Michael Church Racing Books

In 1865, after Gladiateur became the first French horse to win the Derby, he was heralded in France as ‘The Avenger of Waterloo’.

Gladiateur was bred by his owner Comte Frederic de Lagrange, a son of one of Napoleon’s generals who had inherited a fortune from his father.

Although trodden on as a foal, causing an enlargement in one of the joints of his off-foreleg, Gladiateur’s real problem was navicular disease, which caused intermittent lameness throughout his racing career. He almost certainly inherited this from his dam Miss Gladiator, who was a cripple and could not be trained. His sire, however, was the talented French Triple Crown winner Monarque.

Trained at Newmarket by Tom Jennings, Gladiateur’s two-year-old campaign comprised three races there in October. He made a winning debut in the Clearwell Stakes, beating the useful Joker by a length, then three days later he ran a disappointing dead-heat for third in the Prendergast Stakes. Finally, he ran unplaced in the Criterion Stakes while suffering from a cough.

The following year he became increasingly lame and had to be blistered on both forelegs. However, the Two Thousand Guineas, run later than usual, allowed Jennings valuable time and despite the colt going to post only half-fit he managed to win in a desperate finish, beating Archimedes by a neck with Liddington a further neck away third.

Before the Derby, Gladiateur ran an amazing trial on the Limekilns over one and a half miles, giving Fille de l’Air, the previous year’s Oaks winner and successful in six races that season, 8lb and two other four-year-olds 35lb each. He beat them all with consummate ease.

After that, the Derby became a formality, and Gladiateur cut through a large field from the distance to win easily by two lengths.

Soon afterwards Gladiateur left for Paris where, amid scenes of national fervour, he won the Grand Prix de Paris over one mile, seven furlongs from Vertugadin and Tourmalet. On returning to England he won two races at Goodwood, one a walk-over, before suffering a further bout of lameness.

Although Gladiateur lined up the 8-13 favourite for the St Leger and appeared to win with ease, his great courage carried him through on three legs.

     Gladiateur’s Triple Crown

Three further victories, at Doncaster, Longchamp and Newmarket, preceded his final race of the year in the Cambridgeshire, in which he ran unplaced to Gardevisure trying to concede 52lb in a field of 36.

The following season Gladiateur’s legs were worse than ever but despite this, he went over to Paris to win the Grand Prix de l’Imperatrice over three miles one furlong, and a week later, Le Coupe over two miles. He then returned to England to win the Ascot Gold Cup by 40 lengths; for many years this was considered to be the finest performance ever seen on a racecourse.

Finally, Gladiateur revisited Paris to win the Grand Prix de l’Empereur over nearly four miles to beat his old rival Vertugadin easily by 3 lengths, the other two contenders having bolted at the start.

Henry Grimshaw (1841-1866), rode Gladiateur in all three races of his Triple Crown. Born in Lancashire, Henry was apprenticed to John Howe Osborne senior, therefter marrying one of his daughters. In 1859 he won the Cambridgeshire for the Osbourne stable on Red Eagle, carrying 5st 9lb. Short sighted from an early age he occasionally relied on fellow jockey’s telling him where he was in the race. Sadly, he was killed on 4 October, 1866, when his trap overturned in the dark when driving home to Newmarket.

Tom Jennings (1823-1900), trainer of Gladiateur, served his apprenticeship in Chantilly under the eye of his relative Thomas Carter. In 1843, as stable jockey to his elder brother, Henry Jennings, he won the Prix de Diane on Nativa. However, after a serious family disagreement, he packed his bags to train in Northern Italy. In 1851, he returned to France to train for Comte Frederic de Lagrange, and won the 1864 Oaks for him with Fille de l’Air. At Royal Ascot in 1878, he completed a unique treble by training Verneuil to win the Gold Cup, Gold Vase and Alexandra Plate. While in public life, he was instrumental in the building of Newmarket’s two hospitals and the local waterworks.

Gladiateur, clearly one of the all-time greats, retired to the Middle Park Stud at a fee of 100 guineas, but proved a disappointment and died of chronic navicular disease in January 1876.

Nevertheless, he remains the only horse to have won the Triple Crown and the Grand Prix de Paris, and is commemorated by a life-size bronze statute at Longchamp.

For more racing history see Michael’s Books for Sale. 

To see Michael’s interviews go to the foot of About Michael

The 3rd Earl of Egremont

George O’Brien Wyndham

(1751-1837)

A highly respected and immensely wealthy man, Lord Egremont was said to give away £20,000 a year to charitable causes.

He was an enthusiastic patron of art and the painter William Turner, lived for a while at his Sussex seat of Petworth House.

Although Lord Egremont had more than 40 children, the only legitimate one died in infancy and so he was succeeded in the earldom by his nephew George Wyndham, who became 4^th Earl of Egremont.

Successful on the turf, he bred six Derby winners: Assassin (1782), Hannibal (1804), Cardinal Beaufort (1805), Election (1807), Lapdog (1806) and Spaniel (1831).

He also bred six winners of the Oaks: Nightshade (1788), Tag (1789), Hippolyta (1790), Platina (1795), Ephemera (1800), and Caroline (1820).

His final Classic winner was Spaniel, (see below), a bay colt by the 1810 Derby winner, Whalebone, out of a Daughter of Canopus.

REFERRED to as “the little Whalebone weed”, Spaniel was sold by Lord Egremont to Lord Lowther for £150 over the dinner table. He was a brother to Lord Egremont’s fifth Derby winner Lap-dog, but despite this promising pedigree he appeared to have few if any Classic pretensions after a two-year-old career involving four defeats in as many starts for trainer Joe Rogers.

Two days before the Derby, Spaniel won the Shirley Stakes over the Epsom Mile and it was decided that he should take his chance in the big race. He started at 50-1; the 4-6 favourite was Lord Jersey’s Riddlesworth, a well-bred colt who had won the Riddlesworth Stakes, the Two Thousand Guineas and the Newmarket Stakes.

At the distance Riddlesworth looked to have the race at his mercy. But under the vigorous driving of Wheatley, Spaniel joined Riddlesworth 50 yards from home and after a brief struggle won by three-quarters of a length.

Although Spaniel’s captivating performance was never repeated, when sold to Mr Meyrick, he picked up £50 plates at Haverfordwest, Carmarthen and Brecon. Spaniel did not race again until late-August 1832, where at Canterbury he finished badly lame and was put down.

Mysteriously, just how many of Egremont’s Classic winners were, as suggested, actually four-year-olds remains unknown. His trainer, Bird, confessed on his deathbed that he had twice won the Derby by slipping two-year-olds into the yearling paddocks. The secret well kept, Lord Egremont remained unaware of his trainer’s deception.

In his day, the Earl, although blunt and eccentric, was a popular and prominent figure in English society.

After the cessation of the Earl’s popular race meeting held in his Petworth Park, the 3^rd Duke of Richmond began racing at Goodwood from 1801.

For more racing history see Michael’s Books for Sale

To see Michael’s interviews go to the foot of About Michael