Zinc (1820–1840) 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
broodmare
A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...
, which in 1818 became the third
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 ...
to win both the
1000 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 ...
at
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 ...
and the
Oaks at
Epsom Downs Racecourse
Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse on the hills associated with Epsom in Surrey, England which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. The "Downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs.
The course, which has a crowd capacity of 13 ...
. As a three-year-old in 1823 she won three of her five starts, with her defeats coming against 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 ...
-winning
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 ...
s
Nicolo and
Emilius Emilius may refer to:
People
* Saint Emilius (died 250), Christian martyr
* Emilius Ditlev Bærentzen (1799–1868), Danish painter
* Emilius Bangert (1883–1962), Danish composer, organist, and academic
* Emilius Bayley (1823–1917), English ...
. She won both her races in 1824 but failed to win as a five-year-old in 1825 and was retired from racing.
Background
Zinc was a brown mare bred by her owner
George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton
George Henry FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton, KG (14 January 1760 – 28 September 1844), styled Earl of Euston until 1811, was a British peer and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1782 to 1811 when he succeeded to the Duked ...
at his stud at
Euston Hall
Euston Hall is a country house, with park by William Kent and Capability Brown, located in Euston, a small village in Suffolk located just south of Thetford, England. It is the family home of the Dukes of Grafton.
The Hall
Euston first appears ...
in
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
. Her dam Zaida had been bought by the Duke as a broodmare and proved to be highly successful: in addition to Zinc she produced the 1000 Guineas winner
Zeal
Zeal may refer to:
* Zealotry, fanaticism
** Zeal of the convert
* Diligence, the theological virtue opposite to acedia
* Zeal (horse), race horse
* Zeal (surname)
* Zeal (web), an internet directory
* Zeal Monachorum, a village in Devon
* South ...
who in turn produced the filly
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
who won the same race in 1827.
Her sire Woful was a brother of the Derby winners
Whalebone
Baleen is a filter-feeding system inside the mouths of baleen whales. To use baleen, the whale first opens its mouth underwater to take in water. The whale then pushes the water out, and animals such as krill are filtered by the baleen and re ...
and
Whisker
Vibrissae (; singular: vibrissa; ), more generally called Whiskers, are a type of stiff, functional hair used by mammals to sense their environment. These hairs are finely specialised for this purpose, whereas other types of hair are coarser ...
. He was also a successful stallion, siring the classic winners Arab,
Theodore
Theodore may refer to:
Places
* Theodore, Alabama, United States
* Theodore, Australian Capital Territory
* Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia
* Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada
* Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Sask ...
and
Augusta (
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 (2, ...
) before being exported to
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
in 1832.
Grafton sent the filly to be trained at
Newmarket by
Robert Robson
Robert Robson (c.1765–1838) was a horse trainer, known as the Emperor of Trainers who ran "the outstandingly successful stable of the first quarter of the 19th century."The leading racehorse trainer of his time, he raised their status from glori ...
, the so-called "Emperor of Trainers".
Racing career
1823: three-year-old season
Zinc made her first appearance at the Newmarket Second Spring meeting on 1 May 1823 when she contested the 1000 Guineas over the Ditch Mile course. Despite its name, the race carried a prize of 800
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 ...
and attracted a field of five fillies. Zinc started the
4/6 favourite and won by half a length from Mr Wyndham's filly Spermaceti, who had won the more valuable
Riddlesworth Stakes
The Riddlesworth Stakes was a flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-olds. It was run on the Abington Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and was scheduled to take place each year in early or mid April on the ...
at the previous Newmarket meeting. Her victory was the fifth successive 1000 Guineas win for the Duke of Grafton and gave her jockey
Frank Buckle
Francis Buckle (1766–1832), known to the British horse racing public as "The Governor", was an English jockey, who has been described as "the jockey non-pareil" of the opening quarter of the 19th century, and the man who "brought respectabi ...
the fifth of his six wins in the race.
