Phosphorus (horse)

Phosphorus
Phosphorus. Painting by John Frederick Herring, Sr.
Sire	Lamplighter
Grandsire	Merlin
Dam	Rubens mare
Damsire	Rubens
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1834
Country	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Robert Wilson, 9th Baron Berners
Owner	Robert Wilson, 9th Baron Berners
Trainer	John Doe
Record	3:2-1-0 (in England)
Major wins
Epsom Derby (1837)

Phosphorus (1834 – after 1843) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In his British career he ran three times and won two races. His most significant win came when he overcame a leg injury to win the 1837 Epsom Derby. Phosphorus was later sold and exported to Brunswick, but was unable to reproduce his English form. He was unsuccessful as a stallion.

Background

Phosphorus, a bay horse with three white feet, was bred by his owner, Robert Wilson, 9th Baron Berners, at Didlington near Brandon on the border of Norfolk and Suffolk. Phosphorus' dam, the Rubens mare, an unnamed daughter of Rubens, had already produced one winner of the 1000 Guineas in May-day (1834) and went on to produce another one in Firebrand (1842). She was also the dam of the outstanding racemare Camarine. Phosphorus was a lightly built, unprepossessing horse; viewing him immediately after his win at Epsom, the Farmer's Magazine praised his trainer for the colt's excellent condition, but could find little to compliment in his appearance.^[1] The Sporting Magazine was even less flattering, describing Phosphorus as a "weak-looking little cripple".^[2]

Racing career

1837: three-year-old season

Phosphorus was unraced as a two-year-old and made his first racecourse appearance at Newmarket in April. Ridden by John Day, he finished second in the Newmarket Stakes, beaten by a length by Rat-trap. Day was also the jockey when Phosphorus returned to Newmarket in May against ten opponents in the Rowley Mile Plate. He started at odds of 5/2 and won easily by two lengths from an unnamed colt by Mulatto. Phosphorus was reported to be "in physic"^[3] at the time of this race, meaning that he was running under some kind of medication.

Phosphorus was moved to a base at Epsom to complete his preparation for the Derby, but on his first gallop after arriving he sprained a foreleg. He was lame and confined to his box for four days, after which the soreness appeared to have faded although some swelling remained. By this time, however, Day had heard of the colt's problems and rejected him in favour of a colt named Wisdom as his ride in the race.^[4] On the morning of the Derby Phosphorus was walked for four hours and, having returned sound, was cleared by his owner to run, with the ride going to George Edwards.^[5] News of Phosphorus' problems led to his price for the Derby drifting, despite the fact that he had been "tipped" as a possible winner in a poem published in Bell's Life magazine which ended:

"Tis over, the trick for the thousands is done,

George Edwards on Phosphorus the Derby has won!"^[6]

On 25 May Phosphorus started at odds of 40/1 in a field of seventeen runners for the Derby, with Rat-trap being made the 6/4 favourite. The 1837 race was the first to be started by flag and the last to be held on a Thursday: the Derby was almost always run on a Wednesday for the next 150 years.^[7] After a delay as the police cleared some of the 100,000 spectators from the course^[8] and several false starts, the race got under way with a colt named Pocket Hercules taking the lead, and Phosphorus racing in third. The pace was exceptionally fast and most of the runners were struggling well before the turn into the straight, by which point Phosphorus and the second favourite Caravan had moved up to dispute the lead. The two colts pulled clear of the rest of the runners and raced side-by-side throughout the closing stages in a "magnificent" contest. Inside the final furlong the outsider, under a strong ride from Edwards, gained the advantage and won by a margin variously reported as a head, a neck or half a length from Caravan, with the pair six lengths clear of the field.^[9]

Phosphorus aggravated his injury in winning the Derby and was reported to be "dead lame" after the race.^[3] He did not run again that year and there were doubts that he could ever be returned to racing condition.^[10]

1838: four-year-old season

Phosphorus was kept in training as a four-year-old, but the death of Lord Berners on 28 March^[11] rendered all of his remaining race entries void under the rules of racing at the time. At Newmarket in April, the Derby winner was put up for auction and sold for 910 guineas. Later that year, Phosphorus was sold privately for 1,000 guineas to the Duke of Brunswick and exported to Germany.^[9] He is known to have raced several times in Germany without success, but details of his later career are sketchy. He is reported to have been beaten "very easy" by a mare called My Lady in a race in Brunswick.^[12]

Stud career

Following his retirement, Phosphorus stood as a stallion in Germany. He appears to have made no impact at stud.

