1857, Lady Meaulys by Verulam). Most of these, from very modest dams, won juvenile races and evidenced some class.
ROSABEL won Ascot's Trial Stakes, the Two Year Old Stakes at Abingdon, and was second in Ascot's New Stakes (Queen Anne Stakes). ARIADNE, second to Mayonnaise in the One Thousand Guineas, ran through age six, winning handicaps at minor venues for her owner, Captain Coate. ADULATION, bred by Lord Scarsborough and raced by Count Batthyany won the Great Yarmouth Nursery handicap as a juvenile and placed in a nursery stakes at Newmarket and won at distances between one mile-4 furlongs and two miles in various minor venues at age three, including the Woodhall Cup at Downham and the Norfolk and Suffolk Handicap at Great Yarmouth. AURORA was a high-class juvenile, winning Newmarket's Clearwell Stakes and third in Newmarket's Criterion Stakes at age two. CONTADINA also did well as a juvenile, placing second to AURORA in the Clearwell, and second in Newmarket's Prendergast Stakes and third in Ascot's New Stakes. So, like Newminster's first crops of colts, his fillies were precocious and speedy, and his transfer to Rawcliffe Stud and subsequent introduction to higher class mares was quickly effected.
Of the fillies in Newminster's first two crops that became broodmares, DEBONNAIRE, EDITH and DOESKIN were the most immediately successful. EDITH, at Rawcliffe, produced Lord Ronald (1862, by Stockwell), winner of 23 races, including the Stockbridge Stewards Cup and the Winchester Cup, at ages four through six carrying heavy weights, later a useful sire in England and then Ireland. EDITH also bred One Thousand Guineas winner Scottish Queen (1866, by Blair Athol), and Il Gladiatore (1874, by Gladiateur), winner of the Great Ebor Handicap, and Master Kildare, the sire of Melton. DOESKIN bred several winners, the best being the gelded Blueskin (1865, by Skirmisher). The cross with Skirmisher provided additional bottom to Newminster's classic speed, and Blueskin won or was highly placed in a number of distance handicaps, including a win of Epsom's Great Metropolitan Handicap (2-1/2 miles) at age three, and second placings in the 1868 Goodwood Cup, the 1868 Ascot Triennial, and the 3 mile Bentinck Memorial Stakes.
The half-bred mare Mrs. Taft (H-B Family B-7) was a pretty good runner, winning a Nursery Stakes at Newmarket and her only other start as a juvenile, placing second in the Manchester Cup at age four and at age five winning the Cesarewitch by two lengths in a big field of twenty-six. Her owner, trainer John Osborne Sr., of Ashgill Stable at Middleham, was able to get her into see Newminster when he was first starting out and his fee was low, and the result of this cross was DEBONNAIRE, who did not race. DEBONNAIRE bred seven winners of hunter flat races, hurdle races and steeplechases for Edward Foulkes in Shropshire. They included Lady Wynn (1871, by Knight of Kars), a winner of sixteen steeplechases, including the Grand Sefton by twenty lengths when age nine, and later the dam of four winners over fences; Johnny Longtail (1878, by Beadsman son Polardine), winner of twenty steeplechases including the Grand International Steeplechase and Liverpool's Champion Chase; New Oswestry (1864, by Knight of Kars), a winner of 14 hunter flat races and six steeplechases and the later the dominant steeplechase sire in the western and midland counties of England; Mayfly (1867, by Underhand), a winner that became a good hunter and jumper sire, and Golden Cross (1873, by Knight of Kars), a steeplechase winner and later a sire at Eaton Stud in Chester.
Most of the other fillies in Newminster's early crops bred on, and some, such as ADULATION, second dam of Prix du Jockey Club winner St. James, had tail-female descendants that continue to the present.
NEMESIS (1858, out of Varsoviana by Ion) was in Newminster's first crop bred at Rawcliffe, and was purchased for under 100 guineas by a Mr. Fleming. Like other Newminsters, she was a promising juvenile, winning four of her seven starts, including the King John Stakes at Egham, the Two Year Old Stakes at Lewes, and a sweepstakes at Warwick in which she beat both two-year-olds and three-year-olds, and was second in Goodwood's Findon Stakes. At age three she was the longshot winner of the One Thousand Guineas at Newmarket, beating a good field that included Fairwater and Brown Duchess and six others, but did not place in the Oaks, nor in any of the other big races in which she ran that year, including the Chesterfield Cup, Ascot's Fernhill Stakes, and Goodwood's Steward's Cup; she ran through age five without much success before retiring to the breeding shed. Her granddaughter, Algeria (1874, by Blinkhoolie) was sent to Australia where she established a nice tail-female family that included Posinatus (1908), a Melbourne Cup winner, David (1917), a three-time winner of the Randwick Stakes, and half-brothers Reading (AJC and Victoria Derbies and St. Legers) and Journal (Caulfield Cup). Another Adrastia daughter, Addy (1880, by Rosicrucian), bred a couple of good colts, Attila (Jubilaums Preis) and Jenkins (Trial Stakes). Nemesis also produced an unnamed Ely filly (1868) that was dam of Chester Cup winner Fashion (1877) and second dam of Ascot Gold Vase winner Morglay (1886).
