Dungannon, (aka "Duncannon"), was a thoroughbred racehorse owned by the tobacco planter and horse breeder George Hume Steuart (1700–1784), who imported the horse from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Nelker, 118 to race against his rival,

Charles Carroll of Annapolis Charles Carroll II (1702–1782) known as Charles Carroll of Annapolis to distinguish him from his similarly named relatives, was a wealthy Maryland planter and lawyer. His father was Charles Carroll the Settler, (I – the first), (1661–172 ...

(1703–1783). Dungannon won the

Annapolis Subscription Plate Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

, in May 1743, the first recorded formal horse race in colonial

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, and the second oldest in North America.Official History of the Maryland Jockey Club
Retrieved February 18, 2010

History

The

was held in May 1743 at

Parole, Maryland Parole, a suburb of Annapolis, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,922 at the 2010 census. It is where several major roads intersect at the western edge of the state capital, Ann ...

, near

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

, on the South River, at a site which eventually became the Parole Hunt Club.

(whose son,

Charles Carroll of Carrollton Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III, was an Irish-American politician, planter, and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He was the only Catholic sign ...

, would later sign the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

in 1776) had wagered Steuart that his horse would win in a 3-mile race.Article at www.hometownannapolis.com
Retrieved February 19, 2010 In the 1740s racing was established in almost every large town in Maryland, with many gentlemen of means establishing large studs. The

Maryland Jockey Club The Maryland Jockey Club is a sporting organization dedicated to horse racing, founded in Annapolis in 1743. The Jockey Club was founded more than 30 years before the start of the Revolutionary War and is chartered as the oldest sporting organizat ...

was founded in Annapolis in 1743, and racing soon came to form an important part of the social and political life of the colony. At stake was the

, today the oldest surviving silver object made in Maryland and the second oldest horseracing trophy in America. The silver plate itself - in reality more of a bowl than a plate - was donated to the

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...

by Mrs Alice Key Montell and Mrs Sarah Steuart Hartshorne, where it is now on display. It was crafted by the Annapolis silversmith John Inch (1721–1763).Museum-Quarterly of the Baltimore Museum of Art April–June 1936

Legacy

A solid silver replica of similar weight and dimensions mirroring the original Annapolis Subscription Plate was commissioned in 1955 by the

. The replica, known as "The Dungannon Bowl", is a perpetual trophy given annually to the winner of the

Dixie Stakes The Dinner Party Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in mid-May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the eighth-oldest graded stakes race in the United States and the oldest stakes race in Maryland and all o ...

, the oldest stakes race run in Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic states. The Annapolis Subscription Plate has also been revived in recent years by the descendants of Dungannon's former owner, Dr George Hume Steuart, who still live at Steuart's former tobacco plantation,

Dodon Dodon may refer to * Dodon (farm), a farm and former tobacco plantation in Maryland, U.S. * Dodon, Kyrgyzstan, a village in Kyrgyzstan * L'Isle-en-Dodon, a commune in France * Lac Dodon, an iron meteorite discovered in Canada * Igor Dodon (born ...

, today. The commemorative race was held at Roedown Farm, Davidsonville, Maryland in 2010.

References

* Nelker, Gladys P., ''The Clan Steuart'', Genealogical Publishing, 1970. * Museum Quarterly of the Baltimore Museum of Art, April–June 1936. * 126th Preakness Stakes Souvenir Magazine, May 19, 2001, article titled, "It All Began Here, In Annapolis..." page 95-96

External links

Official Dodon website and history of the estate
Retrieved February 18, 2010
Article on Annapolis Subscription Plate at www.hometownannapolis.com
Retrieved February 18, 2010
History of Maryland Jockey Club
Retrieved February 18, 2010
Dungannon Legend
Retrieved 28 March 2019

Notes

{{reflist, 2 Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United States Steuart family

History

Legacy

See also

References

External links

Notes