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Venison
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The small, elegant Venison, associated his entire life with the famous trainer John Day (seen above), and perhaps the only horse for which Day had a lasting affection, was a very good distance horse -- two to four miles was his metier -- and was twice leading sire in Great Britain. He was among that grand group of staying, weight-carrying mid-19th century stallions whose names come down to us primarily in tail-female descent.
Venison's sire, Partisan, was a carefully handled, lightly-raced speed horse owned by George Henry Fitzroy, the fourth Duke of Grafton, and "delicately" managed by the great early 19th century trainer Robert Robson. Partisan's sire, Walton, had been a good stayer and was twice leading sire in England. Partisan's dam, the well-bred Parasol, was an outstanding race mare from the Grafton stud, winner of 31 matches, plates and handicaps in her six years on the turf and later dam of twelve foals, two of which were classic winners Pindarrie and Pastille. Partisan himself got four classic winners in the Grafton stud -- Mameluke (Derby), Patron (2,000 Guineas), Cyprian (Oaks), and Zeal (1,000 Guineas). He was also the sire of three influential stallions -- Glaucus, Gladiator, and Venison.
Venison's small brown dam, Fawn, was the eighth live foal of Lord Egremont's smart mare Jerboa (1803, by Egremont's Gohanna, a grand stayer that barely topped 15 hands), who had run second to Castrel's sister, Bronze (by Buzzard), in the 1806 Oaks Stakes at Epsom. Jerboa was sold after the Oaks to Yorkshire-based Colonel Henry Mellish who ran her through the season; in July she beat the aging Parasol (then age 6; dam of Partisan) in an 100 guineas match over the Abingdon mile at Newmarket. At Mellish's dispersal in December that same year she was picked up by Lord John Rous (created Earl of Stradbroke in 1821) who raced her through 1807 (fourth in Newmarket's Craven Stakes to Selim), after which she was retired to the Rous stud in Suffolk. She was a small, fast mare, both attributes Venison inherited, though the speed apparently skipped a generation with Fawn, a modest runner. Jerboa produced some moderately successful runners, the most notable being The Stag (by Sorcerer), winner of the July Stakes, later sold to Canada, and the filly Lacerta (1816, by Zodiac), from which descended Family 11-c in tail-female. This branch included Derby winner Little Wonder (1837), Doncaster Cup winner Ackworth (1861), and further down the line the great sire St. Simon (1881). Jerboa was shot in 1827, age 24, after producing a filly that year by Nicolo.
Fawn, bred at the Stradbroke stud in 1823, was by the good-tempered, black Smolensko (1810, by Sorcerer), winner of both the Two Thousand Guineas and the Derby, sire of two classic winners and numerous successful broodmare daughters. Fawn apparently did not inherit her sire's temperament; she was described by several turf writers as "jadey." She was purchased as a yearling by Charles Greville, a Jockey Club steward and racing partner, successively, of Lord Chesterfield, his cousin Lord George Bentinck, and finally George Payne. Fawn ran for Greville, or possibly his cousin, Lord George Bentinck, at Newmarket between the ages of two and four in various sweepstakes, mostly over the Two Year Old Course, winning a 15 sovereign sweep at Newmarket First October as a juvenile, a small race at July Newmarket at age four, and a selling sweepstakes at Newmarket where she beat two three year olds and a two year old and was claimed for 80 sovereigns. She entered the stud of Lord William Lowther (later 3rd Earl of Lonsdale), a prominent, if not very successful turfite, and tory politician. There she bred nine live foals, and in 1839 was sold, in foal to Camel, for 250 guineas to the wealthy and popular (especially with English thoroughbred breeders) Baron Biel, "father of the German turf." After dropping the Camel filly she was bred to Partisan's son, Glaucus, and presumably shipped off to the baron's stud at Zierow, near Wismar; there is no further record for her in the General Stud Book.
Only one of Fawn's foals -- Venison -- was a stellar racehorse, despite repeated breed-backs to Partisan. Fawn's first foal, born in 1828, was Little Fanny, by Morisco. She ran at Newmarket between the ages of two and four, mostly in selling races over the Two Year Old course and changing hands several times; at age two she won the Rubbish Stakes, beating four others, a sweepstakes at Newmarket's second spring meeting, and a 200 sovereign sweepstakes beating several two and three year olds, and in the fall was second in a handicap. At age four she was second to the good three-year-old filly Emiliana in a handicap sweep. She was later sold to Germany. Venison's elder sister The Fairy (1830) ran for Sir Mark Wood at Newmarket, generally unsuccessfully; she was second to Temperance as a juvenile in a sweepstakes over the two year-old-course at Newmarket Houghton, "none of them [the runners] was particularly good." A younger sister, Chevreuil (1835) had some pretensions to class, running unplaced in the Oaks Stakes, after having placed second in a handicap at Newmarket to the good filly Bracelet, but did nothing notable thereafter. Venison's brother Roebuck (1839) also did not do much, and another brother, Antler (1836) was shipped off to Italy in 1839.
Venison was never a big horse -- one turf writer pegged his height at less than 15.1 hands when grown, although he was advertised when at stud as 15.3 hands -- and as a foal he was so small Lord Lowther held him back when he sent the rest of his yearlings to the 1834 sales, and privately sold him "in a weeding-out sale" to the well-known trainer/jockey John Barham Day for £100. At this time Day was just beginning his long association with Lord George Bentinck, and Venison was passed on to Bentinck, although he ran in John Day's name. For some years Bentinck ran his horses in the names of his various associates because his father objected to his passion for the turf -- Bentinck horses ran in the names of his cousin, Charles Greville, his trainer John Day, and his friend, the Duke of Richmond.
Venison was trained at Day's Danebury stables near Stockbridge in Hampshire where he was subjected to the tough gallops on Danebury Hill. He became lean and wiry, like all the Day-trained horses that survived his grueling preps, and blessed with an iron constitution, he thrived. Day's son estimated that during the course of his three-season plus career Venison walked over 1300 miles between racecourses, often to then participate in two and four mile heat races. He was one of Day's best Cup horses in the trainer's long career, and it was said if ever the famous Day had a "pet," it was Venison.
