Highflyer (1774 – 18 October 1793) was an undefeated

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 Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

and a very successful sire of the 18th century.Ahnert, Rainer L. (editor in chief), “Thoroughbred Breeding of the World”, Pozdun Publishing, Germany, 1970

Breeding

Bred by Sir Charles Bunbury, the fifth Baronet, the colt was foaled at Great Barton, in 1774. Highflyer's sire was the important Herod, one of the foundation stallions for the classic Thoroughbred, and himself an excellent racehorse and stud, producing

Florizel Florizel (1768–1791) was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British Thoroughbred racehorse. He was a Bay (horse), bay son of Herod (horse), Herod foaled in 1768. As a sire he produced 175 winners who won a total of 75,901 pounds. Offspring include ...

(b.c. 1768) and

Woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

(ch.c. 1773). His dam, Rachel (1763) was by Blank, and out of a mare by

Regulus Regulus is the brightest object in the constellation Leo and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation designated α Leonis, which is Latinized to Alpha Leonis, and abbreviated Alpha Leo or α Leo. Re ...

, both stallions by the

Godolphin Arabian The Godolphin Arabian (–1753), also known as the Godolphin Barb, was an Arabian horse who was one of three stallions that founded the modern Thoroughbred (the others were the Darley Arabian and the Byerley Turk). He was named after his best-kno ...

, making Rachel inbred 2x3 to the great stallion. Blank also sired Pacolet (1763). Highflyer was a half-brother to Mark Anthony (b c 1767 Spectator) who sired The Derby winner Aimwell.Thoroughbred Bloodlines - Highflyer
Retrieved on 2009-8-17

Conformation

Highflyer was a bay stallion with a sock on a hind

pastern The is a part of the leg of a horse between the fetlock and the top of the hoof. It incorporates the long pastern bone (proximal phalanx) and the short pastern bone (middle phalanx), which are held together by two sets of paired ligaments to fo ...

. The

Arabian The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

influence could still be seen in him, having a light overall build, with a small, refined, slightly dished head, an arched neck, short back, relatively flat croup, and high-set tail. His abilities on the track could have been foreseen in his very muscular hindquarters, sloping shoulder, and deep barrel.

Racing career

Highflyer began his racing career at a time when the trend was shifting from starting Thoroughbreds at the track at age five, to instead begin racing them at a younger age. His maiden race was in October, in a two-mile event for three-year-olds at Newmarket, which he won. He returned to Newmarket the following year, beating out the four-year-olds in both the July and October meet, before winning an open stakes, as well as a match against the

Matchem Matchem (1748 – 21 February 1781), sometimes styled as Match 'em, was a Thoroughbred racehorse who had a great influence on the breed, and was the earliest of three 18th century stallions that produced the Thoroughbred sire-lines of today, in ...

son, Dictator. In 1779, he won an additional two races before Lord Bolingbroke accepted an offer from Richard Tattersall, who bought the colt for 2,500 pounds. Highflyer continued to race, winning with a walk over at Nottingham and in York at the Great Subscription Stakes. He then won the Great Subscription Stakes for a second time, before winning the King's Purse at Lichfield. He finished his racing career undefeated in 14 race starts.

Stud record

Tattersall's grand plan for Highflyer was built to make him rich, and it certainly accomplished its task. It rested on two main points. First, Tattersall would breed Highflyer to as many mares as possible, bringing in income from the stud fee (a practice for which he was criticised, as many thought he was over-breeding the animal and later pointed to Highflyer's death at 19 to be proof of that fact). To help accomplish this, he stood his stallion at his Red Barns farm for the initial fee of 15 guineas, eventually raising the fee to 50 guineas. His second tactic was to buy up as many daughters of

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

as he could, breed them to Highflyer, and sell them on in-foal. This combined the blood of Herod and

to produce some excellent racehorses who would form the basis of the modern Thoroughbred. Estimates have found that Tattersall made at least 15,000 pounds each year off of Highflyer breedings, from which he built a mansion at aptly named it Highflyer Hall. However, Tattersall was quick to credit the stallion with his financial success. When Highflyer died on 18 October 1793, he was buried in his paddock, and his owner gave the great horse the epitaph: "Here lieth the perfect and beautiful symmetry of the much lamented Highflyer, by whom and his wonderful offspring the celebrated Tattersall acquired a noble fortune, but was not ashamed to acknowledge it." Highflyer was the Leading Sire for 15 years (1785–1796, 1798), during which time he produced 469 winners, including three Derby winners, three

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 ...

winners, and an

Epsom Oaks The Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards (2, ...