On the following day Zinc was matched against colts for the first time in the
Newmarket Stakes
The Newmarket Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres) on t ...
over the same course and distance and finished second, a length behind the
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 ...
winner Nicolo.
On 30 May Zinc was moved up in distance to contest the Oaks Stakes over one and a half miles at Epsom. She was made the even-money favourite for the race which carried a first prize of 2,050 guineas. Buckle sent the filly into the lead from the start and despite setting a slow pace she was never headed and held the late challenge of the
Duke of Richmond
Duke of Richmond is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created four times in British history. It has been held by members of the royal Tudor dynasty, Tudor and House of Stuart, Stuart families.
The current dukedom of Richmond was ...
's grey filly Dandizette "in grand style" to win her second classic by nearly three lengths. The Oaks was the only occasion on which Zinc raced away from Newmarket.
Zinc returned to Newmarket for the "First October" meeting, which despite its name began on 29 September. On that day she ran in the
Grand Duke Michael Stakes
Grand may refer to:
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* Grand (surname)
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* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and commun ...
, a 1,250 guinea race for three-year-olds over ten furlongs. She started the 10/1 outsider of the four runners and finished second to the Derby winner Emilius, beating both Nicolo and Spermaceti. At the Second October meeting two weeks later, Zinc ended her season with a win as she again beat Spermaceti and Nicolo in the first year of a £250 Subscription race over ten furlongs.
1824: four-year-old season
After a year off the course, Zinc returned to action at the Newmarket Second October meeting in 1824. On the first day of the meeting she won 40 guineas for her owner when her opponent, a colt named Don Carlos was withdrawn from a scheduled match race over the Ditch Mile course. A day later, Zinc started 5/4 favourite for the second year of the £250 Subscription race over the two-mile "Ditch In" course and won from the colts Zealot, Premium and Oscar. At the Newmarket Houghton meeting on 4 November ran a match race in which she was required to carry nine
pounds more than
Lord Exeter's four-year-old filly Palais Royal. Zinc defeated her opponent over the Ditch Mile to claim a prize of £100.
1825: five-year-old season
Zinc's first appearance in her final season of competition came on the opening day of the Second Spring meeting when she started favourite for a four runner Sweepstakes over the Ditch Mile. She finished either third or fourth behind the Duke of Grafton's mare Posthuma: at the time it was common for the racecourse judge to place only the first two finishers.
Zinc did not race again until the autumn. At the first October meeting she finished third behind Stumps and Spermaceti in the Trial Stakes. Two days later she was placed third again behind Mr Bloss's filly Double Entendre in a King's Plate over the three and a half mile Round Course. At the Second October meeting she was withdrawn from an engagement in an Oatlands Stakes and then ran second to Double Entendre in a ten furlong
handicap race, conceding four pounds to the winner. Zinc's final race came on the opening day of the Houghton meeting when she contested the third year of the £250 Subscription race over the four-mile Beacon Course. She started 4/7 favourite but was beaten by her only opponent, a mare named Black Daphne.
Stud career
Zinc was retired to become a broodmare at the Duke of Grafton's stud. Her descendants had some success in the nineteenth century and included The Moor (
Trial Stakes), Uhlan (
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 ...
) and Matutina (
Preis der Diana
The Preis der Diana is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Düsseldorf over a distance of 2,200 metres (about 1 mile and 3 furlongs), and it is scheduled to take pl ...
).
Zinc died in 1840. Zinc was a very important to many lives, changing their views on zinc.
Pedigree
*Zinc's pedigree contained a large amount of
inbreeding
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 ...
. She was inbred 3×4 to Highflyer, meaning that this stallion appears in both the third and fourth generations of her pedigree. She was also inbred 4×4 to both Eclipse and Herod.
References
{{Epsom Oaks Winners
1820 racehorse births
1840 racehorse deaths
Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom
Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom
Thoroughbred family 25
1000 Guineas winners
Epsom Oaks winners