Venison fortunately inherited the good temperaments of Partisan and Smolensko, and the Druid said of him "A gamer or more gentlemanly little horse than Venison never cantered down the cords." However, his "jadey" dam's character surfaced in many of his offspring. Like Partisan, he had an "exquisite" sculpted head that tapered to a small muzzle, small ears, and a large, beautiful eye that the Druid described as "deer-like." He was, said the Druid, "one of the most level and finely-moulded horses ever seen" and his "light graceful and sweeping action, gallant courage, and perfect symmetry carried the deer-like resemblance to its utmost extent." He had grey hairs mixed into his coat and this characterisic, along with his size, head and eye, were almost invariably passed on to his offspring, "cross him as you might." He stood slightly over at the knees, a fault periodically transmitted to his sons and daughters.
Venison on the Turf
Venison ran once as a juvenile, ridden by his trainer, John Day. He placed second in Goodwood's Lavant Stakes to The Athenian (also by Partisan), and beating five other younsters.
At age three his debut was the Epsom Derby Stakes, ridden by Day, who said before the race, "I have a good horse, and it must be a very good one to beat him." He was beaten, by a very good horse, Gladiator (also by Partisan), and a great one, Bay Middleton. This was one of only two defeats in his very busy and extensive three-year-old season. Bentinck, already enamoured of Lord Jersey's Bay Middleton after the horse beat his own runner, Elis, in the Two Thousand Guineas, placed large bets on both Bay Middleton and Venison for this race.
Up at Cheltenham he won his first race, the Glocestershire Stakes, beating the five-year-old Paris (by Waterloo) and six others, and at the same meeting took the Cheltenham Gold Cup over three miles, beating four other horses. On July 21st he was at Southampton, where he took a walk-over for the Gold Cup Stakes and seven days later was at Goodwood, where he won the three-mile, five-furlong King's Guineas, beating the four-year-old Lottery son Luck's-all.
His next stop was Brighton, where he won the Brighton Stakes handicap, beating Amesbury (by Phantom), Luck's-all, the 1834 Oaks winner Pussy, and three other horses. At Lewes he took a walk-over for the King's Plate. Sandwiched between Lewes and his next stop, Warwick, Venison was required to run a trial at Goodwood against Bentinck's horse The Drummer and Elis, who was slated to run in the Doncaster St. Leger and who Bentinck wanted to assess for betting purposes; Elis proved superior in the trial. At Warwick Venison won a £75 race and then the King's Plate in two mile heats. Moving on to Lichfield he won the Members' Purse and a £90 sweepstakes, and a few days later he won the King's Guineas there in two mile heats, beating three other horses.
In mid-September at Doncaster Venison won the King's Plate over four miles, beating 1835 Derby winner Mundig and two other horses by three or four lengths. Then, a few days later he met his only other defeat that season, running third to Touchstone in the Doncaster Cup, with the Tramp colt Carew placing second. A few days after the Cup, Venison won the Town Plate, run in two mile heats.
Elis, by the way, conveyed in the famous cart to Doncaster, won the St. Leger and Lord George won a great deal of money at 12:1 odds. And a bit over a month later, after Bay Middleton beat Elis in the Grand Duke Michael Stakes at Newmarket, Bentinck paid Lord Jersey the then record price of 4,000 guineas for Bay Middleton, which changed the lives of all three horses; pinning all his hopes on Bay Middleton as a stallion, Bentinck sold Elis and leased out Venison, with the option to buy, after their turf careers were over.
In 1837, age four, Venison won all but two of his races. He started out with a walk-over in a 200 sovereign sweepstakes at Newmarket Craven. In a three mile handicap sweepstakes at Newmarket First Spring he bested seven four and five year olds to which he was giving weight, for a total purse of £1300. The next day he beat the four year old Jack-in-the-Green, who had run second to him in the sweep, at level weights in the King's Guineas over the 3 mile-4 furlong-139 yard Round Course. A month later at Reigate he was second to Slane in the Dinner Stakes. At Ascot he won the King's Plate, beating his sole opponent, Rioter (by Reveller). He then travelled to Stockbridge where he walked-over for the Mottisfont Stakes, dividing the forfeits with the Sultan son Wisdom.
In 1838 Venison was brought out once, in the Mottisfont Stakes at Stockbridge. Three-quarters of a mile from the finishing post he "broke down," but was still running at the finish, placing fourth, with his head "at the winner's [Zethus] girth." It was his last race. He had repeatedly demonstrated his gameness -- never so much in evidence as in his last race when he ran three-legged to get up to the winner -- his wonderful staying ability, and his soundness, all qualities he transmitted to his offspring.
Venison in the Stud
At the close of his turf career, Bentinck leased Venison to Isaac Sadler for a £300 annual fee and an optional purchase price of £1500. Sadler was a successful Oxford livery stable owner and racing confederate of John Day's, who had a farm at Cheltenham and one at Stockbridge in Hampshire. Venison was installed at Stockbridge, where his initial stud fee was 10 guineas; he joined Sadler's homebred stallion, Defence, who had broken down in his first start, the Epsom Derby, but nonetheless had, in the ten years he had been at stud, developed a good reputation as a sire, and stood at a fee of 20 guineas. When Venison's first foals hit the ground, and Bentinck saw "how bloodlike the stock" was, he attempted to bluff Sadler into releasing Venison back into his possession by telling him he had a foreign buyer interested in the horse. Not too long after this, Venison was sold to John Day (shown above with Venison) and his son-in-law, George Dixon, and Venison spent the rest of his life at Broughton, Stockbridge, dying from complications due to founder -- "he could hardly be got up on his feet" -- in December, 1852, age 19.
Venison was the sire of three classic winners -- The Ugly Buck (Two Thousand Guineas), Clementina (One Thousand Guineas), and Miami (Epsom Oaks) -- and many other horses that won premier distance races such as the Ascot Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup, and Chester Cup. His progeny won numerous provincial distance races, and some were good juvenile winners of significant races. His daughters, many small, hard, and wiry like himself, produced a winner of the Derby and Two Thousand Guineas, and a grand classic-winning filly in France, and winners at every distance; many carried his blood foward in the tail-female line. He himself got some good hunters and horses that won over fences, and several of his sons and daughters are seen close-in in the pedigrees of many winners of big steeplechases.
Venison was leading sire in England in 1846 and '47, and was among the top ten through 1852. His son ALARM was among the top twenty leading sires for almost a decade. Another son, KINGSTON, who died early at age 12, got Derby winner Caractacus and Oaks winner Queen Bertha, later an important broodmare, and the tough and very successful runner Ely. Venison's son BUCKTHORN became the sire of Grand Prix de Paris winner Glaneur. Still, his direct sire line died out, for all intents and purposes, within a few generations, and it is through his daughters, and those of his sons, that he is seen in pedigrees today. In addition to his influence in Great Britain, he had an impact on both Australian and American breeding through both sons and daughters.
