Colt by Fidget
| Colt by Fidget | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Fidget |
| Grandsire | Florizel |
| Dam | Highflyer mare |
| Damsire | Highflyer |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1794 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Colour | Brown |
| Breeder | 5th Duke of Bedford |
| Owner | Duke of Bedford |
| Trainer | Matthew Stephenson |
| Record | 2:1-0-0 4:1-0-1 (including the runs of the "Fidget gelding") |
| Major wins | |
| Epsom Derby (1797) | |
The Colt by Fidget (1794 – after 1799) is a name used to refer to a nameless British Thoroughbred racehorse. In a career that lasted from June 1797 to April 1798 he ran at least twice and won once. On his racecourse debut in the summer of 1797 he won the Epsom Derby. He was unplaced on his only other confirmed race, but may have run twice without success in 1799.
Background
The Fidget Colt was a brown horse bred by his owner the 5th Duke of Bedford. Until 1946 there was no requirement for British racehorses to be named,[1] and in the late eighteenth century it was common for horses to be known by their owner, colour, sex and pedigree rather than by an official name. The Duke of Bedford's previous Derby winner had been known as "the Florizel colt" or "the Brother to Fidget" during his three-year-old season, but was later given the name Eager. The Fidget Colt, however, was never given an official name: he was known only as "the Fidget colt" or "the colt by Fidget".
The colt's dam, an unnamed mare by Highflyer was a half-sister to the notable broodmare Young Giantess, who produced the Derby winner Eleanor and was the grand-dam of two others in Phantom and Priam.[2] Fidget was not a particularly important stallion: in the year of the Derby winner's birth Fidget was standing at Woburn in Bedfordshire at a fee of three guineas, making him the cheapest of the four stallions at the stud.[3]
Racing career
1797: three-year-old season
On 2 June 1797 The Fidget Colt made his racecourse debut in the Derby at Epsom. Running as "D. of Bedford's br c by Fidget out of a sister to Pharamond" he started at odds of 10/1 in a field of seven runners, with Sir Frank Standish's Sir Peter colt (later named Stamford) sent off the 11/8 favourite. Ridden by John Singleton Jr, he won from the 20/1 outsider Escalus with Plaistow third and the favourite fourth.[4]
1798: four-year-old season
On 11 April "D. of Bedford's c. by Fidget out of Caelia's dam" reappeared after a break of ten months at Newmarket Racecourse in the third class of the Oatlands Stakes. He carried a weight of 102 pounds in the two mile handicap race over the two mile "Ditch In" course and finished seventh behind the 1796 St Leger winner Ambrosio.[5]
1799: five-year-old season. The Fidget gelding
At the age of five, a Thoroughbred colt becomes officially known as a "horse". There are no further references in the Racing Calendar to an unnamed brown Fidget colt or horse foaled in 1794. There are however, references to an unnamed brown gelding by Fidget racing in 1799 and as the General Stud Book records no other possible matches it is likely that these refer to the same individual.[6]
At the Newmarket Craven meeting on 27 March "Mr Goodisson's br g by Fidget" foaled in 1794, ran in a £50 subscription race over the six furlong Two Year Old Course. He finished unplaced behind Sheet Anchor in a field of nine runners which also included the Derby runner-up Escalus.[7] A month later, the same horse ran in a two mile race at the Second Spring meeting and finished third to Mr Concannon's Sparrowhawk.[8]
Pedigree
| Sire Fidget (GB) 1783 |
Florizel 1768 |
Herod* | Tartar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cypron | |||
| Cygnet mare | Cygnet | ||
| Young Cartouch mare | |||
| Matchem mare 1777 |
Matchem* | Cade | |
| sister 2 to Miss Partner | |||
| Syphon mare | Syphon | ||
| Shakespeare mare | |||
| Dam Highflyer mare (GB) 1784 |
Highflyer 1774 |
Herod* | Tartar |
| Cypron | |||
| Rachel | Blank | ||
| Regulus mare | |||
| Giantess 1769 |
Matchem* | Cade | |
| sister 2 to Miss Partner | |||
| Molly Longlegs | Babraham | ||
| Foxhunter mare (Family:6-a)[2] |
- The Fidget Colt was inbred 3x3 to Herod and Matchem, meaning that both of these stallions appear twice in the third generation of his pedigree. The Fidget Colt therefore had only two great-grandfathers, instead of the usual four.
References
- ^ Morris, Tony; Randall, John (1990). Horse Racing: Records, Facts, Champions(Third Edition). Guinness Publishing. ISBN 0-85112-902-1.
- ^ a b "Cream Cheeks - Family 6-a". Bloodlines.net. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
- ^ Robert Hunter. Racing calendar. 1794. John Whitworth. p. 334. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
- ^ Sporting magazine : or, monthly calendar of the ... v.10 1797. Rogerson & Tuxford. p. 346. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
- ^ Robert Hunter. Racing calendar. 1798. John Whitworth. p. 5. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
- ^ The General stud book. Wetherbys. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
- ^ Sporting magazine : or, monthly calendar of the ... v.14 1799. Rogerson & Tuxford. p. 3. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
- ^ Sporting magazine : or, monthly calendar of the ... v.14 1799. Rogerson & Tuxford. p. 9. Retrieved 2012-02-05.