The Earl of Derby frequently said that he had had two ambitions -
to be Prime Minister, and to own the winner of the Derby. His
political power derived from his home county, in which he was so
preeminent that he was known, not unreasonably, as the 'King of
Lancashire.' The revival of the family stable and stud began when
his father became the sixteenth earl. It started with Canterbury
Pilgrim, the yearling filly that the then Lord Stanley bought for
his father to win the Oaks of 1896. His long relationship with
George Lambton, whom he chose to train their horses, saw many other
early successes, such as those of the mighty Swynford, and
Phalaris, whose influence as a stallion was so great that John
Randall and Tony Morris named him the 'Sire of the Century.' After
the end of the War Lord Derby, who following a stint as Secretary
of State for War had been appointed as Ambassador in Paris, laid
the foundations for his successful stable and stud in France.
Meanwhile in Britain he came close to achieving his ambition to win
the Derby on three occasions, before doing so with Sansovino in
1924. Many other great horses bore his familiar colours of black
with a white cap, but the greatest and most influential of all his
horses, who was to give him a second Derby in 1933, was Hyperion.
At stud he was phenomenally successful, and his influence ever
since is to be seen in the pedigrees of very many great horses.
Lord Derby's success as the greatest owner-breeder of the twentieth
century was founded both on the mares that he bought, and those
that he bred, for the Stanley House Stud. His gift for picking the
right man for a job was nowhere more evident than his choice of
Walter Alston as stud manager. During the Second World War more
Classic successes followed including another Derby with Watling
Street. Astonishingly, the horses he owned in France continued to
race during the war, very successfully, in the name of his racing
manager. Lord Derby died in 1948, and so did not live to witness
the triumph of the last of the truly great horses that he bred.
Named Alycidon he was to prove the finest stayer of his generation.
Finally, by way of epilogue, the book records the remarkable twist
of fate by which Lord Derby's great grandson, more than half a
century later, was to breed Ouija Board a filly that stood
comparison with any of her forebears, and who traced her descent
directly from Canterbury Pilgrim. She was the most successful
British racemare of all time in terms of prize money won. The book
is based on extensive research into the huge archive of racing
correspondence of the seventeenth earl at Knowsley, covering all
aspects of his racing and breeding activities. Nominated for the Dr
Tony Ryan Book Award for the best book published in 2012 on
Thoroughbred racing. Nominated for the 2013 William Hill Sports
Book of the Year Award
General
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