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Orville (1799–1826) 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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. In a racing career which lasted from August 1801 until October 1807 the horse ran thirty-four times and won twenty races. In his early career he was based in Yorkshire and won 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 ...
St Leger Stakes 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 ...
at Doncaster Racecourse as a three-year-old in 1802. He had some success in the next two seasons before being sold to the
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
and being moved to campaign in the south of England. In his last three seasons he won fifteen races at long distances, becoming particularly effective over Newmarket's four mile Beacon Course, and winning several match races against the leading stayers of the day. After his racing career ended he became a highly successful breeding stallion.


Background

Orville was a bay horse with a white star bred by his owner William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam. He was from the first crop of foals sired by the St Leger winner
Beningbrough Beningbrough is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. The population as taken at the 2011 Census was less than 100. Details are included in the civil parish of Shipton, North Yorkshire. Beningbroug ...
, who at the time was based at Shipton in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
. Beningbrough went on to sire the
Oaks Stakes 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 ( ...
winner Briseis and the Doncaster Cup winner Scud, who in turn sired The Derby winners
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and Sam. Orville's dam Evelina, also bred by Fitzwilliam, was a half-sister of the St Leger winner
Pewett Pewett (1786 – after 1812) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare best known for winning the classic St Leger Stakes in 1789. Her name was spelled in various ways including Pewet, Pewit and Pewitt and would appear to be a refe ...
, and went on to produce the successful stallions Cervantes and Paulowitz.


Racing career


1801: two-year-old season

Until 1913 there was no requirement for British racehorses to have official names (two-year-olds were allowed to race unnamed until 1946). The colt who became known as Orville raced unnamed in 1801, being described on his debut as "Ld Fitzwilliam's b.c. by Beningbrough, out of Evelina". At
York Racecourse York Racecourse is a horse racing venue in York, North Yorkshire, England. It is the third biggest racecourse in Britain in terms of total prize money offered, and second behind Ascot in prize money offered per meeting. It attracts around 350 ...
in August, the colt finished fourth of the five runners in a Sweepstakes. On 23 September Lord Fitzwilliam's colt recorded his first success when he won a race over one mile at Doncaster Racecourse in which he started the 4/5 favourite against four opponents.


1802: three-year-old season

Orville made his first appearance as a three-year-old at York on 25 August. In a Sweepstakes over a distance of two miles he finished second to Mr Wardell's colt Sir John. Three days later, over the same course and distance he finished second of the four runners in another Sweepstakes, the race being won by the favourite, a colt named Peter. A month later, Orville was one of seven colts to contest the
St Leger Stakes 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 ...
at Doncaster Racecourse. He started at odds of 5/1 with Christopher Wilson's unnamed colt by Young Eclipse being made the 4/5 favourite. Orville's stable companion Sparrowhawk was the second choice in the betting at 5/2. Orville won the race from Pipylin, with Sparrowhawk in third place. Two days later, Orville ran in the
weight-for-age {{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Weight for Age (WFA) is a term in thoroughbred horse racing which is one of the conditions for a race. History The principle of WFA was developed by Admiral Rous, a handicapper with the English Jockey Club. Rous ...
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 ...
over a distance of four miles. He finished second of the eight runners behind the four-year-old Alonzo.


1803: four-year-old season

Orville failed to win in three starts in 1803. At York in May he finished second to Lennox in a two-mile Sweepstakes. At the same course in August he finished second to Duxbury in a four-mile race and second again when beaten by Mr Mellish's horse Stockton four days later.


1804: five-year-old season

Orville began his five-year-old season by winning a two-mile Sweepstakes at York on 29 May. He returned to York in August when he finished last of the five runners behind Haphazard in a four-mile subscription race and second to R Garfoth's horse by Traveller in a similar event two days later. In September at Doncaster Orville won the two mile Free Handicap Sweepstakes and a four-mile match race against Mr Mellish's horse Stockton. In October, Orville was sent south to run at Newmarket where he finished second to
Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...
in a race over the four mile Beacon Course.