Venison's fame -- or noteriety -- as a stallion spread far beyond the typical race-loving public; his son CRUISER, barely raced and retired to a miserable life as a vicious stallion, was rehabilitated by John Rarey, an American horse trainer whose gentle and effective methods were a revelation to much of mid-century England and Europe. Rarey and CRUISER toured throughout England, and Rarey became the toast of royalty. The publicity of his horse-training feats did much to popularize the humane treatment of animals in England and the continent, and later the U.S.A. Because of CRUISER, and some other sons, notably CARIBOO and CATHEDRAL, Venison, himself a tractable animal, developed the not entirely deserved reputation of getting horses with terrible temperaments.
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The Ugly Buck (center)
| | Venison's first big winner was THE UGLY BUCK (1841, out of Monstrosity by Plenipotentiary), who took the 1844 Two Thousand Guineas at Newmarket, but could later only run fourth in the infamous "Running Rein" Epsom Derby, where Orlando was eventually declared winner. He was, according to contemporary turf accounts, "Venison on a larger scale," and was, like Venison, over at the knees. In the stud, where he did not generally see top class mares, he tended to get what were then considered mid-distance runners, such as Banshee (1849, The Elect by The Distingue), winner of the 1852 Liverpool Spring Cup (1 mile-2 furlongs); Ammonia (1849, Retort by Camel), who took the Liverpool Summer Cup (same distance), and Geant de Batailles (1865, Rosa by Cain), winner of Doncaster's Great Yorkshire Handicap (1 mile-6 furlongs). His son Buckhound (1848, Wedlock by Sultan Junior) was a pretty good juvenile, placing second in Epsom's Woodcote Stakes and Goodwood's Eglinton Stakes.
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THE UGLY BUCK'S daughter, Sybil, produced the excellent stayer Tim Whiffler (1859, by Van Galen) and Great Yorkshire Stakes winner Oldminster (1858, by Newminster). In 1862 Tim Whiffler could hardly be beat, winning almost all the major handicap races, including the Chester Cup (2-1/4 miles), the Doncaster Cup (2-1/4 miles), the Goodwood Cup (2 miles-5 furlongs), the Ascot Gold Vase (2 miles), and the Stand Plate at Doncaster, the Royal Stand Plate at Ascot, and the Member's Plate at Malton, and placing second in the Manchester Cup. In 1871 Tim Whiffler was purchased by J. Moffat and imported into Victoria, Australia, where he became a successful stallion, getting the grand race mare Briseis (Melbourne Cup, VRC Oaks, and others), Melbourne Cup winner Darriwell, Australian Cup (18 furlongs) winners Sybil and Pollio, and many other successful runners.
Other UGLY BUCK daughters included Zara, the dam of Epsom's Great Metropolitan winner Zadig (in 1884); Elastic (winner of a handicap at Lincoln), who bred Gauntlet, winner of the Hungarian St. Leger, and Sphynx, the dam of Beeswing (1863, by Newminster), a good race mare that in 1866 won the Liverpool Autumn Cup and the following year took the Chester Cup and the Leamington Stakes. Beeswing, bred to a Venison grandson, Ely, was shipped to Hungary, where her in-bred daughter Baber (1870, by Ely) won some good races, including the Hungarian St. Leger, and later produced Buzgo (1882), a winner of classic races in Austria-Hungary. Beeswing's half-sister, Ambiguity (1859, by De Ruyter) also bred on with successful descendants.
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Red Deer with the ultra-feather Kitchener aboard
| | The Soldier's Daughter (1836, by Doncaster St. Leger winner The Colonel), a mare bred at Hampton Court, produced four Venison foals for the Duke of Richmond. The first, a filly, she killed. The next year, 1841, she dropped RED DEER, the first three-year-old to win the Chester Cup (2-1/4 miles); he was carrying one of the smallest, youngest, lightest jockeys (3 stone-4 pounds, plus a ten pound penalty) ever to ride such a tough race, who barely had the strength to keep Red Deer on course in the 25 horse field. The large, narrow, circular Chester course at the time was described as "the equivalent to turning a horse loose in a circus," and his win that year was later referred to as "the Red Deer chase" when the high-strung horse plunged to the front and was never headed, winning by 12 lengths (the great race mare Alice Hawthorn second) and continuing to run well past the finish before Kitchener could pull him up.
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Prior to the Chester Cup, RED DEER won Bath's Somersetshire Stakes and Newmarket's Coffee Room Stakes in a canter for his owner Lord George Bentinck and Bentinck's trainer John Kent. Later in the year he was second to the Venison' son ANTLER in the Produce Stakes at the Bibury meeting, won Stockbridge's Produce Stakes easily, was second to Ithuriel in the Liverpool St. Leger, and ran second in Newmarket's Grand Duke Michael Stakes.
In the stud at Stafford for 10 guineas fee, RED DEER'S best racing son was the Irish-bred Croagh Patrick (1858, from The Cook, by Birdcatcher), winner of Goodwood's Steward's Cup and Chesterfield Cup in 1861. His daughter, Cordelia, bred to Stockwell, produced the good weight-carrier, Thunderbolt (1857), winner of ten races in four years, including Goodwood's Steward's Cup and the Stockbridge Cup.
The Soldier's Daughter's next Venison foal was RED HART, a bay colt born in 1844. The last Venison foal out of The Soldier's Daughter for the Duke of Richmond was the bay filly RED HIND (1849).
RED HART, who stood 16.2 hands, was a good solid runner that took eight races at age three. Among his wins were Ascot's Welcome Stakes, beating Oaks winner MIAMI (by Venison) and five other youngsters, Goodwood's Gratwicke Stakes, Newmarket's Grand Duke Michael Stakes, and the Royal Stakes at Newmarket. That year he also won a good sweepstakes at Stockbridge by five lengths, beating Crozier, Miami and two others, a stakes at Newmarket First Spring, at Bilbury and at Goodwood. The following year he lost form, and could not beat Pyrrhus the First at Goodwood or in the Brighton Cup.
RED HART stood at Leybourne Grange, Maidstone, for a modest 5 guineas fee, where he got hunters and stayers. His daughter, Zaidee (1854, Subterfuge by Sir Hercules), won Ascot's New Stakes and was second in the Reading Stakes at Ascot as a juvenile. His Irish-bred son Woodman (1859, from a Bryan o'Linn mare) won the Royal Whip at the Curragh (4 miles), and another son, Robin Hood (1859, from an Edroy mare), won the 1866 Conyngham Cup at Punchestown (3 mile steeplechase). Both RED DEER and RED HART were said to be difficult to manage at stud.
