Virago (horse)

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Virago
1000 Guineas (1854)
Nassau Stakes (1854)
Goodwood Cup (1854)
Yorkshire Oaks (1854)
Doncaster Cup
(1854)

Virago (1851–1869) was a British

handicap races
. She was regarded by many British experts as one of the greatest racehorses of the 19th century.

Background

Virago, a dark chestnut filly with one white foot who stood 16 hands high, was bred, like the Derby winner Voltigeur, by Robert Stephenson at his stud at Hart, near Hartlepool, County Durham.[1] Virago was described as "more racing-looking than handsome" and having a "quiet and docile" temperament.[2] As a yearling, she was bought for either £300, £350 or £460 (sources differ) at the Doncaster sales by Henry Padwick, a notorious moneylender who used the name "Mr. Howard" for his racing interests,[3] with John Scott as the underbidder. John Barham Day, who was ironically known as "Honest John",[4] trained the filly at Padwick's stable at Findon, West Sussex. According to his son William, later a successful trainer in his own right, Day believed that he had acquired "the finest yearling in the world".[5]

Virago was sired by the 1846 Epsom Derby winner Pyrrhus The First. Her dam, Virginia, became an influential broodmare, with her direct descendants including the 1000 Guineas and Epsom Oaks winner Thebais, the Preakness Stakes winner War Cloud, and the Italian champion Ribot.[6]

Racing career

1853: two-year-old season

Day ran Virago in her first serious private trial in October 1853 and was so impressed that he offered to buy the filly from Padwick for £3,000, but his offer was rebuffed.

handicap races with an unrealistically low rating.[4]

1854: three-year-old season

In spring 1854 Virago was matched against the five-year-old Little Harry (winner of the Ascot Stakes) in a two and a quarter mile private trial race and won easily, receiving only ten

7/4. She turned out again immediately to win the "Great Met" by a length under 84 pounds.[8]

On 25 May Virago won the Great Northern Handicap over two miles at

St. Leger Stakes.[11]

At Goodwood in July, Virago contested the two and a half mile Goodwood Cup, one of the season's most prestigious weight-for-age races. She was made 1/6 favourite and won by fifteen lengths from Indian Warrior. When she added a win in the Nassau Stakes for fillies at the same meeting, her superiority was so evident that no official odds were recorded.[12] In August Virago returned to York and ran twice. She won the Yorkshire Oaks, and then suffered her only defeat of the year when she was beaten by a two-year-old filly named Ellermire in a six-furlong County Plate.[13] William Day felt that the switch to sprint distances was ill-advised and claimed that Virago only ran in the race because Padwick overruled her trainer's wishes.[5]

On 5 September Virago won the Warwick Cup over three miles at Warwick Racecourse, taking the race by six lengths from a field that included the Oaks winner Mincemeat and Kingston,[14] who had finished second by a head to West Australian in the Ascot Gold Cup.[15] On her last start of 1854, Virago traveled to Doncaster in mid September and won the Doncaster Cup "in a canter"[16] from Kingston, the only horse to oppose her. In all, Virago won ten of her eleven starts in 1854,[17] took £9,750 in prize money, and earned her owner a further £80,000 in winning bets.[3]

1855: four-year-old season

Virago developed

respiratory problems towards the end of her three-year-old season. These problems became more serious in 1855 and Virago failed to reproduce her best form. She won the Port Stakes[5] at Newmarket in spring, but her performances deteriorated thereafter. At Ascot she was beaten in the Royal Hunt Cup and finished third to Fandango in the Ascot Gold Cup.[18] She was retired after running unplaced in the Craven Stakes at Goodwood and was sold to Lord Stradbroke for £500.[4]

Assessment

In May 1886 The Sporting Times carried out a poll of one hundred racing experts to create a ranking of the best British racehorses of the 19th century. Despite having been retired more than thirty years previously, Virago was ranked in the top ten by thirty-six of the contributors, placing her seventh among all horses and making her the highest-rated filly or mare. In a related poll, the electors were asked to choose the single greatest horse they had ever seen. In this poll, Virago finished fifth behind Gladiateur, Isonomy, West Australian, and St. Simon.[19]

At the end of her three-year-old season, Virago was rated eight pounds superior to the Derby winner Andover.[20]

Breeding record

Virago had some success as a broodmare. After being covered by her racecourse rival Kingston, she produced Thalestris, who won the Cesarewitch Handicap in 1864.[21] Virago died in 1869.[4]

Pedigree

Pedigree of Virago (GB), chestnut mare, 1851[22]
Sire
Pyrrhus The First (GB)
1843 		Epirus
1834 		Langar Selim*
Walton mare
Olympia Sir Oliver
Scotilla
Fortress
1836 		Defence Whalebone
Defiance
Jewess Moses
Calendulae
Dam
Virginia (GB)
1835 		Rowton
1826 		Oiseau Camillus
Ruler mare
Katherina Woful
Landscape
Pucelle
1821 		Muley Orville
Eleanor
Medora Selim*
Sir Harry mare (Family:4-l)[6]

* Virago is inbred 4S x 4D to the stallion Selim,[23] meaning that he appears fourth generation on the sire side of her pedigree and fourth generation on the dam side of her pedigree.

References

  1. ^ a b Enrique Hall Dixon (1862). Scott and Sebright. Rogerson & Tuieford. p. 236. Retrieved 2012-02-28. virago.
  2. ^ The New Sporting magazine. 1854. p. 75. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  3. ^ a b "A NOTABLE "TURFITE"". Hawke's Bay Herald. 21 April 1888. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  4. ^
    ISBN 0-354-08536-0
    .
  5. ^ a b c d William Day (1891). Reminiscences of the turf, with anecdotes and recollections of its principal celebrities. Richard Bentley & Son. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  6. ^ a b "Golden Grove - Family 4-l". Bloodlines.net. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  7. ^ "Horse Racing - Weight For Age". Allaboutbetting.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  8. ^ The Sporting Magazine. Rogerson & Tuxford. 1855. p. 17. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  9. ^ "SPORTING". Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle. 9 September 1854. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  10. ^ "NEWMARKET, MAY 2ND". Bell's Life in Sydney. 22 Jul 1854. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  11. ^ The New Sporting magazine. 1854. p. 78. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  12. ^ "THE ENGLISH TURF. GOODWOOD RACES. — TUESDAY, JUL". Bell's Life in Sydney. 28 Oct 1854. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  13. ^ The Sporting Magazine. Rogerson & Tuxford. 1854. pp. 116–117. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  14. ^ Patricia Erigero. "Kingston". Thoroughbred Heritage. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  15. ^ The Sporting Magazine. Rogerson & Tuxford. 1854. p. 25. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  16. ^ The New Sporting magazine. 1854. p. 77. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  17. ^ "THE ENGLISH TURF". Bell's Life in Sydney. 14 Apr 1855. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  18. ^ The Sporting review, ed. by 'Craven'. Rogerson & Tuxford. 1857. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  19. ISBN 0-85112-902-1
    .
  20. ^ The Sporting Magazine. Rogerson & Tuxford. 1854. p. 62. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  21. ^ "THE CESAREWITCH RACE AT NEWMARKET". Southland Times. 20 December 1864. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  22. ^ Hugh McMahon. "The Sport Horse Show and Breed Database". Sporthorse-data.com. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  23. ^ "Thoroughbred Terminology". Washington Thoroughbred Breeders Association. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
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