Robert Robson (c.1765–1838) was a
horse trainer
A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...
, 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 glorified groom to professional.
He was based initially at
Lewes
Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...
where he was private trainer to
Sir Ferdinand Poole from 1793. In that year he won his first
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 ...
with
Waxy. He then spent rest of his career at
Newmarket and trained six more Derby winners -
Tyrant
A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to rep ...
,
Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
and
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 ...
for the
3rd Duke of Grafton,
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 ...
for the
4th Duke of Grafton, Mr Payne's
Azor
Azor ( he, אָזוֹר, ar, أزور) (also ''Azur'') is a small town ( local council) in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, on the old Jaffa-Jerusalem road southeast of Tel Aviv. Established in 1948 on the site of the depopulated Palestinian vi ...
and Mr Udney's
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 ...
.
Accordingly, he jointly holds the record for training winners of
The Derby. His horses won the race seven times; only two other trainers have achieved this. As for other successes, his horses 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 ...
six times, the 1000 Guineas Stakes nine times between 1818 and 1827 and he saddled thirteen winners of
The Oaks. To his contemporaries he was known as "the Emperor of Trainers" and his horses benefited from a gentler regime from that then practised by most stables.
He continued to live in Newmarket after his retirement in 1828, when, as a testimonial, members of the
Jockey Club
The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, amo ...
presented him with a piece of plate. He was said to be worth £60,000 at his death.
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
article includes painting
British racehorse trainers
1765 births
1838 deaths
People from Newmarket, Suffolk
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