One of Newminster's best fillies after he went to Rawcliffe was William I'Anson's BOREALIS (1860, the first foal of the excellent race mare, Blink Bonny, by Melbourne and out of the superb broodmare Queen Mary), winner of Chester's Dee Stakes, the Beverley Gold Cup, the Liverpool St. Leger, Stockton's Great Northern St. Leger, and other lesser races, as well as second to LORD CLIFDEN in the Doncaster Stakes, and third to him in the Doncaster St. Leger. Her tail-female line bred on, and included such horses as the half-brothers Bayardo (St. Leger Stakes) and Lemberg (Epsom Derby), both good stallions.
CERINTHA (1860, from Queen Bee by Amorino), was a juvenile winner of the Filly Stakes at Doncaster, Northampton's Althorp Park Stakes, Bath's Weston Stakes and York's Rawcliffe Stakes, among other races, and her sister CELLINA (1864), won a sweep for two-year-olds at Newmarket and the Two Year Old Stakes at Epsom; CELLINA'S descendants went to Australia where some high class winners emerged from the tail-female line.
GRATITUDE (1860, Charity, by Melbourne), was winner, at age five, of Ascot's Royal Hunt Cup and second in the Cesarewitch that same year. SARAGOSSA (1861, Barcelona by Don John), took York's Rawcliffe Stakes and Doncaster's Great Filly Stakes as a juvenile, and her sister INES (1864), won York's Great Nursery Handicap at age two and won the Yorkshire Oaks the next year. PEERESS (1862, Mainbrace by Sheet Anchor), won Goodwood's Nassau Stakes and York's Chesterfield Handicap.
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Beeswing
| | The light and elegant BEESWING (1863, The Sphynx by The Ugly Buck), very similar to her sire and her grandam of the same name in looks, lacking only the earlier Beeswing's hind sock, was bred at Rawcliffe. She was purchased and raced by a Mr. Saxon until the fall of 1866, after which she was sold to Arthur Heathcote, a popular sportsman who owned The Durdans at Epsom, the son of Sir Gilbert Heathcote who had raced the 1838 Derby winner Amato. Her six wins in 18 starts included the Liverpool Autumn Cup at age three and at age four the 2-1/4 mile Chester Cup, beating Endsleigh, Lecturer and thirteen others by four lengths, and the two mile Leamington Stakes at Warwick.
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Heathcote's stud was dispersed after his death in 1869, and "that old Beeswing" was sold with her Ely filly, Baber at side (1870, in-bred to Venison) to the Kisber Stud at Komárom in Austria-Hungary. Baber won the 2400 meter Magyar Kanca and the 2800 meter Magyar St. Leger, both at Budapest in Hungary, and later produced Buzgo (1882), winner of Magyar St Leger, and the Oesterreichisches Derby (2200 meters) and Austria Trial Stakes in 1885.
IRISH CHURCH (1864, The Irish Queen - Harkaway), won Ascot's Trial Stakes at age four. LEONIE (1865, from a Hampton mare), placed second in Newmarket's Chesterfield Stakes at age two and went on to become a high-class three-year-old winner of Goodwood's Nassau Stakes, the Yorkshire Oaks, and the Shobdon Cup at Shrewsbury; Grand National Steeplechase winner Workman (1930, by Cottage) was one of her good descendants.
LADY DEWHURST(1866, The Dutchman's Daughter by The Flying Dutchman), won Doncaster's Gimcrack Stakes. Harry Chaplin's PANDORE (1867, from the grand racemare Caller Ou, by Stockwell), won the Ascot Biennial as a juvenile and at age three took several races, including Epsom's Coffee Room Stakes and her sister, THE PEARL (1868), was a good juvenile that won Epsom's Woodcote Stakes, Goodwood's Ham Stakes, Brighton's Corporation Stakes (walk-over), and Brighton's Bevingdean Stakes. THE PEARL was later the dam of Doncaster's Great Yorkshire Handicap (1 mile-6 furlongs) winner Selby (1882, by Beauclerc). LADY HYLDA (1861, from Marchioness Deu by Magpie), won the 2 mile Royal Purse at Bedford and two other races at minor venues at age three.