RED HIND (1849), the last of the Venison-The Soldier's Daughter cross, was one of Venison's good juveniles, winning Newmarket's Criterion Stakes (beating Stockwell and four others), and Ascot's Triennial by two lengths, beating future Oaks winner Songstress, the good runner Longbow, and five others. The next year she failed to place in Songstress's Oaks, and was third to that filly in the Ascot Triennial.
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Alarm
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ALARM (1842) was out of a Defence mare, Southdown, owned by Captain George Delmé of Cams Hall, Fareham, in Hampshire, not far from Stockbridge. Alarm had "wonderful hips" and a bit of a temper. He was a good stayer and had speed, but his temperament got in the way of his racing, notably when he injured himself before the start of the Epsom Derby after instigating a fracus by kicking out at another horse at the start, an incident that sidelined him throughout most of his three-year-old season. He died at age 20, "little more than a splendid ruin."
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Delmé first ran ALARM at the local Bilbury Club meet at Stockbridge, where he won the Champagne Stakes by a length, beating a very good field of juveniles. Charles Greville bought ALARM after this race, and Alarm ran in Greville's colors for the rest of his career. His first start at age three was the Derby, where he finished well back in the field after injuring himself at the start; he wasn't seen on the turf again until October, when he received a forfeit from Old England (third in the Derby) for a scheduled match of 500 sovereigns at Newmarket Second October. He then ran in the Cambridgeshire at Newmarket Houghton, beating a big, high-class field by a couple of lengths.
In 1846, age four ALARM won eight of his nine races, his sole loss in the Cambridgeshire when he was effectively handicapped out of the race by weight. His most impressive wins were the Claret Stakes over the Ditch-in Course (2 miles) at Newmarket, the Emperor of Russia's Plate (Ascot Gold Cup) over 2-1/2 miles, beating a high-class field that included Orlando, who went lame during the running, the Orange Prize at Goodwood, coming from behind in an exciting race to beat Jericho by a head, and a 300 sovereign match at Newmarket Second October against The Bishop of Romford's Cob, giving weight, where he took the lead and was never headed. The next year he received a compromise in a slated match against Paragone and The Baron, and lost a 1000 sovereign match, conceding 14 pounds to the inferior horse, The Traverser.
Standing at stud for Greville at Hampton Court until the early 1850s, and later at Newmarket at a 12 guineas fee (the equivalent at the time of Voltigeur's fee), he was frequently among the top twenty leading sires in England, but seldom high on the list, getting many winners at minor venues and a few big winners. His offspring won at all distances, although most were stayers. They included Mishap (won Ascot's eight furlong 1854 Coronation Stakes) and Pitapat (won 1853 St. James Palace Stakes), and the stayers Grapeshot (1 mile-6 furlong Great Yorkshire Handicap and 2 mile Northumberland Plate), Telegram (2-1/4 mile Great Metropolitan Stakes handicap), Pax (Great Ebor Handicap over 1-3/4 miles) Suspicion (2 mile-3 furlong Goodwood Stakes), Peon (Ascot Gold Vase) and Winkfield (Ascot Gold Cup). Alarm's daughter, Alerte (1859, from Aunt Phyllis by Epirus), imported to France in-utero, won the 4200 meter Prix du Cadran at Longchamp in 1863; another daughter, Mishap (1851, from Miss Slane) won Ascot's Coronation Stakes, Chester's Palatine Stakes and other races at distances up to 1-1/4 miles, and placed in some longer distance races up to two miles. Other good ones included Aleppo (1853) and Queen Bess (1854).
ALARM'S son, Commotion (1854), won the Woodcote Stakes as a juvenile and was later sire of the 1873 Grand National Steeplechase winner Disturbance. Another son, Compromise (1855), got the Grand Steeplechase de Paris winner Congress, and a third son, Coward, was progenitor of the Irish Grand National winner Castle Lucas.
ALARM'S son Panic (1858, Queen of Beauty by Melbourne) was taken to Tasmania by Samuel Blackwell at age two, and crossed the Bass Strait to win the third running of the Melbourne Cup in 1865 and took it again in 1866. He then went to stud in Melbourne where he got a huge number of excellent runners, especially stayers, including the dual T.T.C. Launceston Cup winner (24 furlongs) Strop, and Melbourne Cup winner Nimblefoot.
ALARM'S daughters included Consternation (1853), the dam of Ackworth (1861), winner of the Cambridgeshire and the Doncaster Cup. Another daughter, Pearl (1850), was sent to France, where she produced Ceylon, winner of the Grand Prix de Paris and later sire of the 1880 Grand Steeplechase de Paris winner Recruit (1873). Alarm's daughter Torment (1850), produced the King Tom filly Tormenter, winner of the 1866 Oaks Stakes. Torment's line bred on; her daughter Laura (1860, by Orlando, bred by Greville), produced Doncaster Cup winner Fraulein (1870), Craven Stakes winner Laureate (1879, by Rosicrucian), and the game Petrarch (1873, by Lord Clifden), winner of the Two Thousand Guineas and the Doncaster St. Leger, among other races. Petrarch later got four classic-winning fillies, including some that went on to influential careers in the breeding shed, The Bard, a multiple leading sire in France, and Hackler, that became an outstanding sire of jumpers in Ireland.
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Joe Miller
| | JOE MILLER (1849), from Witticism by Sultan Junior, was bred at Stockbridge by Isaac Sadler. He was very much in the Venison mold, and quite small: "in the month of July he looked more like a foal than a yearling," and "was never fifteen hands." He had, said The Druid, "a very sweet head...and all his limbs were most beautifully turned, and exquisitely proportioned." Light and wiry like his sire, he was also an excellent stayer, but he was one of the Venisons with a temper -- or as The Druid put it, "full of fire and courage" -- and at the end of his three-year-old season he was gelded, possibly a mistake despite his erratic performances, because although he ran for three more seasons, he won only once, took a walk-over once, and placed third once in twenty-two starts. After he was cut, The Druid said, "he was never the same horse."