winner. * Delpini: 1781 grey colt, out of a Blank mare (he was 3x2 inbred to Blank). His best get included two Oaks winners (Scotia and Theophania), a St. Leger winner (Symmetry), the stallions Evander, Seymour, and Timothy, and the daughter Zara. * Diamond: 1792 brown colt, out of a

daughter, his many wins included the 1796 Jockey Club Stakes, Newcastle's King's Plate, the King's Plate at Newmarket First October and King's Plate at Newmarket First Spring, the four-mile Oxford Cup, the King's Plate at Nottingham, a 1,000 guineas match against Shuttle, and the Jockey Club Plate at Newmarket. He also finished second in the two-mile Great Produce Stakes at York, fourth in the Derby. * Eliza: 1791 bay filly, out of an Eclipse mare, won the Town Plate (Newmarket), a Produce Stakes (York), the four-mile Richmond Cup, 2nd in the Oaks and in the Craven Stakes (Newmarket), third in the four-mile

Doncaster Cup The Doncaster Cup is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 2 miles 1 furlong and 197 yards (3,600 metr ...

and Doncaster Stakes. Produced Scud (Doncaster winner, sired two Derby and one Oaks winners) and the dam to Consul (winner of the Doncaster Cup). * Escape: sired the mare Flight, who was second dam of both

Birdcatcher Birdcatcher (1833–1860), or Irish Birdcatcher, was a Thoroughbred racehorse and a leading sire. Breeding Foaled in 1833 at the Brownstown Stud, in Ireland, Birdcatcher was by the Irish Thoroughbred stallion Sir Hercules, who lost only once, ...

and

Faugh-a-Ballagh Faugh-a-Ballagh (foaled 1841 in Ireland) was a Thoroughbred racehorse. A brother to Birdcatcher, Faugh-a-Ballagh was sold to E. J. Erwin in 1842. He ran once as a two-year-old at the Doncaster's Champagne Stakes, finishing third to The Cure an ...

. * Grey Highflyer: 1782 grey filly, out of a Matchem mare (1), was the dam of Hambletonian. * Huncamunca: 1787 brown filly, produced Champion (won the Derby and St. Leger), second dam of the Oaks winners, Maid of Orleans and Charlotte, and third-dam of Mameluke (Derby winner)Craig, Dennis, ''Breeding Racehorses from Cluster Mares'', J A Allen, London, 1964 * Maria: 1791 bay filly, dam to Champignon (winner of the Ascot Gold Cup) *

Noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Great B ...

: 1783 bay colt, won the 1786 Epsom Derby * Omphale: 1781 bay mare, won the 1784 St. Leger * Prunella: 1788 bay filly, out of a Snap mare, dam of Derby-winner Waxy Pope (by Waxy), Oaks winner

Pelisse A pelisse was originally a short fur-trimmed jacket which hussar light-cavalry soldiers from the 17th century onwards usually wore hanging loose over the left shoulder, ostensibly to prevent sword cuts. The name also came to refer to a fashionab ...

(by Whiskey), and

Penelope Penelope ( ; Ancient Greek: Πηνελόπεια, ''Pēnelópeia'', or el, Πηνελόπη, ''Pēnelópē'') is a character in Homer's ''Odyssey.'' She was the queen of Ithaca and was the daughter of Spartan king Icarius and naiad Periboea. Pe ...

(by Trumpator) * Rockingham: 1781 bay colt, out of a Matchem daughter, produced Castianira (dam of the American sire

Sir Archy Sir Archy (or Archy, Archie, or Sir Archie; 1805–1833) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse considered one of the best racehorses of his time and later one of the most important sires in American history. He was inducted into the National Muse ...

(by

Diomed Diomed, foaled in 1777, was an English Thoroughbred race horse who won 1780 Epsom Derby, the inaugural running of Epsom Derby, the Derby in 1780. He was subsequently a successful sire in the United States. Racing years A bright chestnut standin ...

) *

Sir Peter Teazle Sir Peter Teazle (1784 – 18 August 1811) was a good British bred Thoroughbred racehorse, a Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland nine times, and carried on the sire line of Herod. Breeding Sir Peter Teazle was a brown horse bred and own ...

: 1784 brown colt, out of a Snap mare, was his best son. He won 16 races during his life, including the Derby in 1787. He then followed the way of Highflyer, becoming Leading Sire for several years (1799–1802, 1804–1809), and siring five Derby winners, four St. Leger winners, and two Oaks winners, as well as many other very important colts and fillies who had a lasting impact on the breed. *

Skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

: 1786 bay colt, won the 1789 Epsom Derby * Spadille: won the 1787 St. Leger * Traveller: 1785 bay colt, a good racehorse winning the four-mile Stand Plate, the Great Subscription Purse at York, and matches against Grey Diomed and Meteor (by Eclipse). * Volante: won the 1792 Oaks * Unknown "Eagle's Dam": 1785 bay filly, produced Spread Eagle and Didelot (both won the Derby), and the sire Eagle who was imported to the US. * Young Flora: won the 1788 St. Leger Other sons of Highflyer include Pharamond, Slope, Walnut, Sour-Crout, and St. George. His daughters also became the dams of Meteora, Coelia, N.M.B.O., Dick Andrews, Orville, Paulowitz, Cervantes, Sancho, Oscar, and Bedford. The Highflyer-Eclipse combination produced Skyscraper, Lambinos, St. George, Volante, and Oberon.

