Smolensko (1810 – 10 January 1829) was a
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 that won the 1813
Epsom Derby and
2,000 Guineas Stakes. Smolensko raced for two years and was retired to stud in 1815. He stood for seven years for his breeder, Charles Bunbury, and spent the remainder of his stud career in
Surrey and
Suffolk. Before his death at age 19 in 1829, he sired the filly Gulnare (winner of the 1827
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 ...
) and the colt Jerry (winner of the 1824
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 ...
).
Background
Smolensko was foaled in 1810 at Barton Hall near
Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A ...
, the ancestral home of his breeder
Charles Bunbury.
His sire,
Sorcerer, was also bred by Bunbury and was a half-brother of the 1801 Derby winning mare
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 ...
. Sorcerer was a large
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 ...
horse that was a successful racer and sire. Smolensko's dam, Wowski, was bred by Sir Ferdinando Poole, owned by Mr Hallett, and was a half-sister of the important sire
Waxy. Another of Wowski's offspring was Smolensko's full-brother Thunderbolt, a successful racer but short-lived sire. Wowski produced thirteen foals between 1802 and 1822. Smolensko was her fifth foal and she produced seven full-brothers to Smolensko who all inherited the black coat of their parents.
Smolensko was a black colt with a coat mixed with a "few white hairs,"
a small white
star and a sock on his right hind foot. He was "about sixteen and a half
hands high" and had a calm and docile temperament. A German count visiting Sir Charles in 1818 described him as, "... a brilliant animal with a beautiful high and formed neck and excellent shoulders and withers. His legs on contrary are in proportion to rest of the body rather longer than those of his father and his arms and hocks are not so broad as those of his parent however notwithstanding his considerable performances his legs are perfectly free from all blemishes."
Racing career
Smolensko did not run as a two-year-old. In his two-year racing career, he ran eight times and won seven races, finishing third once and forfeiting a race due to injury. His most important wins were in the 1813
Epsom Derby and
2,000 Guineas Stakes. He ran only twice as a four-year-old before being retired to Bunbury's stud in 1815.
1813: three-year-old season
Spring
On the first start of Smolensko's racing career at the First Spring Meeting at
Newmarket, he won the
2,000 Guineas Stakes on 4 May, beating
The Oaks winning filly Music and nine other horses. The next day, Smolensko won the Newmarket Stakes from the filly Scheherazade in a ten horse field that included the fillies Music and Wilful (sired by
Waxy).
Summer
On 3 June, Smolensko started in the
Derby Stakes
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 ...
held 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 ...
against a field of eleven other horses. Before the race, Smolensko was paraded before the assembled crowd and there "was a burst of admiration on all sides"
with ''Sporting Magazine'' commenting on his "fine eye, the splendid symmetry of his limbs, the grace and power of his action and his perfect docility" before the race.
Smolensko bruised the sole of one of his hooves during a training run on the Friday before the Derby and his regular
shoes
A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...
were replaced with solid metal plates for the running.
At three o'clock, the race began with Smolensko soon taking the lead, followed closely by
Lord Jersey's colt Caterpillar. At Tadnor's Point (
Tattenham Corner, a sharp turn in the track) Caterpillar took the lead from Smolensko, but one hundred yards from the finish, Smolensko, under jockey Goodisson's command, "shot past Caterpillar like lightning, winning easily by a length."
The excitement of Smolensko's Derby win led to a few accidents in the crowd with commentary in ''Sporting Magazine'' reporting that, "Many falls took place, some few persons were run over, and of consequence a few accidents occurred."
In the most serious occurrence, "a
phaeton was unfortunately overthrown, and a lady who was in it much injured, and a gentleman who endeavoured to prevent the accident, had his arm broken."
At
Egham
Egham ( ) is a university town in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. First settled in the Bronze Age, the town was under the control of Chertsey Abbey for much of the Middle Ages. In 1215, Magna ...
on 25 August, Smolensko won the 175-guinea Magna Charta Stakes from the
Duke of York's colt Eurus.
Autumn
At the First October Meeting at Newmarket, Smolensko finished third in a £96 sweepstakes race to the colts The Corporal and Macedonian. He was injured during the race, straining "one of his back sinews."
With Smolensko still recovering from his injury at Newmarket, his connections forfeited an 18 October match race with the colt Benedict, paying 80 guineas to
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 ...
. On 1 November at the
Houghton Houghton may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Houghton, South Australia, a town near Adelaide
* Houghton Highway, the longest bridge in Australia, between Redcliffe and Brisbane in Queensland
* Houghton Island (Queensland)
Canada
*Houghton Township, ...
Meeting, Smolensko beat
Grosvenor's colt Redmond in a
match race
A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.
In sailboat racing it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams consi ...
.
1814: four-year-old season
Smolensko only started twice in 1814. At the Newmarket-Craven meeting on 12 April, Smolensko won a
match race
A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.
In sailboat racing it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams consi ...
against the colt Tiger. At the First Spring Meeting on 29 April at Newmarket, Smolensko won a 450-guinea sweepstakes race against four other horses, beating the colts Pyramus and Punic. Smolensko retired from racing in 1814 and became a breeding stallion for Charles Bunbury the following year.
Stud career
Smolensko was retired to stud in 1815 and stood at
Great Barton until 1 March when he was relocated to the Oatlands stud in
Surrey where he commanded a 20-guinea stud fee and a 1-guinea groom fee.
Charles Bunbury died on 31 March 1821, and upon his death, the landlord (Nathaniel Garland) of one of Bunbury's leased estates claimed 14 horses from Bunbury's stable as a
heriot
Heriot, from Old English ''heregeat'' ("war-gear"), was originally a death-duty in late Anglo-Saxon England, which required that at death, a nobleman provided to his king a given set of military equipment, often including horses, swords, shields ...
. Smolensko had recently been sent to a stable 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 ...
and was not present at Barton Hall during the incident. Garland later sued in court for the right to claim and include Smolensko as one of the 14 horses in the heriot. The court ruled that since Smolensko was not initially included in the list, Garland did not have a right to him stating: "in consequence of the bailiff's saying he had enough when he took the list, the horse Smolensko is therefore not included."
Smolensko was bought after Bunbury's death in 1821 by Richard Wilson for approximately 1,300 guineas
and was relocated to
Bildeston, Suffolk.
Wilson sold Smolensko to John Theobald and he was relocated to
Stockwell, Surrey where he stood for 10 guineas per mare and a half guinea groom's fee. Smolensko died on 10 January 1829 at the age of 19 years at Mr. Theobald's stud in Stockwell
and was buried in the paddock.
Smolensko is not considered to be an extraordinary sire, but he did sire one winner of
The Oaks (the filly Gulnare) and one
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 ...
winner (the colt
Jerry).
Pedigree
References
{{Epsom Derby Winners
1810 racehorse births
1829 racehorse deaths
Epsom Derby winners
Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom
Thoroughbred family 18
Godolphin Arabian sire line
2000 Guineas winners