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Purchased as a yearling at Newmarket by Mr. Farrance for 200 guineas, and raced by him throughout his career, as a juvenile he did not show the precocity of some Venison offspring. He was unplaced in the Triennial at Stockbridge where KINGSTON ran two dead-heats. At Goodwood he was second to the ALARM colt, Frantic, in the Nursery Stakes. At Egham he was third, and last, in the King John Stakes, and he failed to place in his next race at Winchester.
JOE MILLER'S first race at age three was Epsom's Great Metropolitan (2-1/2 miles), which some turf writers believe he would have won, but he was knocked over by a filly, Miss Ann (later dam of Scottish Chief), which put him out of the running. Then he won a great race, the Chester Cup (2-1/4 miles), "in the easiest possible way" leading from start to finish, beating Stilton, who had won the Metropolitan, with Poodle, by Ion, third, and forty other horses in the field. He ran in the Epsom Derby, but was unplaced. A few weeks later at Ascot he won another big distance handicap, the Emperor of Russia's Plate (Ascot Gold Cup), beating a high-quality field that included Manchester Cup winner The Black Doctor, Hobbie Noble, and Voltigeur. At Stockbridge he was second to KINGSTON in the Triennial by three lengths. He next went to Weymouth, where he won the Queen's Plate, beating three other horses. At Newmarket in the fall he was used as a trial horse against both Weathergage and Hobbie Noble, in addition to hard, repetitive training. At Newmarket Second October, he did not place in the Cesarewitch (won by Weathergage). He did not run in the Cambridgeshire, but Hobbie Noble, against which he had been used as a trial horse, ran second. At the end of the season JOE MILLER was gelded; he ran for three more seasons, and in 1853 took a walk-over for the Queen's Plate at Weymouth, and in 1855, his last season, won the Wiltshire Plate at Salisbury, beating three others.
JOE MILLER, said the Druid, "was shot very early in the day, and honoured with burial in the centre of the Woodyeates yard."
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Kingston
| | KINGSTON (1849, from Queen Anne, by Slane), dubbed the "Knight of the Silver Hair" for his lightly frosted bay coat and his universally-recognized beauty, was another outstanding Venison son. He won over all distances, probably best at 1-1/2 miles, but had many Royal Purses over two miles to his credit, as well as some important gold cups. Several years after the close of his turf career, American interests offered £5,300, but his then-owner, William Blenkiron, who had paid £3,000 for him, refused to part with him. He died young, age 12, at Middle Park Stud at Eltham in February, 1861.
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As a juvenile KINGSTON won three races of four starts, including the Hopeful and Clearwell Stakes at Newmarket. At age three he won six races in nine starts, including the 2 mile-5 furlong Goodwood Cup, and was second to Teddington in the Doncaster Cup where "his bad hind action...told against him" when he reached the hill. At age four his big wins were the 2 mile Northumberland Plate at Newcastle and the Whip at Newmarket (beating Teddington by six lengths), and at age five he won six of his twenty starts, including the Epsom Gold Cup, the Newcastle Gold Cup and four Royal Purses, and placed second in the Ascot Gold Cup, the Doncaster Cup and the Warwick Gold Cup, breaking down in the race for the Whip against Stockwell at Newmarket in October, ruining both front suspensories and damaging a front tendon.
KINGSTON was a moderately successful stallion. He was eleventh on the leading sires list in England in 1859, and spent several years near the top of the list in the 1860s--sixth in 1861, second behind "the Emperor of Stallions," Stockwell, in 1862 (when his son Caractacus won the Derby), fourth in 1863 and '64, and fourteenth in 1865, three years after his death. His youngsters won at all distances, although they tended to take after him, winning at a mile and a half. Still he got some fast shorter distance runners--King at Arms (1856) won the Royal Hunt Cup at 7 furlongs in 1859, and his daughter Polynesia (1859) won Ascot's 8 furlong Coronation Stakes. Blue Mantle (1860) won Ascot's New Stakes (Norfolk Stakes) over 5 furlongs as a juvenile, and the grand stayer Ely (1861) won Doncaster's Champagne Stakes over 7 furlongs at age two.
KINGSTON'S three big winners were Derby winner Caractacus (1859), Queen Bertha (1860), who won the Oaks, and Ely, winner of Ascot's 13 furlong Prince of Wales's Stakes, the Ascot Gold Cup and the Goodwood Cup. He got other good winners, including the fillies Thalestris (1860), who beat the colts in the 2 mile-2 furlong Cesarewitch at Newmarket and Polynesia, winner of Ascot's 8 furlong Coronation Stakes.
Neither Caractacus nor Ely, who also sported some silver hair, were successful sires, but Queen Bertha was a grand producer, dam of Great Yorkshire Oaks winner Gertrude (later dam of Two Thousand Guineas winner Charibert, a successful sire in France), St. James Palace Stakes and Prince of Wales's Stakes winner Queen's Messenger, dual classic winner Spinaway (later dam of dual classic winner Busybody), and the outstanding race filly Wheel of Fortune, winner of the Epsom and Yorkshire Oaks, the One Thousand Guineas, and seven other races in her eleven starts. She and her daughters established the highly successful 1-w female line that is still producing top-class horses today.
KINGSTON'S influence on U.S. bloodstock breeding came through his grandsons Kingfisher and Glenelg (out of Kingston daughter Babta, from a Defence mare). Glenelg was shipped in-utero to the U.S. where he was a grand stayer and later sire of some terrific running fillies, including Firenzi and Los Angeles, and of Clara D., dam of Americus. His dam, Babta, was also second dam of the champion colt Africander, later a useful sire. Kingfisher (1867, by Lexington), was out of imported Eltham Lass, a Kingston daughter; he won the Belmont, and Travers Stakes among other races, and became a superior broodmare sire.
Several of KINGSTON'S sons became influential stallions in Australia, notably his son, also named Kingston (1860, England's Beauty by Birdcatcher), imported to Australia as a yearling by New South Wales breeder John Lee. He got numerous winners over all distances, and his daughter, Adeline (c. 1867) became the taproot of Colonial Family 6, an enormously successful family in the antipodes.
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Buckthorn
| | Of Venison's other sons, BUCKTHORN (1849, from Zeila by Emilius,) owned and raced by Lord Palmerston (a Prime Minister in England) and trained by John Day, was a handsome, good-moving colt, albeit a bit temperamental. He won the two mile Ascot Stakes in 1853, beating a good field of ten others. A stallion at Eaton, near Chester, he got a number of modest winners and a few top runners. His son Herne (1855, Anna Page by Touchstone), won the Manchester Cup, and another son, the French-bred Glaneur (1866, from Alma by The Prime Warden), won the Grand Prix de Paris in 1869.
