Saltram (horse)

Saltram (1780–1802) was a British

Saltram was a brown horse standing 15.3 hands high bred by General John Parker who was elevated to the Peerage as Lord Boringdon in 1784. Parker was from Plympton in Devon and named the colt after the nearby Saltram House. Saltram was described as a "beautiful" horse of "great strength" despite "having lost one eye".^[1] He was sired by Dennis O'Kelly's Eclipse, the dominant racehorse of his time who was undefeated in eighteen races before becoming one of the most important and influential stallions in Thoroughbred history.^[2] Saltram was the fifth of eleven foals^[3] born to Mr Parker's mare Virago went on to produce the 1787 Epsom Oaks winner Annette and was the female-line ancestor of the Derby winners Ditto, Pan and Gustavus.^[4]

Racing career

1783: three-year-old season

Saltram made his first racecourse appearance at

Saltram began his career as a stallion at the Prince of Wales's private stud. From 1790 onwards he was made available to the public at a variety of British studs. In 1791 he stood at Aston Clinton, near Tring in Hertfordshire at a fee of twenty guineas, making him one of the most expensive stallions in England.^[10] By 1795, he had been moved to Carshalton in Surrey, at a fee of 10 guineas, with a guinea for the groom.^[11] By 1798, his fee had fallen to five guineas and he was standing at Mr Haynes's Livery Stable, Great Portland Street, London.^[12] The best of his offspring were Oscar, who won the Craven Stakes and the Oatlands Stakes, and Whiskey, a successful sire whose progeny included the Derby winner Eleanor.^[13]

In 1799 he was bought by William Lightfoot and exported to stand as a stallion at Sandy Point, Charles City County, Virginia where he had some success as a sire of broodmares. Saltram died in Virginia in 1802.^[6]

Pedigree

• Saltram was inbred 3 × 3 to Regulus, meaning that this stallion appears twice in the third generation of his pedigree.

References