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Jeddah (horse)

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Jeddah
Jeddah, circa 1906, as photographed by Clarence Hailey.
SireJanissary
GrandsireIsonomy
DamPilgrimage
DamsireThe Earl or The Palmer
SexStallion
Foaled1895
CountryUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
ColourChestnut
BreederJames Larnach
OwnerJames Larnach
TrainerRichard Marsh
Record9: 3-3-0
Earnings£
Major wins
Craven Stakes (1898)
Epsom Derby (1898)
Prince of Wales's Stakes (1898)

Jeddah (1895–1909) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from 1897 to 1899 he ran nine times and won three races. In the summer of 1898 he became the first horse to win The Derby at odds of 100/1, and followed up by winning the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot. He was retired to stud after a single, unsuccessful race in 1899, but had serious fertility problems and made no impact as a stallion.

Background

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Jeddah, a big, leggy chestnut horse standing 16.3 hands high,[1] was bred at by his owner James Walker Larnach.[2] at his Eaton Stud. His sire Janissary was an extremely well-bred colt who won the St James’s Palace Stakes in 1880, but, apart from Jeddah, had little success at stud. Jeddah’s dam, Pilgrimage was an exceptional racemare who won both the 1000 Guineas and 2000 Guineas in 1878. She had also been successful as a broodmare but had failed to produce a foal for several seasons and was thought to be barren, enabling James Larnach to buy her in 1894 for 160 guineas.[3] Surprisingly, she proved to be in foal, and produced Jeddah, described by a groom at the stud as “biggest and weakest” foal he had ever seen,[4] in the following year at the age of twenty. Pilgrimage died at the age of twenty-three, on the day that Jeddah won the Derby.[5] Jeddah was sent into training with the royal trainer Richard Marsh[6] at his Egerton House stable at Newmarket, Suffolk.

Racing career

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1897: two-year-old season

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Jeddah was very backward (immature) at two, and did not appear on the racecourse until the autumn of 1897 when he ran twice at Newmarket in October. On his debut he finished second to Orzil, who was conceding nine pounds in the Clearwell Stakes. Just over two weeks later he ran in the Free Handicap. Carrying 112 pounds he started 4/1 favourite and finished second again, beaten a head by Meta.[7]

1898: three-year-old season

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Jeddah recorded his first victory on his three-year-old debut on 15 April when he started 2/1 favourite for the Craven Stakes and won by a length from Schonberg.[8] The opposition was not strong but he won impressively[9] to establish himself as a contender for the 2000 Guineas two weeks later. In the Newmarket Classic on 27 April he started 6/1 third favourite and finished fifth[10] behind Disraeli. He was moved up to ten furlongs for his next start, but finished fifth again in the Newmarket Stakes on 11 May behind the easy winner Cyllene, a colt who had not been entered in the classics.[11] Jeddah was "in trouble all the way" and looked a most unlikely Derby contender.[12]

Jeddah was given little chance in the Derby at Epsom on 25 May, and started at 100/1 in a field of eighteen. He was ridden in the race, his first outside Newmarket, by Herbert "Otto" Madden,[13] who was in the process of winning his first Championship. Jeddah was held up towards the rear of the field in the early stages as the 2/1 favourite, Disraeli made the running. Disraeli weakened soon after half way and Batt led the field into the straight. Madden moved Jeddah steadily forward into third place before making his challenge two furlongs out. He overtook the Batt inside the final furlong and won by three quarters of a length after a "game struggle",[14] with another 100/1 outsider, Dunlop, finishing third.[15] The win for the "free-striding giant"[16] was greeted in "solemn silence" by the "dumbfounded" crowd.[17]

At Royal Ascot, Jeddah, ridden by John Watts, improved on his Derby-winning performance in the Prince of Wales's Stakes by giving six pounds to Batt and beating him "without an effort" by five lengths.[18] Jeddah was then trained for the St Leger at Doncaster but his preparation was seriously disrupted by an injury[19] to a suspensory ligament.[4] No official announcement of the injury was made, but Jeddah's performance in a public exercise was unimpressive and his odds drifted out from 2/5 two days before the race to 5/6 at the start. Jeddah tracked the leaders before Watts sent him into a clear lead early in the straight, but he was caught a furlong from the finish and beaten four lengths by Wildfowler.[20] It was suggested after the race that Jeddah had been unable to extend himself on the hard ground.[21]