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An unnamed Defence mare that won £50 at Tewkesbury and was second three times in small races, bred by J. Clark of Marlborough, Wiltshire, from his sturdy half-bred mare Nike (HB Family 8, winner of 23 races, mostly hunter flat races) had three successful foals by Venison. The first was MARLBOROUGH BUCK (1848), winner of the important juvenile race, the Woodcote Stakes, at Epsom, where he beat BUCKHOUND and future Derby winner Teddington and nine others. MARLBOROUGH BUCK went on to run second to Teddington in the 1851 Epsom Derby beating a big field of future big handicap winners and Hernandez, the Two Thousand Guineas winner, and also that year third in the Great Yorkshire Stakes. His younger brother, ELCOT (1851), was also good at age two, repeating his brother's triumph in the Woodcote Stakes, and also winning the Althorp Park Stakes that year. He failed to place in the Epsom Derby and did not train on, but was a successful sire of hunters and hacks and won second prize at the 1863 Royal Horse Show. ELCOT'S and MARLBOROUGH BUCK'S sister, THE HIND was a competitive runner, second in the Stockbridge Biennial, and third in the Bentinck Memorial, the Clearwell Stakes and the Ascot Triennial as a juvenile, and placed twice in good races at age three. She was later the dam of five foals, all winners, most in hunter's races hurdle races and steeplechases.
VATICAN (1846, Vat by Langar), a good-running Venison son, was initially raced by Sir Joseph Hawley. Standing 16 hands, he was one of the best of his year, which unfortunately for him, included The Flying Dutchman, and he could only run third to that horse in the Doncaster St. Leger and second to him in Newmarket's Velvoir Stakes and in a 3 mile-5 furlong sweep at Goodwood. But over the course of four seasons on the turf -- he was sold to a J.B. "Jolly" Morris, a bookmaker (who would purchase KINGSTON two years later) towards the end of his four-year-old season -- he won the Newmarket Stakes, the Grand Duke Michael Stakes, the Ascot's Triennial (for 3-year-olds), and the Triennial the next year for 4-year-olds, the two-mile Ascot Stakes (at age four), and, at age six, the York Spring Gold Cup. He was retired to stud at Hambleton House, standing at £5, operated by William Stebbing, who had made some money betting, and his brother, Henry, who would go on to train horses for H. Osbaldeston. The Stebbing brothers were not well-thought of as horsemen, and several contemporary commentators felt they contributed to what followed, which was an increasingly vicious horse that injuried his mares, broke grooms' arms and savaged lads, and even, according to one account, a donkey, that had been purchased to "keep him sweet," the latter found in his paddock disembowled. As all of this was going on, VATICAN experienced increasingly harsh measures to control him, including chaining him in his stall from the four corners of the box, and other depressing actions, including a 48 pound head collar. eventually burning out his eyes to blind him, "one of the cruellest operations of which I have ever heard." The poor horse received some respite when a groom who apparently understood and worked with him was engaged, but after the groom left Hambleton, and others failed to connect with the stallion, the horse was shot in 1859, and fed to the hounds. Despite all this, VATICAN did get some north country winners. VATICAN, unlike Venison's son, CRUISER (see below), was not lucky enough to encounter a celebrity "horse whisperer."
Other Venison sons that were successful on the turf were CONINGSBY (1844, Ruby by Rubens), winner of Newmarket's important Criterions Stakes for juveniles; Greville's CARIBOO (1847, Jamaica by Liverpool), who took the two mile Ascot Gold Vase in 1851, and the year before had run second to the grand mare Canezou in the Goodwood Cup; the gelded TAME DEER (1853, from Styx by Defence), winner of the Trial Stakes at Lincoln and second in Northampton's Trial Stakes; REPLETION (1846, Folly by Middleton), winner of a sweepstakes with a rich purse from the Great Western Railway at Ascot in 1849; FILIUS (1849, Birthday by Pantaloon), winner of some minor races and at age three third behind Stockwell and Homebrewed in the Two Thousand Guineas and third to Stockwell and Muscovite in Newmarket's Grand Duke Michael Stakes in October. CARIBOO and FILIUS were later stallions in England.
Venison had plenty of other sons that won at lesser venues, such as SPARSHOT (HB Family 10), who won over 1-1/2 miles at Hungerford, the City Bowl at Salisbury, and elsewhere; ROEBUCK, winner of the Innkeeper's Stakes at Dudley (1-3/4 miles) and of races at Coventry, Shrewsbury, Banbury, Warwick and elsewhere; Sadler's NEW FOREST DEER, winner of five races at Basingstoke, Salisbury, Weymouth (the Portland Stakes and Borough Stakes) and Swindon, and of the Andover Stakes at Bibury in 1846; PETITIONER, who took the Bath handicap and the second class of the Ascot Stakes at Ascot; CHEVY CHASE, a winner at Dudley and Bromyard and elsewhere.
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Cruiser and Rarey. For an exhaustive discussion of Rarey and Cruiser, visit Rarey, The Horse's Master and Friend," Ohio History, the journal of the Ohio Historical Society, vol. 25
| | CRUISER (1852, out of a Little Red Rover mare that was also the dam of Buccaneer) was the most famous of Venison's sons. He probably did not respond well to the tough training applied by John Day when his owner-breeder, Lord Dorchester sent him to Danebury, although The Druid said his temper "did not show itself very much at Danebury." Dorchester, however, said later he considered Cruiser "to be vicious from a foal; he was always troublesome to handle and showed temper on every opportunity. On his road here from Danebury he went on his knees and tore up the ground with his teeth."
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CRUISER'S only race at age two was Newmarket's Criterion Stakes in October, where he lost by a neck to the Paragone son Para, in a field that included some good youngsters, such as Rifleman and Saraband; Para's jockey, Rogers, thought Cruiser might have won had he not acted "unkindly" and backed him at long odds for the Derby the upcoming year, but Cruiser broke down a month before that race, terminating his brief turf career.