Pedigree

Pedigree of Phosphorus (GB), bay stallion, 1834
Sire Lamplighter(GB) 1823	Merlin 1815	Castrel	Buzzard*
		Castrel	Alexander mare*
		Newton	Delpini
		Newton	Tipple Cyder
	Spotless 1809	Walton	Sir Peter Teazle
		Walton	Arethusa
		Trumpator mare	Trumpator
		Trumpator mare	Highflyer mare (1793)
Dam Rubens mare (GB) 1819	Rubens 1805	Buzzard*	Woopecker
		Buzzard*	Misfortune
		Alexander mare*	Alexander
		Alexander mare*	Highflyer mare (1780)
	Tippitywitchet 1808	Waxy	Potoooooooo
		Waxy	Maria
		Hare	Sweetbriar
		Hare	Justice mare (Family:27)^[13]

References

↑ "The Farmer's Magazine". Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-01-18.
↑ "The Sporting Magazine; or Monthly calendar of the transactions of the turf ...". Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
1 2 The New sporting magazine - Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
↑ Patricia Erigero Thoroughbred Heritage. "Family 27 Spanker Mare". Tbheritage.com. Retrieved 2012-01-18.
↑ The broadway - Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
↑ The post and the paddock - Henry Hall Dixon - Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
↑ Mortimer, Roger; Onslow, Richard; Willett, Peter (1978). Biographical Encyclopedia of British Flat Racing. Macdonald and Jane’s. ISBN 0-354-08536-0.
↑ American turf register and sporting magazine - John Stuart Skinner - Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
1 2 The cracks of the day, ed. by Wildrake - George Tattersall - Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
↑ The Sportsman - Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
↑ The sporting almanac - Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
↑ The Sporting review, ed. by 'Craven'. - Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
↑ "Spanker Mare - Family 27". Bloodlines.net. Retrieved 2012-01-18.

