Half Caste (horse)

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Half Caste
Half Caste with C. Green up.jpg
″Half Caste with C. Green up″ (anonymous but possibly after Henry Barraud who painted Half Caste in 1859)
SireMorgan Rattler
Grandsire Velocipede
DamBeiram mare
DamsireBeiram
Sex Gelding
Foaled1853
Country United Kingdom
Colour Brown
BreederMr. W. Marris
Owner
  • Mr. F.E. Epworth (Gt Coates, Lincs.)
  • Samuel B Sheward (horsedealer)
  • John Gerard Leigh (Mr Willoughby)
  • Henry Jones (Aps Hall, Cambs.)
Trainer Chris Green
Major wins
Grand National (1859)

Half Caste was a British racehorse who won the Grand National Steeplechase at Aintree in 1859, against a field of twenty horses. The race was very closely run and Half Caste won by only a short neck from Jean Du Quesne.

Grand National English horse race held at Aintree every year

The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap steeplechase over an official distance of about 4 miles and 2½ furlongs,, with horses jumping 30 fences over two laps. It is the most valuable jump race in Europe, with a prize fund of £1 million in 2017. An event that is prominent in British culture, the race is popular amongst many people who do not normally watch or bet on horse racing at other times of the year.

Steeplechase (horse racing) Horse race form originally from Ireland, featuring jumps over fence and ditch obstacles

A steeplechase is a distance horse race in which competitors are required to jump diverse fence and ditch obstacles. Steeplechasing is primarily conducted in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Australia and France. The name is derived from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside.

Aintree Racecourse horse racing venue in England

Aintree Racecourse is a racecourse in Aintree, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. The racecourse is best known for annually holding the world-famous Grand National steeplechase.

Contents

Breeding and ownership

According to George Edwin Collins, "Nimrod junior", in his 1902 book "History of the Brocklesby hounds, 1700-1901", [1] Half Caste was bred by Mr. W. Marris (of Limber, Lincolnshire) and was then purchased by Mr. F. E. Epworth (of Great Coates, Lincolnshire) - both members of the Brocklesbury Hunt [2] - who sold him on to Samuel Brisco Sheward, the leading society horsedealer from 43a Green Street, Mayfair, London. The General Stud Book confirms he had been foaled in 1853 by Morgan Rattler, dam by Beiram, by W. Marris. [3]

John Gerard Leigh′s obituary [4] states that Half Caste was one of the first two steeplechasers he had owned, and was bought by him for 500 Guineas (£500) from Samuel Brisco Sheward, described as his ′fidus Achates′ (faithful friend), who was his normal supplier of horses and represented him officially for racing purposes. John Gerard Leigh of Luton Hoo was a major (but very discreet at the time) steeplechaser owner.

Luton Hoo Grade I listed English country house in Central Bedfordshire, United Kingdom

Luton Hoo is an English country house and estate near Luton in Bedfordshire and Harpenden in Hertfordshire. Most of the estate lies within the civil parish of Hyde, Bedfordshire. The Saxon word, Hoo, means the spur of a hill, and is more commonly associated with East Anglia.

Career

He was entered in the 1859 Grand National under the name of Mr Willoughby, a nom de course of John Gerard Leigh, [4] and was ridden by his trainer Chris Green. The Era reported that Half Caste looked "wonderfully fit" and had "improved immensely under Green's management" at the parade. [5] The Morning Post, though, thought that the gelding "was not very taking in his appearance" but noted he was the only horse to have escaped from an outbreak of (equine) influenza that had swept through Chris Green's stable. [6]

The 1859 Grand National was the 21st renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 2 March 1859.

Chris Green (horseman) British racehorse trainer

Chris Green (1820–1874) was a leading English steeplechase rider and trainer who won two Aintree Grand Nationals as jockey and trained the winning horse in another, The Lamb in 1871.

The race saw one of the closest finishes to a National in history with only ten lengths separating the first six horses to finish. Half Caste beat French raider, Jean Du Quesne, by a short neck, winning in a time of 10 minutes 2 seconds, and The Huntsman finished third. [7] Half Caste only competed in the Grand National once but The Huntsman went on to win the race himself in 1862.

The Huntsman was the winner of the 1862 Grand National steeplechase run on 12 March at Aintree near Liverpool, England. The winner was owned by Viscount de Namur and trained in France by Yorkshire born trainer Henry (Harry) Jeremiah Lamplugh who also chose to ride the horse himself. The Huntsman had previously finished third in the race in 1859 and second in 1860, being ridden in the latter race by the amateur jockey Thomas Townley.