Dorchester retired CRUISER to stud, sending him to the Rawcliffe Stud Company in York on a half-purchase deal, providing the first foals were acceptable. While his first crop was "much admired," he was so unmanageable, "...his savage propensities rendering the care of him too dangerous...for any man in their employ," that Rawcliffe sent him back to Dorchester after his second season (the year he got the grey colt Rattlebone, winner of the £450 Steward's Plate at Stockbridge and other good races). "I was assured by the manager of Rawcliffe Stud that for days he would allow no one to enter his box, and on one occasion tore an iron bar, one inch thick, in two with his teeth," Dorchester later wrote. He was installed at Dorchester's stud at Murrell Green Farm, Winchfield, Hants., where he was advertised at 5 guineas. The Druid expressed some reservation at the stories that circulated regarding the extremes of Cruiser's temper ("had to be fed from a funnel from above his stall," and so forth), and said John Day had only hit him two or three times when in training, but did warn Rawcliffe's groom not to take Cruiser's halter off when he "got him into a stable, or, as sure as fate, there would be a mess."
Life for CRUISER became increasingly miserable, and a terrible eight pound iron-bound muzzle, collar and gag were devised to control him, attached, according to the popular press, by letting down a rope from above, snaring his neck, and lifting the horse off his feet to secure the apparatus. When he was finally liberated, his savior, American John Rarey, said Cruiser had not been outside his specially-built brick box stall for three years, and when Rarey saw him, he had "so injured himself that he could not be taken out of his box, and so I had to wait for his recovery."
Rarey, a thirty year old Ohioan, had developed a reputation for gentling wild and unmanageable horses, and after an exhibition of his skills in Canada, in 1857 he took ship for England, where he soon piqued Royal interest, and in January of 1858 gave two presentations to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and their guests--including aristocrats from various German and Dutch states -- at Windsor and Buckingham. Dorchester invited Rarey to try his skills with Cruiser.
At Winchfield, Rarey worked quietly with the abused animal, and had him in hand within three hours, allowing both Dorchester and Rarey to ride him, to the stunned amazement of Dorchester and his staff. CRUISER and Rarey went back to London and a series of highly popular exhibitions and presentations. Cruiser -- and his famous iron muzzle and other tools that had been used to subdue him prior to Rarey -- was brought in, his story was related, and he would perform various tricks, showing his docility. Then Rarey would face various vicious, wild or "untrainable" horses provided by locals, and gentle them within 30 minutes. Rarey went on to perform for royalty and the general public, and to consult with various cavalry officers in Prussia, Russia, France, and in the mid-east, also expanding his knowledge and interest in different horse breeds. His intent was always to share his knowledge and understanding of horses, and he significantly raised public awareness of humane techniques of training all types of horses, giving free demonstrations to cab and omnibus drivers in London and to others who employed horses in all types of working and pleasure situations.
In November of 1860 Rarey and CRUISER left England for New York, and for several years they toured the American east coast, with Rarey frequently donating proceeds from the events to various charities. As celebrated in the States as in England and Europe, Cruiser was the most famous horse of the mid-19th century, with newspaper stories about him published as far away as New Zealand. Finally horse and man returned to Rarey's Groveport, Ohio, home, where Cruiser became a popular stallion, "so gentle that the people about the Rarey farm could fondle him as they would a kitten." He got a number of solid runners, "noted for their kind dispositions," an observation that belies the chargers leveled against Venison as a sire of vicious horses, and giving credence to the notion that many were high-spirited and those with bad reputations likely severely mishandled -- such as Venison's poor son, VATICAN, who was deliberately blinded to make him more manageable as a stallion. Cruiser died at age 23, in May of 1875, outliving his celebrated master by nine years.
Venison's Daughters
Venison's daughters CLEMENTINA (One Thousand Guineas) and MIAMI (Epsom Oaks), won the two classic fillies' races of 1847, boosting Venison to leading sire status. Other good running daughters included CHAMOIS (2-1/2 mile Great Metropolitan at Epsom) and WIT'S END (2 mile-2 furlong Cesarewitch at Newmarket), winners of important distance races at age three in 1846, which helped send Venison to the top of the sires list that year. Like his sons, many daughters ran and won at minor venues over a distance of ground, such as his long-running half-bred daughter MAY DAY (1848), winner of Abingdon's Ladies' Purse in 1854 and DO IT AGAIN, who took the Weston Stakes at Bath. Other winners included DIANA (1851), who took Ascot's Great Western Stakes and was second in the 2 mile Lewes Great Handicap; Sadler's ANTELOPE (1849), winner of the 2 mile City Bowl and Sweep at Salisbury in two heats, carrying 10 st-12 lbs.; MAID OF CADIZ (1852), winner at age two of the Nursery Stakes at Chester, and a number of other distance mares, including QUEEN OF THE CHASE (1841) and ANTAGONIST (1844), as well as the aforementioned RED HIND and THE HIND.
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Miami
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MIAMI (1844) was bred by Sadler from Diversion (1838, Family 5-i), a Defence mare, whose dam, Folly (1830, by Middleton), had also been bred by Sadler. She was another true Venison, a bay with a generous sprinkling of white throughout her coat (she was listed as a bay roan in the racing calendars), a small star, and noticeable white-grey hairs at the top of her tail. Like Venison, she was small, growing to a height of 15.1 hands, and had his beautiful head, good shoulder, excellent legs and feet, with the wiry look so typical of his offspring. She was sold as a yearling to Sir Joseph Hawley, and ran in his colors throughout her career, exhibiting the game, sturdy characteristics of her sire.
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As a juvenile MIAMI won Newmarket's July Stakes her first time out, beating the Venison filly VERT-VERT (second), Cossack, and six other youngsters, speeding past Cossack at the top of the hill, and holding off a late challenge by Vert-Vert to win by a length. At the same meeting she ran second by a short neck to the filly Nerissa, to whom she was conceding 9 pounds, in the Chesterfield Stakes, with five others behind. In this race VERT-VERT, carrying four extra pounds, was fourth.
She was put away for the season, and re-emerged at Newmarket Craven in 1847, where she ran second to Halo in a sweeptstakes. She then went to Epsom where she beat a good field in the Oaks, breaking first, then losing the lead to two fillies and subsequently surging ahead again to pass the finish a length in front of the second filly, Venison's daughter CLEMENTINA. It was a big field of 23 fillies, full of fine runners and some future important broodmares. At Ascot she was third to the Venison colt RED HART in the Welcome Stakes (for 3 year olds), and was beaten half a length by Cosachia, which she had beaten in the Oaks, in the Coronation Stakes. At Stockbridge she was third again to RED HART in a big sweepstakes. In the Newmarket St. Leger stakes in October she was third and last to Foreclosure and Ziska, "flatly" refusing to go on in the middle of the race, after leading from the start. At the same meeting she received a compromise from Nerissa for a 300 sovereign match. At Newmarket Houghton she won an exciting match for 200 sovereigns by a head, beating a filly by The Provost.
