John Bull (1789–1812) 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 ...

racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from April 1792 to April 1793, he ran three times and won two races. In 1792, he won the Great Produce Stakes on his racecourse debut and then took The Derby on his only other start of the year. He finished unplaced in his only subsequent race.

Background

John Bull was "a very large, strong" chestnut horse bred by his owner

Richard Grosvenor, 1st Earl Grosvenor Richard Grosvenor, 1st Earl Grosvenor (; 18 June 1731 – 5 August 1802), known as Sir Richard Grosvenor, Bt between 1755 and 1761 and as The Lord Grosvenor between 1761 and 1784, was a British peer, racehorse owner and art collector. H ...

. He was the second of seven foals bred by Lord Grosvenor from his mare Xantippe, a daughter of Eclipse.

Racing career

1792: three-year-old season

John Bull made his first appearance at the Newmarket Craven meeting early in 1792. The Great Produce Stakes was run over ten

furlong 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 hor ...

s "Across the Flat" and attracted 35 entries, each paying 200

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

, of which nine appeared to run in the race on 9 April. John Bull started the 5/4 favourite as part of a two-horse entry by Lord Grosvenor, and won beating Ormond and Hotspur, claiming a first prize of 4,200 guineas. At

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

on 24 May John Bull started the 4/6 favourite for the Derby in a field of seven runners, with

Lord Derby Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869, known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley) was a British statesman, three-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

's colt Bustard the second choice in the betting at 5/2. Ridden by

Frank Buckle Francis Buckle (1766–1832), known to the British horse racing public as "The Governor", was an English jockey, who has been described as "the jockey non-pareil" of the opening quarter of the 19th century, and the man who "brought respectabi ...

, he won from the 100/1 outsider Speculator, with Bustard third. John Bull was scheduled to run a match race at Newmarket on 16 October against

Lord Foley Baron Foley is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Great Britain, both times for members of the same family. The first creation came in 1712 in favour of Thomas Foley, who had earlier represented Stafford in the House of Co ...

's four-year-old Vermin, the 1791 Derby runner-up. He was withdrawn from the match and Lord Grosvenor paid a 300 guinea forfeit to Lord Foley.

1793: four-year-old season

More than ten months after his Derby win, John Bull reappeared at the 1793 Craven meeting where he ran in a four-mile

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for four-year-olds, which attracted five other runners. He finished unplaced behind St. George, Speculator and Cayenne.

Stud career

John Bull began his breeding career at Oxcroft near

Balsham Balsham is a rural village and civil parish in the county of Cambridgeshire, England, which has much expanded since the 1960s and is now one of several dormitory settlements of Cambridge. The village is south east of the centre of Cambridge be ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

. In 1796 he stood at a fee of 20 guineas in with a guinea for the groom, the same as the established stallion

Potoooooooo Potoooooooo or variations of Pot-8-Os (1773 – November 1800) was an 18th-century thoroughbred racehorse who won over 30 races and defeated some of the greatest racehorses of his time. He went on to be an important sire, whose leading runners i ...

at the same stud. A year later he was moved to Figdale, near Chester and his fee reduced to 15 guineas. From 1808 he was moved to Scotland where he stood at Auchins in Ayrshire at 10 guineas until at least 1810. John Bull died in the spring of 1812. He was a successful sire of winners. John Bull was described as the second most popular stallion of his time, after

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 ...

. Copenhagen was the Duke's mount during the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

, carrying him for 17 hours continuously during the battle.

Pedigree

Sire line tree

*John BullByerley Turk Line
/ref>
/ref>
/ref> **Admiral Nelson **Alfred **Fortitude **Georgiana **Muley Moloch **Cesario **Gauntlet ***Paddy Bull **Ardrossan ***Sir Malichi Malagrowther

References

{{Epsom Derby Winners 1789 racehorse births 1812 racehorse deaths Epsom Derby winners Racehorses bred in the Kingdom of Great Britain Racehorses trained in the Kingdom of Great Britain Thoroughbred family 13 Byerley Turk sire line