Prince Leopold (1813–1817) 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 winner of the 1816

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 ...

. Prince Leopold was bred by the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...

and raced as a three and four-year-old. The

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 ...

colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: *Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People * Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places *Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States ...

had an unruly temperament, and was

castrated Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmaceut ...

at the end of the 1817 racing season in an attempt to improve his behavior, but he died shortly after the procedure.

Background

Prince Leopold was bred by the

and was foaled at the Duke's Oakland Park stud in 1813. His sire, Hedley (foaled in 1803), raced at age four and five, winning a few 100-guinea races before he retired to stud in Wingfield,

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 ...

in 1809. Prince Leopold was Hedley's most notable son. Gramarie (foaled 1807), Prince Leopold's

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

, was also bred by the Duke of York and produced a full-sister to Prince Leopold, Leopoldine, that became the tail-female ancestress of several French stakes winners, most notably

Bois Roussel Bois Roussel (1935–1955) was a French-bred Thoroughbred champion racehorse and a leading broodmare sire. He won the 1938 Epsom Derby on his second racecourse appearance. Background He was named for Haras du Bois-Roussel, the breeding farm in A ...

. Gramarie also produced Bella Donna, the granddam of Derby winner

Amato Amato ( Calabrian: ; ) is an Arbëreshë ''comune'' and town in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region of Italy. History Amato is one of the oldest towns in Calabria. It is mentioned by the Greek philosopher Aristotle and by the Roman P ...

Racing career and death

Prince Leopold did not race as a two-year-old, and he started seven times in his three-year career with a total of two wins and one "walk over" (win by default). The colt's most important win was in 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 the Duke of York won the Derby a second time in 1822 with the colt

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

. The Duke of York's racing establishment was managed by the Duke's groom, Warwick Lake, and Prince Leopold was registered under Lake's name for most of his racing engagements.

1816: three-year-old season

The 1,575-

guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

was held on 30 May with 11 horses lining up for the start. The race favorite was the

Nectar who had won the

2,000 Guineas Stakes 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 the final strides of the race, Nectar and Prince Leopold battled for the win, with Prince Leopold winning by half a

length 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 Interna ...

. The Duke of York reportedly won several thousand pounds by betting on Prince Leopold to win the Derby. On 1 October at the First October meeting at Newmarket, Prince Leopold was third in 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 ...

being beaten by the colts Sovereign and Sir Richard. The next day, Prince Leopold received 125 guineas after a subscription race did not attract enough entries (termed as a "walk over"). On 17 October at the Second October meeting, Prince Leopold was fourth in the second class of the October Oatlands Stakes where the winner was his sire's five-year-old full-brother Wanderer.

1817: four-year-old season and death

At the Newmarket-Craven meeting, Prince Leopold won the

Port Stakes The Port Stakes was a flat horse race in Great Britain open to four-year-olds. It was run on the Two Middle Miles (T.M.M.) of the Beacon course at Newmarket over a distance of 2 miles, and was scheduled to take place each year in early or mid Apr ...

out of a field of five horses. At the First Spring meeting at Newmarket, Prince Leopold was beaten by Mr. Wyndham's colt Skim in a match race. On 5 May at Newmarket, Nectar beat Prince Leopold in a match race, and he finished third in a 150-guinea sweepstakes race at the same meeting a few days later. Towards the end of the 1817 racing season, Prince Leopold's "temper being so bad they could do nothing with him," the decision was made to castrate him. The

General Stud Book The ''General Stud Book'' is a breed registry for horses in Great Britain and Ireland. More specifically it is used to document the breeding of Thoroughbreds and related foundation bloodstock such as the Arabian horse. Today it is published e ...

reports that Prince Leopold died after the operation in 1817, but the ''Sporting Magazine'' lists his death year as 1818. The 1817 ''Racing Calendar'' reports that Lord Stawell's horse Pandour received a forfeit from Prince Leopold (listed as dead) on 29 September 1817, making the 1817 death date more likely.

Pedigree

References

{{Epsom Derby Winners 1813 racehorse births 1817 racehorse deaths Epsom Derby winners Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 2-a