Meddler (horse)

Meddler (1890–1916) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who was a leading two-year-old in England, when he won all three starts including the Dewhurst Plate. He was then sold to America where he became the leading sire in 1904 and 1906.

Meddler
SireSt. Gatien
GrandsireThe Rover
DamBusybody
DamsirePetrarch
SexStallion
Foaled1890
CountryGreat Britain
ColourBay
BreederGeorge Alexander Baird
Owner1) George Alexander Baird
2) William H. Forbes
3) William C. Whitney
4) Clarence Mackay
TrainerJoseph Cannon
Record3: 3-0-0
Earnings£3,427[1]
Major wins
British Dominion Stakes (1892)
Chesterfield Stakes (1892)
Dewhurst Plate (1892)
Awards
Leading sire in North America (1904, 1906)

Background

Bred and raced by George Baird, his sire, St. Gatien, dead heated for the win in the 1884 Epsom Derby and won the 1885 Ascot Gold Cup. His dam was Baird's brilliant racing mare, Busybody, winner of the 1884 Epsom Oaks and 1000 Guineas Stakes.[2]

Racing career

Meddler won all three starts at age two and was regarded as second only to Isinglass among the colts of his generation.[3] The last of his wins came in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket on October 27 when he led all the way to beat Raeburn by half a length.[4] According to rules governing the sport of British horse racing in effect at the time, when his owner George Alexander Baird died, all of Meddler's future race bookings were void. As such, Meddler could not race in the British Classic Races at age three and was sold for $76,000 to American William H. Forbes of Readville, Massachusetts who brought him to the United States in 1893 to stand at his Neponset Stud. On Forbes' death in 1894, Meddler was purchased by William Collins Whitney of New York city who sent him to stand at stud at his La Belle Stud at Lexington, Kentucky.

Stud record

Among Meddler's offspring, his son Royal Tourist won a 1908 American Classic, the Preakness Stakes, and set a World Record time on dirt in winning the Winters Handicap at Emeryville Race Track in Oakland, California.[5] In 1905 Meddler's daughter, Tanya, became the second filly to ever win the Belmont Stakes.[6] In 1906 his son Go Between's wins included the extremely important Suburban Handicap and was the retrospective American Champion Older Male Horse.

Through his daughter, Mineola, Meddler was the dam sire of Johren, the 1918 American Horse of the Year, and, from Miss Minnie, he was the damsire of 1921 American Horse of the Year and U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Grey Lag.

Clarence Mackay bought Meddler for $51,000 at the dispersal sale of William Collins Whitney's horses. MacKay stood him at William S. Fanshawe's Silverbrook Farm in New Jersey, then at Kingston Farm run by Foxhall A. Daingerfield near Lexington, Kentucky. Meddler was eventually sent to a breeding operation in France where he died at age twenty-six on April 17, 1916.

Pedigree
Pedigree of Meddler (GB), bay horse, 1890[7]
Sire
St. Gatien		 The Rover The Flying Dutchman Bay Middleton
Barbelle
Meeanee Touchstone
Ghuznee
Saint Editha Kingley Vale Nutbourne
Bannerdale
Lady Alice Chanticleer
Agnes
Dam
Busybody		 Petrarch Lord Clifden Newminster
The Slave
Laura Orlando
Torment
Spinaway Macaroni Sweetmeat
Jocose
Queen Bertha Kingston
Flax (family 1-w)[8]

References
  1. Hunter, Avalyn. "Meddler". American Classic Pedigrees. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  2. "Horseracing History Online - Person Profile : George Baird". Horseracinghistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
  3. "Miscellaneous". Auckland Star. 11 January 1893. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
  4. "Papers Past — Otago Witness — 15 December 1892 — HEIGHTS, ACCEPTANCES, &c". Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2011-11-26.
  5. [ Displaying Abstract ] (2011-11-18). "NEW WORLD'S TURF RECORD. - Royal Tourist Lowers 11-16-Mile Mark to 1 - 44 1-5 at Oakland. - Article - NYTimes.com". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
  6. "Belmont Stakes | 2012 Belmont Stakes Betting". Belmont-stakes.info. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
  7. "Pedigree of Meddler". Equineline. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  8. "Thoroughbred Bloodlines - Queen Bertha - Family 1-w". www.bloodlines.net. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
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