Disraeli (1895–1911) was a British

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse and

sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" a ...

. As a juvenile in 1897 he showed considerable promise by winning the Champion Breeders' Foal Plate at

Derby Racecourse Derby Racecourse is a former horse racing venue in Derby, England, from 1848 to 1939. It was preceded by two earlier courses, at different locations. Earlier courses It is unknown exactly when horse racing first started in Derby, although a ...

and then finishing second in the Middle Park Plate. In the following spring he recorded his biggest win in the

2000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year at ...

but disappointed when favourite for the

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...

and later ran unplaced in the

St Leger The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a d ...

. He made no impact as a breeding stallion in France.

Background

Disraeli was a "good-looking, well-set-up" bay horse bred at the Sledmere Stud in

East Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to th ...

Sir Tatton Sykes, 5th Baronet Sir Tatton Sykes, 5th Baronet (13 March 1826 – 4 May 1913) was an English landowner, racehorse breeder, church-builder and eccentric. ''Includes substantial section on 5th baronet'' He was the elder son of Sir Tatton Sykes, 4th Baronet and M ...

. As a

yearling Yearling may refer to: *Yearling (horse), a horse between one and two years old *''The Yearling ''The Yearling'' is a novel by American writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, published in March 1938. It was the main selection of the Book of the Mo ...

he was consigned to the Doncaster sales and bought for 1,000

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...

by Wallace Johnstone. The colt was sent into training with John Dawson, the younger brother of

Mathew Dawson Mathew Dawson (1820–1898) was a British racehorse trainer. In a career which lasted from 1840 until his death in 1898 he trained the winners of twenty-eight British Classic Races, a figure surpassed by only two other men. He was significan ...

, at Warren House stables at

Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Located (14 miles) west of Bury St Edmunds and (14 miles) northeast of Cambridge. It is considered the birthplace and global centre of thoroughbred hor ...

. Dawson had established his reputation in the 1870s when he trained Galopin and

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...

. His sire

Galopin Galopin (1872–1899) was a Great Britain, British Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse and Horse breeding#Terminology, sire. In a racing career which lasted from June 1874 until October 1875 he ran nine times and won eight races. He was one of ...

was an outstanding racehorse who won the Derby in 1872 and went on to be a successful and influential stallion, being Champion sire on three occasions. Disraeli's dam Lady Yardley was a full-sister to The Swan, whose descendants included Mondrian and

Hansel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hanse ...

Racing career

1897: two-year-old season

Disraeli made his debut in the Champion Breeders' Foal Plate on 31 August over five

furlongs A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hors ...

. Ridden by Fred Allsopp, and starting at odds of 100/8 he led from the start and won "somewhat easily" by one and a half

lengths Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Intern ...

from the odds-on favourite Champ de Mars. In the Middle Park Plate over six furlongs at Newmarket on 15 October, Disraeli started at odds of 100/15 (approximately 6.7/1) in a fourteen-runner field. With Allsopp again in the saddle he briefly took the lead in the last quarter mile but was overtaken and beaten three lengths by the

Duke of Devonshire Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and has be ...

's colt Dieudonne with

Wildfowler Waterfowl hunting (also called wildfowling or waterfowl shooting in the UK) is the practice of hunting ducks, geese, or other waterfowl for food and sport. Many types of ducks and geese share the same habitat, have overlapping or identical hun ...

a head away in third place. On his third and final start of the season six days later Disraeli was assigned a weight of 136 pounds for the Great Sapling Plate at

Sandown Park Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt races and one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse racing ...

and finished as Ninus won from

Nun Nicer Nun Nicer (1895–1915) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. As a two-year-old in 1897 she ran consistently, winning three of her nine races including the Manchester Summer Foal Plate and Hopeful Stakes as well as being placed ...

and Sheet Anchor. He was eased down in the race by his rider John Watts when his chance of winning had gone.

1898: three-year-old season

The 90th edition of the 2000 Guineas was run over the

Rowley Mile Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of British horseracin ...

on 27 April and saw Disraeli, ridden by

Sam Loates Samuel Loates (1865–1932) was a British Thoroughbred horse racing jockey who was the Champion Jockey of 1899 in his home country. Background Loates was from a racing family. He and three brothers were active as jockeys before and around ...

start at odds of 100/8. Ninus went off the 100/30 favourite while the other twelve runners included Batt,

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

, Hawfinch (

Dewhurst Plate Dewhurst can refer to: People * Christopher John ("Jack") Dewhurst (1920–2006), British gynecologist * Colleen Dewhurst (1924–1991), Canadian-born actress * David Dewhurst (born 1945), American politician * Dorothy Dewhurst (1886–1959), Eng ...

) and Wildfowler. Disraeli settled behind the leaders before moving intothird behind the 40/1 outsider Wantage and Ninus a furlong from the finish. He "put in some very strong work" to take the lead in the closing stages and won by one and a half lengths from Wantage, with Ninus a neck away in third place. At

Epsom Racecourse Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse on the hills associated with Epsom in Surrey, England which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. The "Downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs. The course, which has a crowd capacity of 13 ...

on 25 May Disraeli, with Loates again in the saddle, started the 2/1 favourite for the Derby Stakes. He led the field in the early stages but dropped out of contention approaching the straight and finished tenth as Jeddah won from Batt, Dunlop and Dieudonne. According to press reports the colt failed to stay the distance and Loates was described as looking "a picture of misery" after the contest. In the

St Leger The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a d ...

over fourteen and a half furlongs at

Doncaster Racecourse Doncaster Racecourse (also known as the Town Moor course) is a racecourse in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It hosts two of Great Britain's 36 annual Group 1 flat races, the St Leger Stakes and the Racing Post Trophy. History Doncas ...

on 7 September Disraeli started at odds of 100/6 and finished unplaced behind Wildfowler. In December 1898 Disraeli was put up for auction at Newmarket and bought for 850 guineas by a Mr Jones, acting on behalf of a group of French breeders.

Stud record

Disraeli was retired from racing to become a breeding stallion in France. He appears to have fathered very few foals and had no success as a sire of winners. Disraeli died in 1911 at the stud of the Marquis de Tracy.

Pedigree

*Disraeli was

inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...

4 × 4 to Birdcatcher and Voltaire, meaning that both of these stallions appear twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.

References

{{2000 Guineas Winners 1895 racehorse births 1911 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 2-w 2000 Guineas winners