Pewett

Pewett (1786 – after 1812) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare best known for winning the classic St Leger Stakes in 1789. Her name was spelled in various ways including Pewet, Pewit and Pewitt and would appear to be a reference to the northern lapwing. In a racing career which lasted from May 1789 and May 1792 she won four of her thirteen races. In the St Leger she finished second to a colt named Zanga, but was awarded the race when the winner was disqualified for causing interference. After her retirement from racing she became a successful broodmare whose descendants won many important races throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Background

Pewett was a

Pewett won one of her four races in 1791. She did not compete until 7 September when she was beaten by Mr Garforth's mare Camilla in a King's Plate at Richmond. A week later at Wakefield racecourse she ran in a £50 race over four miles: she finished fourth in the first heat but won the next two to record her final victory.^[9] At Doncaster at the end of the month she finished sixth of the seven runners behind Young Traveller in the Doncaster Cup and last of three behind Walnut in the Doncaster Stakes later the same afternoon.^[10]

1792: six-year-old season

Pewett made one appearance as a six-year-old, finishing last in a sweepstakes over two miles at York on 21 May.^[11]

Stud career

Pewett was retired to become a broodmare for Lord Fitzwilliam and produced nine foals:^[12]

• 1794, bay filly sired by Phoenomenon
• 1796, bay filly by King Fergus
• 1797, Lapwing, bay filly by Overton
• 1798, bay filly by Standard
• 1799, Woodpecker, bay colt by Buzzard
• 1802, Sir Paul, bay colt by Sir Peter Teazle, third in the 1805 St Leger
• 1803, brown filly by Stamford
• 1804, Paulina, bay filly by Sir Peter Teazle, won the 1807 St Leger
• 1812, Clinkerina, brown filly by Clinker

Paulina was Pewett's most successful racehorse and became an influential broodmare, being regarded as Foundation mare of Thoroughbred family 8-e. Her descendants included the classic winning colts Andover and Sir Tatton Sykes.^[13]

Pewett's last foal Clinkerina also became a successful and influential broodmares. Her son Humphrey Clinker sired the St Leger winner Rockingham and Melbourne, sire of the Triple Crown winner West Australian. Her more distant descendants included Exhibitionnist, Youth and Eishin Flash.^[14]

Pedigree

• Pewett was inbred 3 x 4 to Regulus, meaning that this stallion appears in both the third and fourth generations of his pedigree. She was also inbred 4 x 4 to the Godolphin Arabian.

References