Epsom Derby winners

1780 Diomed 1781 Young Eclipse 1782 Assassin 1783 Saltram 1784 Serjeant 1785 Aimwell 1786 Noble 1787 Sir Peter Teazle 1788 Sir Thomas 1789 Skyscraper 1790 Rhadamanthus 1791 Eager 1792 John Bull 1793 Waxy 1794 Daedalus 1795 Spread Eagle 1796 Didelot 1797 colt by Fidget 1798 Sir Harry 1799 Archduke 1800 Champion 1801 Eleanor ♥ 1802 Tyrant 1803 Ditto 1804 Hannibal 1805 Cardinal Beaufort 1806 Paris 1807 Election 1808 Pan 1809 Pope 1810 Whalebone 1811 Phantom 1812 Octavius 1813 Smolensko 1814 Blucher 1815 Whisker 1816 Prince Leopold 1817 Azor 1818 Sam 1819 Tiresias 1820 Sailor 1821 Gustavus 1822 Moses 1823 Emilius 1824 Cedric 1825 Middleton 1826 Lap-dog 1827 Mameluke 1828 Cadland 1829 Frederick 1830 Priam 1831 Spaniel 1832 St. Giles 1833 Dangerous 1834 Plenipotentiary 1835 Mundig 1836 Bay Middleton 1837 Phosphorus 1838 Amato 1839 Bloomsbury 1840 Little Wonder 1841 Coronation 1842 Attila 1843 Cotherstone 1844 Orlando 1845 The Merry Monarch 1846 Pyrrhus The First 1847 Cossack 1848 Surplice 1849 The Flying Dutchman 1850 Voltigeur 1851 Teddington 1852 Daniel O'Rourke 1853 West Australian ₩ 1854 Andover 1855 Wild Dayrell 1856 Ellington 1857 Blink Bonny ♥ 1858 Beadsman 1859 Musjid 1860 Thormanby 1861 Kettledrum 1862 Caractacus 1863 Macaroni 1864 Blair Athol 1865 Gladiateur ₩ 1866 Lord Lyon ₩ 1867 Hermit 1868 Blue Gown 1869 Pretender 1870 Kingcraft 1871 Favonius 1872 Cremorne 1873 Doncaster 1874 George Frederick 1875 Galopin 1876 Kisber 1877 Silvio 1878 Sefton 1879 Sir Bevys 1880 Bend Or 1881 Iroquois 1882 Shotover ♥ 1883 St. Blaise 1884 St. Gatien Harvester 1885 Melton 1886 Ormonde ₩ 1887 Merry Hampton 1888 Ayrshire 1889 Donovan 1890 Sainfoin 1891 Common ₩ 1892 Sir Hugo 1893 Isinglass ₩ 1894 Ladas 1895 Sir Visto 1896 Persimmon 1897 Galtee More ₩ 1898 Jeddah 1899 Flying Fox ₩ 1900 Diamond Jubilee ₩ 1901 Volodyovski 1902 Ard Patrick 1903 Rock Sand ₩ 1904 St. Amant 1905 Cicero 1906 Spearmint 1907 Orby 1908 Signorinetta ♥ 1909 Minoru 1910 Lemberg 1911 Sunstar 1912 Tagalie ♥ 1913 Aboyeur 1914 Durbar 1915 Pommern ₩ 1916 Fifinella ♥ 1917 Gay Crusader ₩ 1918 Gainsborough ₩ 1919 Grand Parade 1920 Spion Kop 1921 Humorist 1922 Captain Cuttle 1923 Papyrus 1924 Sansovino 1925 Manna 1926 Coronach 1927 Call Boy 1928 Felstead 1929 Trigo 1930 Blenheim 1931 Cameronian 1932 April the Fifth 1933 Hyperion 1934 Windsor Lad 1935 Bahram ₩ 1936 Mahmoud 1937 Mid-day Sun 1938 Bois Roussel 1939 Blue Peter 1940 Pont l'Eveque 1941 Owen Tudor 1942 Watling Street 1943 Straight Deal 1944 Ocean Swell 1945 Dante 1946 Airborne 1947 Pearl Diver 1948 My Love 1949 Nimbus 1950 Galcador 1951 Arctic Prince 1952 Tulyar 1953 Pinza 1954 Never Say Die 1955 Phil Drake 1956 Lavandin 1957 Crepello 1958 Hard Ridden 1959 Parthia 1960 St Paddy 1961 Psidium 1962 Larkspur 1963 Relko 1964 Santa Claus 1965 Sea Bird 1966 Charlottown 1967 Royal Palace 1968 Sir Ivor 1969 Blakeney 1970 Nijinsky ₩ 1971 Mill Reef 1972 Roberto 1973 Morston 1974 Snow Knight 1975 Grundy 1976 Empery 1977 The Minstrel 1978 Shirley Heights 1979 Troy 1980 Henbit 1981 Shergar 1982 Golden Fleece 1983 Teenoso 1984 Secreto 1985 Slip Anchor 1986 Shahrastani 1987 Reference Point 1988 Kahyasi 1989 Nashwan 1990 Quest for Fame 1991 Generous 1992 Dr Devious 1993 Commander in Chief 1994 Erhaab 1995 Lammtarra 1996 Shaamit 1997 Benny the Dip 1998 High-Rise 1999 Oath 2000 Sinndar 2001 Galileo 2002 High Chaparral 2003 Kris Kin 2004 North Light 2005 Motivator 2006 Sir Percy 2007 Authorized 2008 New Approach 2009 Sea the Stars 2010 Workforce 2011 Pour Moi 2012 Camelot 2013 Ruler of the World 2014 Australia 2015 Golden Horn 2016 Harzand

Legend - ₩ = Triple Crown Winners, ♥ = Filly

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