At age four she came out for the Chesterfield Cup at Goodwood, but was not placed. At Brighton she won a sweepstakes beating six others. She then ran in the Queen's Plate at Lewes and the Queen's Pate at Canterbury, but was beaten both times by the 1846 Derby winner Pyrrhus the First. That was the end of her career on the turf.
MIAMI was not a particularly successful dam of winners, but her daughters did establish several long-lived branches of Family 5-j, of which Miami is the taproot. Her daughter Morgan La Faye (1852, by Cowl), winner of The Baron's Stakes at Egham and the Abbey Stakes at Reading as a juvenile, later produced the excellent Scottish Chief filly Marie Stuart (1870, Epsom and Yorkshire Oaks, Coronation Stakes, Doncaster St. Leger, etc.); the grand staying mare Merry Gal (1897), dam of the Gallinule son, White Eagle, was among her descendants. Morgan La Faye's daughter Lady Morgan (1865, by Thormanby), produced Great Yorkshire Stakes winner Ruperra, Prince of Wales's Stakes winner Alloway, and two good broodmare daughters, Morgiana and Morganette, the latter a grand producer of three classic winners, including English Triple Crown winner Galtee More. Another MIAMI daughter, Catawba (1857, by Cowl) was tail-female ancestress of such horses as Two Thousand Guineas and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Djebel (1937), and Americans Seabiscuit (1933), Equipoise (1928), and Intentionally (1956).
Venison's daughter FERINA (1844), bred by William Ley, never raced and was sold to Greville and Lord Clifden. After throwing a dead foal in 1849, she was purchased for a low price by William Sadler, and produced fourteen foals that lived longer than a month. Pretender (1866, her only foal by Newminster son ADVENTURER), bred by Sadler, was her last. He won the North of England Biennial at York as a juvenile, and at age three took both the Two Thousand Guineas and the Epsom Derby, and the Great Northern Leger at Stockton, but could not beat his Derby rival, Pero Gomez in the Doncaster St. Leger or the Doncaster Stakes, and later in the season descended into plate company; in all he won three races, ran second once and third twice in six starts. He later joined his sire at Sheffield Lane paddocks at stud. FERINA also bred a colt, Hunting Horn (1854, by Surplice), a horse of "extraordinary substance" that never ran, but won several first premiums as a hunter sire at Royal Agricultural Society meetings, and St. Hubert (1852, by Surplice), that was second to Lord of the Isles in the Two Thousand Guineas. FERINA, shot three weeks before Pretender's Derby win, had tail-female descendants that included German, Irish and Italian Derby winners and other good horses.
Venison's daughter FRAUDULENT (1843, from the Defence mare Deceitful) bred Ascot Stakes winner Little Harry; purchased by the racing partnership known as Le Grande Ecurie (Comte Frédéric de Lagrange and the Baron Nivière), she was sent to France and bred to Ion, producing Finlande (1858), winner of the Prix de la Foret as a juvenile and of the Prix de Diane and the Prix de l'Empereur (Prix Lupin, 2100 meters) at age three for the partnership. Finlande, sold when the partnership dissolved in 1862, entered the Vaucresson stud of Auguste Lupin, where she produced a number of foals to the cover of Dollar, including Fideline (Grand Criterium, later dam of Galaor (Grand Prix de Deauville, Prix Royal Oak)); Brienne (a good juvenile, later dam of the good winner Polygone); Saint Cyr (Poule d'Essai des Poulains, Prix du Cadran, Grand Prix de Deauville, Prix Jean Prat, later a successful sire); and Fontainbleau (Poule d'Essai des Poulains, later sire of a classic winner).
Another Venison daughter that went to France, GABBLE (1844, from Flycatcher), produced Martel en Tete (1855, by Surplice), winner of the 4200 meter Prix du Cadran.
Venison's daughter DECEPTIVE (1845, out of Deceptive, a sister to Deceitful) produced Cambridgeshire winner Weatherbound (1857 by Weatherbit); Weatherbound was a tail-female ancestress of 1918 Preakness winner Jack Hare Jr.
Venison's One Thousand Guineas winner, CLEMENTINA, from that grand mare Cobweb, won the Bretby Stakes, and was second in the Lavant Stakes as a juvenile, and won the Nassau and Prendergast Stakes at age three, as well as placing second to Miami in the Oaks. In the stud she produced Melissa (1853, by Orlando), winner of Doncaster's Park Hills Stakes, a second place finisher in the Doncaster Cup and the Epsom Oaks, and third in York's Great Ebor Handicap. Another daughter, Eugenie (1854, by Surplice), won the Great Warwick Handicap. Her family (Family 1-s) also bred on in tail-female with many successful winners, broodmares and sires.
Other immediately successful broodmare daughters of Venison included HAPPY QUEEN (1845, from Prosperine), dam of the Touchstone son Tournament (1854), winner of Doncaster's Eglinton Stakes, Goodwood's Stewards Cup, and the Brighton Cup, among other races. RATHER HIGH (1852, from Kathleen) produced the 1863 Cambridgeshire Stakes winner Catch'em Alive (1859, by Flatcatcher). CRUISER'S sister, THE CHASE (1849), bred a Wild Dayrell son, Robin Hood (1863), winner of the July Stakes at age two, and placed in Ascot's Prince of Wales's Stakes and Newmarket's Grand Duke Michael Stakes. MAY DAY (1848, from a Sultan Junior mare) produced the 1864 Molecomb Stakes winner Koenig (1862), and his half-sister, Dame Alice established a long-lived female line.
TESTY (1840), who placed in Newmarket's Criterion Stakes, later produced Stockbridge Champagne Stakes winner Lady Alicia (1852, by Melbourne); Lady Alicia was the dam of Ascot Stakes winner Rapparee and that unparalled sire of jumping horses, Ascetic. Another Venison mare, unnamed (1849, from Wedding Day, by Camel), produced Ostreger (1862, by Stockwell), a tough campaigner that won the Great Suffolk Handicap and the Great Chelmsford Handicap at age four, and Goodwood's Chesterfield Cup over 1-1/4 miles at Goodwood at age five. This Venison daughter was also the second dam of Epsom Derby winner Kingcraft (1867), and the third dam of the superior steeplchaser, Cloister (1884, by Ascetic), who was in-bred to Venison.
--Patricia Erigero
Special thanks to Tim Cox for assistance with Fawn
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