Enterprise (1884 – after 1901) 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

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. As a two-year-old in 1886 he was one of the best horses of his generation in England, winning the

New Stakes New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

and the

July Stakes The July Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and geldings. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it ...

as well as finishing second in the

Middle Park Plate The Middle Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is s ...

and the Dewhurst Plate. In the following spring he recorded his biggest victory when winning 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 ...

as the 2/1 favourite. He was one of the leading fancies 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 ...

but missed the race after sustaining an injury in training. He remained in training until the end of 1888 but failed to recover his best form. He made no impact as a breeding stallion.

Background

Enterprise was a chestnut horse bred at the Yardley stud near

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

by the Graham brothers. 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 offered for sale and bought for bought for 2,000 guineas by Douglas Baird. He was trained 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 ...

by James Ryan. His sire, Sterling, was a successful racehorse who became an excellent sire whose other offspring included

Isonomy ''Isonomia'' (ἰσονομία "equality of political rights,"Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English LexiconThe Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes", Mogens Herman Hansen, , p. 81-84 from the Greek ἴσος ''isos'', ...

, Paradox, Enthusiast and Harvester. Enterprise's dam, an unnamed mare sired by King Tom, was a full-sister to the

runner-up King Alfred.

Racing career

1886: two-year-old season

On 8 June Enterprise made his racecourse debut in the New Stakes at

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...

. He was ridden by George Barrett and won at odds of 100/12 upsetting the hot favourite Freedom. He was expected to follow up in the Royal Plate at

Windsor Racecourse Windsor Racecourse, also known as Royal Windsor Racecourse, is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Windsor, Berkshire, England. It is one of only two figure-of-eight courses in the United Kingdom, the other being at Fontwell Park. Desc ...

but was defeated by George Chetwynd's colt Stetchworth. At

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

on 6 July, the colt started 2/1 joint-favourite for the

. Ridden by

Fred Archer Fred or Frederick Archer may refer to: * Fred Archer (jockey) (1857–1886), English jockey * Fred R. Archer (1889–1963), photographer and co-inventor of the photographic Zone System * Frederick Scott Archer (1813–1857), inventor of the photogr ...

he took the lead soon after the start and despite hanging left just inside the last quarter mile he won "easily" by four

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 Hugo. On 13 October at Newmarket Enterprise finished second to

Lord Calthorpe Baron Calthorpe, of Calthorpe in the County of Norfolk, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1796 for Sir Henry Gough, 2nd Baronet, who had previously represented Bramber in Parliament. Born Henry Gough, he had assum ...

's colt Florentine in the

, a race for which he had been regarded as a near certainty and started at odds of 1/7. In the Dewhurst Plate two weeks later over seven furlongs at the same track he started 7/2 second favourite behind Phil. After disputing the lead for most of the way he appeared to "cut it" (give up) in the final furlong and was beaten three lengths into second place by the

Duke of Beaufort Duke of Beaufort (), a title in the Peerage of England, was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, legitimised son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of So ...

's filly

Reve d'Or Reve d'Or (1884 – after 1904) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare who won two British Classic Races in 1887. She ran nine times as a juvenile in 1886, winning three races including an upset victory in the Dewhurst Plate in O ...

, a 20/1 outsider. At the end of year Fred Archer reportedly said "If he hadn't had a touch of the white feather, Enterprise would be a second

Ormonde Ormonde is a surname occurring in Portugal (mainly Azores), Brazil, England, and United States. It may refer to: People * Ann Ormonde (born 1935), an Irish politician * James Ormond or Ormonde (c. 1418–1497), the illegitimate son of John Butl ...

1887: three-year-old season

On 27 April 1887, Enterprise, ridden by Tom Cannon started the 2/1 favourite for the 79th running of the 200 Guineas over the Rowley Mile. Phil (10/1), Florentine (10/1) and Hugo (20/1) were again in opposition but the best fancied of his opponents were Eglamore, Grandison (

Windsor Castle Stakes The Windsor Castle Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run over a distance of 5 furlongs (1,003 metres) at Ascot as part of the Royal As ...

) and Lovegold. Enterprise started well and as the field entered the last quarter mile he moved into third place behind Eglamore and Phil, with the three colts drawing well clear of the rest. Racing in the centre of the trio, he gained the advantage inside the final furlong and won "rather easily" in "capital style" by half a length from Phil with Eglamore the same distance away in third place. Despite the close finish, Cannon always appeared to be in control of the race ensuring that Baird and his associates collected very large sums in winning bets. The winning time of 1:45.6 constituted a new record for the race. Enterprise was strongly fancied for the Epsom Derby, being quoted at odds of 9/4 a week before the race. When engaged in training on the Limekilns gallop the colt reportedly took fright, jumped a hedge onto a road and had to be retrieved from an adjacent field. Although he "wrenched" himself, the initial prognostications were good, but he was subsequently withdrawn from the contest.

1888: four-year-old season

On 27 July 1888 Enterprise started the 100/12 third choice in the betting for the

Eclipse Stakes The Eclipse Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown P ...

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 ...

but finished sixth behind the Duke of Westminster's colt

Orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a p ...

. On 22 September the colt started a 33/1 outsider for the £11,000

Lancashire Plate The Lancashire Plate was a flat horse race in Great Britain open to Thoroughbreds aged two years and over. It was run over seven furlongs at Manchester Racecourse in September from 1888 to 1893. It was one of the most valuable races in the country ...

over seven furlongs at Manchester Racecourse and came home unplaced behind

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Stud record

After his retirement from racing Enterprise became a breeding stallion but had very little success as a sire of winners. He was the damsire of King James, who won the

Prix d'Hédouville The Prix d'Hédouville is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles) at Longchamp in Ma ...

in 1907.

Pedigree

References

{{2000 Guineas Winners 1884 racehorse births Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 11-g 2000 Guineas winners