Lambert Simnel (1938–1952) 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 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

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 ...

, who raced during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was best known for winning the

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

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 ...

in 1941. As a two-year-old he won once and finished second in the

Dewhurst Stakes The Dewhurst Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), ...

In the following spring he won the 2000 Guineas, beating a field which included the subsequent classic winners

Owen Tudor Sir Owen Tudor (, 2 February 1461) was a Welsh courtier and the second husband of Queen Catherine of Valois (1401–1437), widow of King Henry V of England. He was the grandfather of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty. Background Owe ...

and Sun Castle. He was beaten when favourite for the

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

and finished 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 won once as a four-year-old in 1942 before being retired to stud. He stood as a breeding stallion in England and Argentina with limited success before his death in 1952.

Background

Lambert Simnel was a bay horse, bred by his owner

Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, (familiarly " Bendor"; 19 March 1879 – 19 July 1953) was a British landowner and one of the wealthiest men in the world. He was the son of Victor Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor, son of the ...

. He was from the first crop of foals sired by

Fair Trial A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

who won the

Queen Anne Stakes The Queen Anne Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and is scheduled to take pl ...

in 1935 before becoming a highly successful breeding stallion. His other progeny included the classic winners

Court Martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

Festoon A festoon (from French ''feston'', Italian ''festone'', from a Late Latin ''festo'', originally a festal garland, Latin ''festum'', feast) is a wreath or garland hanging from two points, and in architecture typically a carved ornament depicti ...

, and

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. Lambert Simnel's dam, Simnel was a moderate racehorse with a relatively undistinguished pedigree but was distantly related to Stargrass who became the grand-dam of the

Exbury Exbury is a village in Hampshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Exbury and Lepe. It lies just in the New Forest, near the Beaulieu River and about a mile from the Solent coast. It is best known as the location of Exbury House, built by ...

. Lambert Simnel's racing career took place during

. During the war, horse racing in Britain was subject to many restrictions. Several major racecourses, including

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 ...

and

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, were closed for the duration of the conflict, either for safety reasons, or because they were being used by the military. Many important races were rescheduled to new dates and venues, often at short notice, and all five of the

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

were usually run at Newmarket. The Duke of Westminster named his colt after a fifteenth century pretender and sent him into training with Fred Templeman at

Lambourn Lambourn is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It lies just north of the M4 Motorway between Swindon and Newbury, and borders Wiltshire to the west and Oxfordshire to the north. After Newmarket it is the largest centre of ra ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. Templeman had been a successful jockey, riding major winners including Grand Parade and

Irish Elegance Irish Elegance (7 March 1915 – February 1940) was a British racehorse and sire. A non-Thoroughbred horse who excelled at sprint distances and carried big weights to victory in major handicap races, he has been described as Britain's "greatest ...

before setting up as a trainer in 1921.

Racing career

1940: two-year-old season

As a two-year-old, Lambert Simnel ran three times and won one race. He produced his most notable effort when finishing second to the

filly A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

Fettes in the

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 ...

1941: three-year-old season

On 30 April 1941, Lambert Simnel contested the 133rd running of the 2000 Guineas which was run over the July course at Newmarket rather than its traditional home on the Rowley Mile. He was ridden by

Charlie Elliott Charles Standish Elliott MBE (24 April 1912 – 1 January 2004) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1932 and 1953, an international umpire and a part-time footballer. Elliott was born in Bolsover, Derbyshire. ...

and started at odds of 10/1 in a field of nineteen runners with the

Fred Darling Frederick Darling (1884–1953) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse trainer who trained a record-equalling seven English Derby winners. Darling's father, Sam Darling senior, was a trainer at Beckhampton, near Avebury in Wiltshire, who train ...

-trained

being made favourite. Lambert Simnel won by two lengths from Morogoro (the favourite's stable companion), with Sun Castle a length and a half away in third and Owen Tudor in fifth. In the New Derby, run over one and a half miles at the same course on 18 June, Lambert Simnel started 4/1 favourite ahead of Sun Castle and Morogoro in a twenty-runner field. He never looked likely to win and finished tenth behind Owen Tudor. Lambert Simnel was brought back in distance for the one-mile

St James's Palace Stakes The St James's Palace Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 7 furlongs and 213 yards (1,603 metres). It is schedu ...

, run that year at Newmarket, and produced a better effort, finishing second to Orthodox. With

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 ...

unavailable, a substitute "New St Leger" was run over one and three quarter miles at

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

on 6 September. Lambert Simnel finished unplaced behind Sun Castle. At the end of the 1941 season, Lambert Simnel was offered for sale and bought for 2,500

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 Mrs H. G. Thurston.

1942: four-year-old season

Lambert Simnel remained in training as a four-year-old and won one of his two races.

Assessment

In their book ''A Century of Champions'', based on a modified version of the Timeform system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Lambert Simnel an "inferior" winner of the 2000 Guineas.

Stud record

Lambert Simnel was retired from racing to become a breeding stallion. He stood in England for several years with moderate success before being exported to Argentina where he died in 1952.

Pedigree

*Lambert Simnel 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 ...

3 x 4 to Chaucer, meaning that this stallion appears in both the third and fourth generation of his pedigree.

References

{{2000 Guineas Winners 1938 racehorse births 1952 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 2-f 2000 Guineas winners