CERDAGNE (1866, from La Maladetta by The Baron), born in France, was a sturdy stayer that won the Grosser Preis von Baden (3200 meters) and the Prix de l'Empereur at Longchamp (Prix Lupin) at age three, and at age four the Prix Biennal (Prix Jean Prat, 3200 meters). Many other Newminster daughters were winners at minor venues, or stakes-placed in more important races.
Newminster got over 150 daughters that went to the breeding shed; of these less than two dozen produced high-class winners, and a good percentage of these were born in and/or raced in France or Austria-Hungary. The total was nowhere near what was expected of Newminster's daughters, but ultimately, some of them and others that did not produce important winners, bred on in tail-female, contributing to the development of the thoroughbred.
LADY ALICE HAWTHORN (1859, from Lady Hawthorn by Windhound) did not win in her five juvenile starts, but was an excellent broodmare. She produced Ascot's Royal Hunt Cup winner Acrostic (1860, by See Saw), Newcastle's 2 mile Northumberland Plate winner Glastonbury (1873, by Rataplan), and Thorn (1870, by King of Trumps), the latter owned by Irishman R.N. Batt and trained by John Osborne at Ashgill. Thorn's wins included Doncaster's Gimcrack Stakes at age two; Durham's Tyro Stakes, Newmarket's Derby Trial, Newcastle's Great Northern Derby, the Ascot Gold Vase, the York Cup and Doncaster's Eglington Stakes at age three; Doncaster's Cleveland Handicap at age four; Newcastle's Stewards' Cup, the Belfast Handicap and the Queen's Guineas in Ireland, carrying 11 st-12 lbs, the Alexandra Plate at Doncaster, the Caledonian Cup at Kelso, and Stockton's Stewards' Cup at age six. Unfortunately he broke his thigh while galloping on Middleham Moor and had to be shot before he had a chance at stud. Thorn's brother, Lord Hawthorn (1866) won Stockton's Hardwick Stakes as a juvenile (beating Pretender, by ADVENTURER) and placed third in the Epsom Derby. LADY ALICE HAWTHORN also produced Hawthorn Bloom (1864, by Kettledrum), a staying filly that placed third in the Richmond Gold Cup. Her daughters continued her branch of Family 4-i, that includes many famous horses in tail-female descent, and is still strong today.
LADY ALICE HAWTHORN'S sister, MAY BLOOM (1861), produced a good-running filly, Corisande (1868, by King Tom), a winner of Ascot's New Stakes and Newmarket's Chesterfield Stakes as a juvenile, and at age three the 8 furlong Coronation Stakes, stretching out later in the season to win the 2 mile-2 furlong Cesarewitch. MAY BLOOM'S branch of Family 4-f bred on: through grandaughter Vista she was third dam of Bona Vista (Two Thousand Guineas), Sir Visto (Derby, St. Leger) and Velasquez (top sprinter), and through Corisande ancestress of several good winners, including the Grand National Steeplechase winner Shaun Golin (1920).
BONNY MAY (1868, from Bonnie Bell by Voltigeur), produced Merry Prince (1880, by Albert Victor), a surprise winner of the 2-1/2 mile 1886 Chester Cup, his previous minor wins having not been over such a distance of ground. CAULDRON (1867, Hecate by Loup Garou) produced La Merveille (1875, by Blair Athol), whose big win was Newmarket's Cambridgeshire Handicap stakes in 1879. CLEMENCE (1865, from the excellent broodmare Eulogy by Euclid) produced the good filly Sandiway (1881, by Doncaster), a brilliant juvenile winner of seven of her nine starts, winner at age three of Ascot's Coronation Stakes (8 furlongs), Goodwood's Nassau Stakes (9 furlongs), and the Newmarket Oaks and second in the Doncaster St. Leger, and at age four winner of Liverpool's 1 mile-2 furlong Summer Cup. Through her daughter Sandfly, Sandiway had a significant influence on bloodstock in the U.S., England and Germany.
CRINON (1868, Margery Daw, by Brocket) bred Petticoat (1880, by Blair Athol), a juvenile winner of the Brocklesby Stakes, and The Rover that was later the sire of St. Gatien, who dead-heated for the 1884 Epsom Derby, won the Cesarewitch, Ascot Gold Cup and other good races. She was sold to France, where she then produced Criniere (1886, by Robert the Devil), a winner of the Prix de Diane in 1889. Through her daughters, CRINON had tail-female descendants that were stakes winners in South Africa and the U.S. Trent (1871, by Broomielaw) was another French classic-winning grandchild of Newminster's: he won the Grand Prix de Paris in 1874, and that same year also won the Great Yorkshire Stakes. He was out of THE MERSEY (1859, Rigolette by Jerry), who also produced the good staying bay filly, Shannon (1868, by Lambton), winner of both the Doncaster Cup and the Goodwood Cup in 1871. Shannon's tail-female line was successful in countries throughout the world and the line is still flourishing: the good Charles O'Malley broodmare, Malva (1919), the dam of Blenheim, King Salmon and His Grace, was one of her distant descendants.
