Wool Winder (5 April 1904–28 November 1928), also known as Woolwinder, was a British-bred and raced Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1907
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 ...
. Wool Winder excelled as a three-year-old but suffered from health problems in his later career, running rarely in 1908 and 1909. Sold and exported to Austria-Hungary in 1909, he became a successful sire of winners in the 1910s and 1920s before his death of an intestinal infection in 1928.
Background
Foaled on 5 April 1904
at the stud of his breeder
Edward William David Baird at
Exning
Exning is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England.
It lies just off the A14 trunk road, roughly east-northeast of Cambridge, and south-southeast of Ely. The nearest large town is Newmarket.
T ...
,
Wool Winder was sired by Martagon, winner of the 1892
Ascot Gold Vase and
Goodwood Cup
The Goodwood Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 2 miles (3,219 ...
.
Martagon was owned by Edward Baird's brother, Douglas Baird.
Wool Winder was the first foal of his dam, St. Windeline, who was second to
Sceptre
A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty.
Antiquity
Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia
The ''Was'' and other ...
in the
1,000 Guineas
The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 ...
.
St. Windeline was an ill-tempered mare that was prone to kick, notably injuring
Theodore Andrea Cook and losing a
shoe
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 ...
before running in the Oaks. She also produced Shepherd King, a full-brother to Wool Winder, that was second to Sasanof in the
Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...
and became a successful sire in Australia.
Wool Winder was a large
bay colt with black points and a small white
star
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
that was described as "beautifully-actioned".
He was trained at Newmarket by Harry Thomas Enoch.
Racing career
1906: two-year-old season
Wool Winder ran twice in 1906. He was a late developer and was not entered in a race until the July meeting at Newmarket. Running in the Fulbourne Stakes, he was second to Prince of Orange. Wool Winder won the Alington Plate at the Newmarket Second October meeting, easily beating Hill Sprite by two lengths.
1907: three-year-old season
![Edward William Baird](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Edward_William_Baird.jpg)
In April Wool Winder won the Castle Plate, a one and a quarter mile race run at Warwick. Ridden by Otto Madden,
Wool Winder was second 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 ...
on 5 June to
Orby
__NOTOC__
Orby is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.OS Explorer map: Skegness, Alford & Spilsby: (1:25 000): It is situated approximately east from the town of Spilsby, and west from the seaside ...
by two
lengths
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 Intern ...
, beating third-place finisher
Slieve Gallion
Slieve Gallion () is a mountain in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is the easternmost of the Sperrin Mountains. It reaches a height of and dominates the western shore of Lough Neagh. Its prominent northeastern summit has a transmit ...
by half a length. The colt had not been in contention until the last quarter mile but then made rapid progress in the closing stages: he was considered an unlucky loser, with Madden being criticised for giving him too much ground to make up.
On 15 June he won the Duchess of York Plate at Hurst Park and on 20 June won the 44th New Biennial Stakes.
At Lingfield, Wool Winder emulated his dam by winning the £1,675 Lingfield Park Plate by beating the 1906
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 ...
winner Troutbeck, followed closely by a win in the
Sussex Stakes
The Sussex Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and ...
. On 15 August, he won the City of London's Breeders' Foal Stakes, for which St. Windeline
walked-over in 1902, at 100 to 15 odds.
On 11 September, Wool Winder won the St. Leger Stakes. He was the betting favourite at 11 to 10 and was uncontested for most of the running, crossing the finish by six lengths over Baltinglass, Acclaim and Larig. Wool Winder ran eight times in 1907 and won £10,556 for Baird.
1908: four-year-old season
Heralded as a top prospect for the coming season, Wool Winder was unplaced to the colt Succor in his first outing at the
Newmarket March Stakes. Baird attributed the loss to the high weight Wool Winder carried in the running, more than Succor. Approached by representatives of the Hungarian government stud in March, Baird refused to sell Wool Winder for £32,000. Wool Winder's form suffered late in the season, and his training was stopped for most of the season in the hopes his health and condition would improve for the
Ascot Gold Cup
The Gold Cup 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 2 miles 3 furlongs and 210 yards (4,014 ...
. He was ultimately withdrawn from all of his engagements for the entire racing season due to health and
soundness
In logic or, more precisely, deductive reasoning, an argument is sound if it is both valid in form and its premises are true. Soundness also has a related meaning in mathematical logic, wherein logical systems are sound if and only if every formul ...
issues, his unsuccessful run in the March Stakes his only outing for the year. In November, Baird offered to sell Wool Winder to the Hungarian government for £25,000, but the offer was refused.
1909: five-year-old season
In April at Newmarket, Wool Winder lost by a
head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
to Lafayette in the one and a quarter-mile March Stakes. He
finished sixth and last in the
Coronation Cup
The Coronation Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards (2, ...
won by
J. B. Joel colt Dean Swift, dropping sharply out of the running shortly after the start. Wool Winder was retired from racing in July 1909 and was sold to the Austrian government stud for an estimated 15,000 guineas (500,000 crowns).
Stud career
Wool Winder stood at Aristides Baltazzi's
Napajedla
Napajedla (; german: Napajedl) is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,100 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.
Etymology
The town's name is derive ...
Stud in
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
(now
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
) alongside Matchbox and Wombwell.
Wool Winder was the leading sire in Austria in 1916 and 1928. He died on 28 November 1928 at 24 years at the
Kottingbrunn
Kottingbrunn is a town in the district of Baden in Lower Austria in Austria.
Population
People
* Henryk Jasiczek, Polish poet from Zaolzie
Trans-Olza ( pl, Zaolzie, ; cs, Záolží, ''Záolší''; german: Olsa-Gebiet; Cieszyn Silesian ...
Stud after contracting an intestinal infection.
Considered a success during his lifetime, few of his sons became breeding stallions and his sire line is not prominent in modern times.
Pedigree
References
{{St Leger Winners
1904 racehorse births
1928 racehorse deaths
Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom
Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom
Thoroughbred family 4-g
St Leger winners