Assassin (horse)

Assassin (1779 – c. 1794) was a Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1782 Epsom Derby. His breeder, Lord Egremont, won the Derby for the first time with Assassin. Assassin raced until he was a five-year-old and was retired to Egremont's stud in Petworth. He was not a successful sire.

Assassin
SireSweetbriar
GrandsireSyphon
DamAngelica
DamsireSnap
SexStallion
Foaled1779
CountryKingdom of Great Britain
ColourBay
BreederLord Egremont
OwnerLord Egremont
TrainerF. Nealy
Record11: 8–2-1 (incomplete)
Major wins
Epsom Derby (1782)

Background

Assassin was foaled in 1779, at Lord Egremont's estate Petworth House. Assassin's sire, Sweetbriar, was an undefeated racehorse that earned 5,400 guineas during his racing career for his owner Lord Grosvenor. Sweetbriar stood at Oxcrofts Farm near Balsham.[1] Assassin's dam, Angelica, was foaled in 1761 and was breed by Mr. Shafto, the owner of her sire Snap. Assassin was Angelica's eighth foal and she produced eleven foals between 1768 and 1782, including Assassin's full-sister Medëa. Angelica was euthanised in 1787.[2]

Racing career

Assassin was trained by F. Neale at Newmarket.[3] Assassin raced until he was five-years-old, winning eight races, and was retired to Lord Egremont's stud at Petworth.

1781: two-year-old season
Assassin's Derby win was the first for Lord Egremont, who would go on to win the event four more times.

In October at Newmarket, Assassin beat the Duke of Grafton's colt Puzzle in a match race at 6 to 4 odds against Assassin. Assassin did not win again as a two-year-old.[4] Assassin was second to Plutus in a subscription race at the same meeting,[4] and was second to the filly Ceres in a match race.[5] Assassin forfeited a match race to Plutus at the Houghton meeting.[6]

1782: three-year-old season

At the Craven meeting, Assassin received a 70-guinea "compromise" after the colts Brother to Rebel and Recruit backed out of a 200-guinea sweepstakes race.[4] At the First Spring Meeting, Assassin beat Berwick to win a sweepstakes race.

On 9 May at Epsom, Assassin won the Derby, beating Lord Grosvenor's colt Sweet Robin and Charles Bunbury's colt Fortunio.[7] Lord Egremont won the Derby for the first time with Assassin, and won the race four more times with Hannibal in 1804, with Cardinal Beaufort in 1805, with Election in 1807 and with Lap-dog in 1826.[8]

At the July meeting at Newmarket, Assassin beat Mr. Vernon's gelding by Eclipse. At the October meetings in Newmarket, Assassin won a match race against the colt Achilles and forfeited a match race against Dennis O'Kelly's colt Confederate.[7]

1783: four-year-old season

At the Craven meeting, Assassin received a forfeiture from the colt Ascot. At the Newmarket spring meeting, Assassin received another forfeiture from the Duke of Cumberland's colt Epaminondas, and a few days later beat the colt and later influential sire Pot-8-Os in a match race. At the Second Spring Meeting in Newmarket, Assassin beat the colt Columbus in a 500-guinea race and beat Heron in a 50-guinea race a few days later.[7]

1784: five-year-old season

At the Second Spring Meeting, Assassin was third in a 200-guinea sweepstakes race to Dennis O'Kelly's horse Soldier and Mr. Davis' horse Plutus.[9] Assassin forfeited a match race with the horse Cornwall (later called Boringdon) at the same meeting a few days later,[10] and at the July meeting in Newmarket his owner paid 150 guineas to the owner of Young Eclipse (the 1781 Derby winner) for backing out of a match race.[11]

Stud career

By 1789, Assassin was still standing at Petworth for a fee of two guineas per mare alongside the more expensive stallions Mercury (10 guineas) and Trentham (3 guineas).[12] For the 1793 breeding season, he was relocated to Langley Park near Colnbrook and stood for a fee of 3 guineas per mare and a five shilling groom's fee.[13] His fee at Langley Park was reduced to two guineas for the 1794 season[14] and he did not appear in the register for 1795.

Assassin was not a successful sire. His most notable offspring were the fillies Cow[7] and Rag (foaled in 1786 out of Chanticleer's dam).[15]

Pedigree
Pedigree of Assassin (GB), Bay Colt, 1779[16]
Sire
Sweetbriar (GB)
Chestnut, 1769		 Syphon
1750		 Squirt Bartlett's Childers
Sister to Old Country Wench
Patriot Mare Bolton Patriot
Crab mare
Shakespeare Mare
1763		 Shakespeare Hobgoblin
Amorett
Miss Meredith Cade
Amorett
Dam
Angelica
Brown, 1761		 Snap
1750		 Snip Flying Childers
Sister to Soreheels
Sister to Slipby Fox
Gipsy
Regulus Mare
1749		 Regulus Godolphin Arabian
Grey Robinson
Childers Mare Bartlett's Childers
Sister One to True Blue
  • Assassin was distantly inbred 4 × 4 to Bartletts Childers, meaning that this horse appears twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.

References
  1. Forbes, Archibald (1891). Havelock. London: Macmillan. p. 275.
  2. Weatherby, Edward and James (1892). "Angelica". The General Stud-book. 1–2: 23. hdl:2027/nyp.33433082332515.
  3. Black, Robert (1893). Horse-racing in England : a synoptical review. London: Richard Bently and Son. p. 248. hdl:2027/njp.32101064795196.
  4. Pick, William and R Johnson (1822). "Assassin". The Turf Register, and Sportsman & Breeder's Stud-book. 3: 280.
  5. Pick, William and R Johnson (1822). "Ceres". The Turf Register, and Sportsman & Breeder's Stud-book. 3: 461.
  6. Pick, William and R Johnson (1822). "Plutus". The Turf Register, and Sportsman & Breeder's Stud-book. 3: 313.
  7. Pick, William and R Johnson (1822). "Assassin". The Turf Register, and Sportsman & Breeder's Stud-book. 3: 281.
  8. Rice, James (1879). History of the British Turf, Volume 2. London: S. Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington. pp. 372. cardinal beaufort egremont derby.
  9. Weatherby (1784). "Newmarket". Racing Calendar. 12: 15.
  10. Weatherby (1784). "Newmarket". Racing Calendar. 12: 22.
  11. Weatherby (1784). "July Meeting". Racing Calendar. 12: 55.
  12. Weatherby, Edward and James (1789). "Advertisements of stallions". Racing Calendar. 17: 378. hdl:2027/nyp.33433066591003.
  13. Weatherby, Edward and James (1792). "Alphabetical list of stallions to cover in 1793". Racing Calendar. 20: 362. hdl:2027/nyp.33433066590971.
  14. Weatherby, Edward and James (1793). "Advertisements of stallions to cover in 1794". Racing Calendar. 21: 353.
  15. Weatherby, Edward and James (1858). "Rag". The General Stud Book. 1: 376. hdl:2027/coo.31924066667043.
  16. Staff. "Assassin 5x Pedigree". Retrieved 29 January 2012.
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