Half Caste is officially recorded as having started as the 7/1 second favourite [7] for the race, but according to some contemporary newspaper reports, for instance The Era, [5] he was listed as starting at 100/15.

The Era was a British weekly paper, published from 1838 to 1939. Originally a general newspaper, it became noted for its sports coverage, and later for its theatrical content.

The day after his victory, Half Caste also went down with influenza and was put under the care of Mr Lucas, a veterinary surgeon of Liverpool. The horse was "perfectly prostrate" and "serious doubts were entertained as to his recovery". [8]

Memorial plaque to Half Caste, the winner of the 1859 Grand National at Aintree, in a wall at Apes (or Aps) Hall, Littleport, Cambridgeshire, UK Half Caste Memorial.jpg
Memorial plaque to Half Caste, the winner of the 1859 Grand National at Aintree, in a wall at Apes (or Aps) Hall, Littleport, Cambridgeshire, UK

Half Caste's 1859 Grand National victory was by far his greatest. He only ran once in 1858 (in the Windsor Town Plate on 12 November where he did not perform [9] ) and the record also shows that, after his National win, he was only entered for a couple of less important races in 1859 (The Londesborough Great Steeple Chase Handicap, York in April [10] and The Severn Bank Steeple Chase in October [11] ). There then seems to be a long gap until he paid the stakes for entry to the 1861 Grand National, for which he was not fancied [12] but he was withdrawn at the last moment and apparently never raced again.

Retirement

At some later point, presumably through the agency of Chris Green who had ridden for, and co-owned horses with, him, Half Caste was acquired by Henry Jones of Aps (or Apes [13] ) Hall, Littleport, Isle of Ely (Henry Jones built up one of the best small racehorse studs in the late Victorian period. [14] ) for breeding but he produced no progeny of note.

He was buried in the orchard of Apes Hall and a stone plaque to his memory is incorporated in a wall here. [15]

Depictions

No written description of Half Caste exists, but he was painted by Henry Barraud in 1859. [16] No publicly available image of this painting has been found but a contemporary image of Half Caste with Chris Green up is held by one of Chris Green's descendants and this may be based on this. The original was sold by Sotheby's, London on 18 July 1979. [17]

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References

  1. ↑ George E Collins (°Nimrod junior°) (1902). History of the Brocklesby hounds, 1700-1901. London; S. Low, Marston & Co. p. 202. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  2. ↑ William Page, ed. (1906). The Victoria History of the County of Lincoln. 2. London; Constable. p. 499.
  3. ↑ The General Stud Book: Containing Pedigrees of Race Horses from Earliest Accounts. 9. J. & C. Weatherby. 1861. p. 31. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Sporting Intelligence" . The Era. 1 March 1875. Col. 1. Retrieved 20 April 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. 1 2 "Liverpool Spring Meeting; Wednesday, The Grand National" . (London) Morning Post. 6 March 1859. Cols. 1-2. Retrieved 20 April 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ "Sporting Intelligence" . Morning Post. 8 March 1859. Col. 5. Retrieved 6 June 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. 1 2 Ruff′s Guide to the Turf, or Pocket Racing Companion for 1859. Piper, Stephenson and Spence. 1859. p. 337. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  8. ↑ "Half Caste" . Waterford Mail. 19 March 1859. Col. 3. Retrieved 6 June 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ↑ "Windsor Steeple Chases" . Bucks Herald. 20 November 1858. Col. 1. Retrieved 6 June 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ↑ "York Steeple Chases" . Yorkshire Gazette. 2 April 1859. Col. 5. Retrieved 20 April 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ↑ "Upton-upon-Severn Steeple-Chases" . London Standard. 27 September 1859. Col. 1. Retrieved 20 April 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ↑ "Sporting; The Liverpool Meeting" . Northern Whig. 13 March 1861. Col. 5. Retrieved 20 April 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ↑ "Valuable Fen Farm known as Apes Hall containing about 313 acres of land". Cambridgeshire Archives . TNA . Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  14. ↑ The Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic News. 1. 1874. pp. 61–62.
  15. ↑ Howard, Tom; Rudderham, Roger (2007). The Story of Apes Hall: Fenland Farm and Victorian Stud (2 ed.). Littleport Society. ISBN   9781906050467 . Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  16. ↑ "Visit to Mr Barraud's Studio" . The Era. 25 September 1859. Col. 1. Retrieved 6 June 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. ↑ "Half Caste by Henry Barraud - Blouin Art Sales Index". BLOUIN ARTINFO. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
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