1899: four-year-old season

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Jeddah stayed in training at four, but became increasingly difficult to train, with his left foreleg causing particular problems. He was not seen on a racecourse until September 28, when he ran in the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket. He looked "big, muscular and fresh"[22] in the paddock, but failed to recapture his old form and finished seventh of the eight runners behind Flying Fox.[23]

Assessment

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At the end of 1898, Jeddah was regarded as probably the second best colt of his generation behind Cyllene.[24]

Stud career

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Jeddah’s stud career was a complete failure. He had fertility problems and sired few foals, none of which became racehorses of any note. His last recorded foals were conceived in 1908. Jeddah died on 9 March 1909,[25][26] and was buried at the Lanwades Hall, Newmarket.[27]

Pedigree

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Pedigree of Jeddah (GB), chestnut stallion, 1895
Sire
Janissary (GB)
1887 		Isonomy
1875 		Sterling Oxford
Whisper
Isola Bella Stockwell*
Isoline
Jannette
1875 		Lord Clifden Newminster
The Slave
Chevisaunce Stockwell*
Paradigm
Dam
Pilgrimage (GB)
1875 		The Palmer Beadsman Weatherbit
Mendicant
Madame Eglentine Cowl
Diversion
Lady Audley
1867 		Macaroni Sweetmeat
Jocose
Secret Melbourne
Mystery (Family: 1-g)
  • Jeddah was inbred 4x4 to Stockwell. This means that the stallion appears twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.

References

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  1. ^ "SPORTING". Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  2. ^ "James Larnach". Horseracinghistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  3. ^ "SPORTING". Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  4. ^ a b Mortimer, Roger; Onslow, Richard; Willett, Peter (1978). Biographical Encyclopedia of British Flat Racing. Macdonald and Jane’s. ISBN 0-354-08536-0.
  5. ^ "MISCELLANEOUS". Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  6. ^ "Richard Marsh". Horseracinghistory.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-05-27. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  7. ^ "Papers Past — Daily Telegraph — 2 June 1898 — SPORTING". Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  8. ^ "RACING IN ENGLAND". Otago Witness. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 9 June 1898. p. 34. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  9. ^ "TALK OF THE DAY". Otago Witness. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 9 June 1898. p. 31. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  10. ^ "MISCELLANEOUS". Auckland Star. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 15 June 1898. p. 2. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  11. ^ "RACING IN ENGLAND". Otago Witness. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 7 July 1898. p. 34. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  12. ^ "TALK OF THE DAY". Otago Witness. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 7 July 1898. p. 31. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  13. ^ "Horseracing History Online - Person Profile : Herbert Madden". Horseracinghistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  14. ^ "SPORTING". Timaru Herald. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 28 May 1898. p. 3. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  15. ^ "Papers Past — Star — 26 May 1898 — THE DERBY". Star (Christchurch). Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 26 May 1898. p. 3. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  16. ^ "TALK OF THE DAY". Otago Witness. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 4 August 1898. p. 31. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  17. ^ "AIR J. W. LARNACH'S DERBY". Auckland Star. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 8 July 1898. p. 3. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  18. ^ "RACING IN ENGLAND". Otago Witness. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 4 August 1898. p. 34. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  19. ^ "NOTES". Evening Post. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 10 September 1898. p. 3. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  20. ^ "THE ST. LEGER". Auckland Star. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 19 October 1898. p. 3. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  21. ^ "Untitled , Untitled". Otago Witness. 27 October 1898. p. 30.
  22. ^ "RACING AT NEWMARKET". Otago Witness. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 November 1899. p. 36. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  23. ^ "NEWMARKET. Tuesday, September 26". Otago Witness. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 November 1899. p. 39. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  24. ^ "DATES OF COMING EVENTS". Auckland Star. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 11 January 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  25. ^ Staff (23 March 1909). "Results at race tracks" (PDF). New York Herald. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  26. ^ Jockey Club (1909). "Obituary of stallions". The General Stud Book. 21: 1060.
  27. ^ "Grave Matters Thoroughbreds". Tbheritage.com. Retrieved 2011-11-27.
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