1805: six-year-old season

Before the start of the 1805 season, Orville was sold and entered into the ownership of the
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
. Following a dispute with the Jockey Club in 1791, the Prince's horses did not run at Newmarket: when Orville appeared at the course he was temporarily transferred to the ownership of Delme Radcliffe. On 27 July Orville ran his first race as a six-year-old in the four mile Somerset Stakes at
Brighton Racecourse Brighton Racecourse is an English horse racing venue located a mile to the northeast of the centre of Brighton, Sussex, owned by the Arena Racing Company. Location and layout It is situated on Whitehawk Hill, on the edge of the South Downs, ab ...
. He finished fourth but was declared the winner after the first three finishers were disqualified for "not having run the proper Course". Three days later, at the same course, Orville won the Brighton Gold Cup, beating Houghton Lass and two others. The cup for this race had been donated by the Prince of Wales, who was therefore the winner of his own trophy. At Lewes in August, Orville won a King's Plate in two four-mile heats, and a subscription race in which he defeated
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. On 31 October, Orville again failed to show his best form at Newmarket, where he finished unplaced in a handicap race over the two mile "Ditch-In" course.


1806: seven-year-old season

Orville began his sixth season by beating the St Leger winner
Quiz A quiz is a form of game or mind sport in which players attempt to answer questions correctly on one or several specific topics. Quizzes can be used as a brief assessment in education and similar fields to measure growth in knowledge, abilities, ...
over the Beacon Course at Newmarket in May. In the summer he finished third in the Somerset Stakes and then claimed two prizes at Lewes without having to race: Houghton Lass was scratched from a scheduled match race against Orville who also walked over in a Sweepstakes. Orville completed his season with three races at Newmarket in October. He defeated the
Duke of Grafton Duke of Grafton is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1675 by Charles II of England for Henry FitzRoy, his second illegitimate son by the Duchess of Cleveland. The most notable duke of Grafton was Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke ...
's mare
Parasol An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy (building), canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunburn, sunlight. The term ''umbr ...
and the St Leger winner
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over the Beacon Course and then stepped down in distance to win a 200
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match against Mr Mellish's horse
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(another St Leger winner) over the Abington mile. On the same day as his match with Sancho he was then beaten by the five-year-old Bustard, conceding six pounds, in a four-mile subscription race.


1807: eight-year-old season

Orville began his final season at Newmarket in March where he finished fourth in the Oatlands Stakes, a handicap race in which he carried top weight of 132 pounds. At the next meeting in April he won a Free Handicap Sweepstakes over the Beacon Course, conceding eight pounds to the 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 fashion ...
. In August Orville walked over for the Somerset Stakes at Brighton and then contested three events at Lewes. He won a match against Pelisse, a Sweepstakes, beating Cerberus and the Ladies' Plate in which he conceded forty-one pounds to a three-year-old colt named Brighton. Orville ended his career at Newmarket in autumn with two further wins beating Canopus in a subscription race over the Beacon Course on 28 September and Parasol in a similar event on 9 October.


Stud record

Orville retired from racing to become a breeding stallion. He was initially based at
Six Mile Bottom Six Mile Bottom is a hamlet within the parish of Little Wilbraham, near Cambridge in England. History In the 1790s the only building at Six Mile Bottom was a paddock run by a stable keeper. In 1802, a sizeable country house was built nearby. Ea ...
near Newmarket where he stood at a fee of 10 guineas, with a half-guinea for the groom. He moved to Newmarket the following year and was then sent north to stand in Yorkshire from 1810. Orville was an immediate success at stud, siring the Derby winner Octavius from his first crop of foals. His other classic winners were
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, Zoe, Ebor and Emilius. The last-named became a successful stallion, as did Andrew, the sire of
Cadland Cadland (1825–1837) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from April 1828 to 1831 he ran twenty-five times and won fifteen races, with several of his wins being walkovers in which all of his opponents were w ...
, Pollio, the sire of Pussy, and Muley, the sire of
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,
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and Little Wonder. Orville was also the broodmare sire of the St Leger winners
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and Jerry and the Oaks winners Songstress and Miss Letty. Orville was the
Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland The title of champion, or leading, sire of racehorses in Great Britain and Ireland is awarded to the stallion whose offspring have won the most prize money in Britain and Ireland during the flat racing season. The current champion is Frankel, who ...
in 1817 when his offspring won 41 races and £6,439 and again in 1823 with 22 races and £9,978. Orville was
euthanised Animal euthanasia ( euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditi ...
in November 1826.


Pedigree

*Orville 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 × 3 to Herod, meaning that this stallion appears twice in the third generation of his pedigree.


Weblinks


References

{{St Leger Winners 1799 racehorse births 1826 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 8-a St Leger winners