Pedigree

''Note: b. =

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

, blk. =

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

, br. =

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

, ch. =

Chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

Sire line tree

*HighflyerByerley Turk Line
/ref>
/ref>
/ref> **Pharamond **Slope **Sour-Crout **Delpini
/ref> ***Timothy ***Symmetry ***Seymour ****Moses **Rockingham **

General Stud Book
/ref> ***Sheet Anchor **

Sir Peter Teazle
/ref> ***Agonistes ***Barbarossa ***Expectation ***Knowlsey ***Pipylin ***Robin Redbreast ***Trafalgar ***Young Sir Peter Teazle *** Ambrosio ***Old England ****Brown Bread *****Rasping ***Stamford ****Viscount ***

Sir Harry Sir Harry is the name given to nine different Thoroughbred racehorses Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for com ...

Sir Harry
/ref> ****Sir Alfred ****Sir Hal ****Moses ***

Archduke Archduke (feminine: Archduchess; German: ''Erzherzog'', feminine form: ''Erzherzogin'') was the title borne from 1358 by the Habsburg rulers of the Archduchy of Austria, and later by all senior members of that dynasty. It denotes a rank within ...

****Roseden ***Sir Solomon *** HaphazardHaphazard
/ref> ****Don Cossack ****X Y Z ****

Filho da Puta Filho da Puta (, 14 April 1812 – 25 August 1835) was a Great Britain, British Thoroughbred Horse racing, racehorse. He won nine of his 12 races including the St. Leger Stakes and Doncaster Cup, Doncaster Gold Cup. He also sired St. Leger w ...

*****Dr Faustus ***** Hedgeford *****

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 ...

*****Colwick ****Antar ****Reginald ****Figaro ***

Walton Walton may refer to: People * Walton (given name) * Walton (surname) * Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer Places Canada * Walton, Nova Scotia, a community ** Walton River (Nova Scotia) *Walton, Ontario, a hamlet United Kingdo ...

Walton
/ref> ****

Phantom Phantom may refer to: * Spirit (animating force), the vital principle or animating force within all living things ** Ghost, the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living Aircraft * Boeing Phantom Ray, a stealthy un ...

*****

Cedric Cedric () is a masculine given name invented by Walter Scott in the 1819 novel ''Ivanhoe''.Sir Walter Scott, Graham Tulloch (ed.), ''Ivanhoe'', vol. 8 of The Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels, Edinburgh University Press, 1998, , "explanator ...

*****

Pindarrie Pindarrie (foaled 1817) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He raced five times and won the Riddlesworth Stakes and 2000 Guineas Stakes. He was owned by George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton, and trained by Robert Robson. He only raced in 1820 ...

*****Enamel ***** Middleton ****Vandyke Junior *****The Flyer ****Rainbow *****Hercule *****Franck ****Partisan *****Godolphin *****

Mameluke Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') i ...

*****Patron *****Glaucus *****Gladiator *****Venison ****Nectar ****Waterloo ****Arbutus ****

St. Patrick ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

St. Patrick
/ref> *****St. Francis ***

Ditto DITTO is a company that sells software that aids eyewear companies sell their products online using virtual fitting. Originally DITTO was a retailer that sold designer prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses. The company is based in San Francisco, ...

****Luzborough *****Picton ***Sir Oliver ****Doge of Venice ****Olive ***Caleb Quot'em ***Sir Paul ****Otho ****PaulowitzPaulowitz
/ref> *****King Cole *****Little Boy Blue *****Paul Pry *****Cain *****Sharpshooter *****Changeling *****Archibald *****Ernest *** FyldenerRacing Calendar 1817
/ref> ****Buffalo ****Bramshill ****Tozer ***

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

***Cardinal York ****Advance *****Pioneer ***Petronius **SpadilleSpadille
/ref> ***Dion ***Quatorze ***Vole ***Manilla ***Spindleshanks **Escape
/ref> ***Emigrant **Traveller **

Skyscraper
/ref> ***Skyrocket **Walnut *** Ashton **St. George *** Pan **Oberon **MoorcockMoorcock
/ref> ***Ptarmigan ***Heathpoult ***Plunder **Diamond

References

External links

{{Commonscat, Highflyer (horse)
Thoroughbred Heritage: Highflyer
1774 racehorse births 1793 racehorse deaths Thoroughbred family 13 Racehorses bred in the Kingdom of Great Britain Racehorses trained in the Kingdom of Great Britain Undefeated racehorses Byerley Turk sire line