LADYLIKE (1858, from Zuleika by Muley Moloch) was in Newminster's first Rawcliffe Stud crop . She produced the versatile Roseberry (1872, by Speculum), the first winner of the "fall double"-- the Cesarewitch and the Cambridgeshire -- in 1876, later a successful sire of such horses as the speedy, in-bred (to Newminster), golden Amphion (sire of Sundridge), and other good horses. LADYLIKE'S daughter, Grand Duchess (1871 by Lozenge) is the taproot mare of Family 22-d, that included a host of good winners, such as Parth, Mr. Jinks, and Zank.
CESTUS (1867, from Pocahontas' daughter Ayacanora, by Birdcatcher) placed in Newmarket's Chesterfield stakes for juveniles, and in several other races at age two; she had good descendants in the tail-female line, including Prix du Jockey Club winner Belfonds (1922), later a good sire in France.
FLEUR DES CHAMPS (1862, Maria by Harkaway) was purchased by American August Belmont and sent to the U.S.; her first foal at his Nursery Stud was Woodbine (1869, by Kentucky), the first winner of Saratoga's Alabama Stakes.
Sold to Austria-Hungary, Newminster's daughter VANESSA (1861, from The Heiress, a Rawcliffe Stud broodmare, by Birdcatcher), was a winner of eight races, including Germany's Hauptgestût Graditz; a year later she produced Das Veilchin (1868, by Cavendish), winner of the Preis der Diana in 1871, and later herself dam of a good producer, dam of a Preis der Diana winner, Vergissmeinnicht, and other winning daughters that bred on in Germany. Her sister, JEANIE (1863, The Heiress by Birdcatcher) also went to Austria-Hungary, where, to the cover of Ostreger, she produced Whim (1871), a winner of the 2400 meter Magyar Kanca dig Budapest. Other Newminster daughters sold to Austria-Hungary included FREEKIRK (1865, Annie Laurie by Pantasa), dam of Cagliostro (1872, by Breadalbane), winner of the 1600 meter Nemzeti dij Budapest. GIRALDA (1863, from a mare by The Cure), became the dam of Himok (1873, by Ostreger), winner of the Austria Trial Stakes; her sister, ALRUNA (1864) bred on, with classic and good handicap winning descendants in England, Germany, Australia, South Africa, and Poland, including the grand stayer Souepi (1948). PRINCESS BEATRICE (1864, El Dorado by Harkaway), dam of Bulgar (bred in 1884 in Austria-Hungary, by Eberhard), winner of Germany's 2800 meter Grosser Preis von Baden.
RELIGIEUSE (1867, from HERMIT'S dam, Seclusion) was sold by Middle Park Stud to Prussia in 1872; there she produced Lateran (1875, by Grimston), winner of the Mehl-Mulhens Rennen. Her sister CHANOINESSE, although not the dam of any significant winners, became the tail-female tap-root of Family 5-c, which included Epsom Derby winners Minoru, and Grand Parade, Melbourne Cup winner Spearfelt, and more recently the stakes winner and stallion Seeking the Gold (1985).
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In the spring of 1868 the sporting press said of Newminster "...although he is so crippled he does not seem able to stand on his legs, we are assured that, as a sire, he is as fresh as ever." He did not get any foals that year. He was destroyed at Rawcliffe Paddocks in October, 1868.
A veterinarian who later wrote about Newminster's "case" in The Country Gentleman's Magazine, having attempted to treat him in the fall and winter of 1867-68, leaves little doubt that the grand horse had been suffering from founder for years. He had noted the "obliquity of the walls" of his hooves and thin soles as early as the winter of 1856-57, after Newminster had been just two seasons at stud. The vet saw him again in 1862-63, "the abnormal condition of his feet, which I observed to be in progress on the previous occasion, had increased in degree on the latter." Finally, in the fall of 1867, called in to treat as a consultant, rather than just observe, he described how the coffin bone had rotated so severely, and the sole so out of alignment, that the "condyle of the cannon bone itself was exposed to a suffering from external injury." Newminster's regularly attending veterinarians felt that he should be destroyed at that time, but the owners of Rawcliffe were unwilling to take that step. He improved somewhat by the spring, despite the disregard of the consultant's recommendation that Newminster be placed in a sling for parts of every day and creation of special shoes to relieve the pressure. A later autopsy showed both front pedal bones had significantly eroded.
--Patricia Erigero
Special thanks to Tim Cox for his assistance with Beeswing and Adventurer
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