Colonial Family: Finesse

Finesse, by imported Tros, was bred in 1849 by Nelson Lawson, probably at one of his huge runs on the Liverpool plains, or one of the holdings of his father's, William, in the same vicinity. Lawson senior also had a large grant and racing stud at Prospect, NSW, where he built a forty-room mansion, Veteran Hall, in or around 1812. Baron (1816, by Milo) and the good sire (Lawson's) Emigrant (1831, by Tramp) were two stallions imported by William Lawson, and the great early stallion Theorem spent part of his stud career there. Horses bred at Veteran Hall stud included Spring Gun (1825, by Steeltrap), a successful runner and later stallion at Bathurst; Plenipotentiary (c. 1840, by Lawson's Emigrant), and the ancestral mares Fair Helen (Family C - 19) and an unnamed mare at the root of the Lilla family (Family C - 8). Nelson Lawson bred, among others, AJC Australian Stakes winner Tranby (1837, by Operator), the influential stallion Teddington (c. 1844, by Tros), and (Lawson's) Tros (c. 1845, by Tros).

Nelson (died 1849) preceded his father in death by a year, and it apears that William's vast holdings, estimated at near a half million acres, passed to his son William Lawson, Junior, who had married Caroline Icely, sister of the noted early thoroughbred breeder Thomas Icely. It's probable that Finesse, whose dam, Flirt, was by the bay arabian stallion Mariner (imported sometime between 1830 and 1840 by Captain John Lamb) was also bred by the Lawson family; Mariner is known to have served as a stallion in the Bathurst district, and Flirt's dam, Polly, was by imported Baron, owned by William Lawson. Finesse's third dam was a "pure Arab mare."

Finesse was probably one of the mares that passed to Lawson's daughter, Caroline Icely and her husband, Thomas, after William's death. She was part of the consignment purchased from Icely's Coombing Park stud at Carcoar, near Bathurst, and imported into Nelson, New Zealand, by that country's "father of the turf," Henry Redwood in 1852. This particular group from New South Wales included the great broodmare Flora McIvor, the extremely influential stallion Sir Hercules, and such founding colonial mares as Moth (Family C - 6), Woodstock (Family C - 28), and probably Princess.

In New Zealand Finesse bred four foals for Edward Fairhall at Nelson. They were Clyde (1854), and three siblings by Sir Hercules -- Chance (1855), Colonel (1856), and Revoke (1857). The bay filly Revoke won the Canterbury Cup of 1863 for Henry Lance, a successful Canterbury owner. Schooled by the famous early trainer William Webb, Revoke eventually became part of his small, high-quality broodmare band, which also included the good early racemare Ada (Princess Family), and for Webb Revoke produced Trump Card (see below).

In 1858-59 Finesse passed into the hands of Richard Parkerson, a stock owner on the Halswell River near Christchurch. For him she produced five more foals: Coquette (1859), and Lord Chancellor (1862), and three colts that were later gelded, Prime Minister (1860), Statesman (1861), and Premier (1864).

It was Chance, the black sister of Revoke, that continued the family line into the present: her branch included the half-sisters Una Fine (1968) and Art Spinner (1969) both of which have descendants today. The most notable winners in the family, other than the early mares and Trump Card, were the sons and daughters of Blackada (1911, by All Black): Novar (1919), Clandu (1920), and Clarinda (1921) were all winners of the Manawatu Cup in the 1920s, and Piuthair (1922, see below) was a high-class stayer.

Notable Descendants