Altisidora (1810–1825) was a British

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

and

broodmare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

best known for winning the

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

St Leger Stakes The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over ...

in 1813. Bred, trained and raced in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

she won two of her three races as a two-year-old in 1812. She was unbeaten for the next two seasons, winning three races including the St Leger at

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

as a three-year-old and four as a four-year-old in 1814. In her final season she won four of her eight races including a

Great Subscription Purse The Great Subscription Purses were a series of Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse races in Great Britain run at York Racecourse, usually over a distance of 4 miles, that took place each year in August from 1751 to 1833. During the second half ...

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, the Fitzwilliam Stakes at Doncaster and a King's Plate at

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. She was retired to stud, where she had some impact, being the grand-dam of Ralph, the winner

2000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1.6 km) and scheduled to take place each yea ...

and the

Ascot Gold Cup The Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 2 miles 3 furlongs and 210 yards (4 ...

. Altisidora died in 1825 at the age of fifteen.

Background

Altisidora was a

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

mare with a white

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

and two white

feet The foot (: feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is an organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of ...

bred by Richard Watt of

Bishop Burton Bishop Burton is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies on the A1079 road approximately to the west of the market town of Beverley. Another "Burton" is Cherry Burton, a mile or so to the north. Accordi ...

in Yorkshire. She was sired by Dick Andrews, a grandson of

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

whose other progeny included the

winner

Cwrw Cwrw (foaled 1809) was a British Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse and Horse breeding#Terminology, sire and best known for winning the British Classic Races, classic 2000 Guineas in 1812. In a racing career which lasted from April 1812 until S ...

, the

Oaks Stakes The Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 y ...

winner Manuella and the successful stallions

Tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English '' ...

and Muley Moloch. Her dam Mandane has been described as one of the best broodmares of the early 19th century and was also the dam of Manuella, and the

Chester Cup The Chester Cup is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run over a distance of 2 miles, 2 furlongs and 140 yards () at Cheste ...

winner Brutandorf. Mandane is regarded as the foundation mare of Thoroughbred family 11-g. Altisidora was trained throughout her racing career by Tommy Sykes and ridden in most of her races by John Jackson.

Racing career

1812: two-year-old season

Altisidora made he first appearance on 8 April 1812 at Malton Racecourse. She started the 8/13 favourite for a half mile sweepstakes and won from two opponents. On 27 May at

York Racecourse York Racecourse is a horse racing venue in York, North Yorkshire, England. It is the third biggest racecourse in Britain in terms of total prize money offered, and second behind Ascot Racecourse, Ascot in prize money offered per meeting. It att ...

, the filly started favourite for a sweepstakes and defeated Mr Garforth's unnamed grey colt and three others. On her third and final appearance as a two-year-old, Altisidora started 2/5 favourite for a sweepstakes at York on 25 August and finished third to Mr Garforth's colt. During the season, Watt reportedly turned down an offer of 1500

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

for the filly.

1813: three-year-old season

Altisidora began her 1813 season at York on 25 May. She started favourite for a one and a half mile sweepstakes for three-year-old fillies and "won easy" from the

Duke of Leeds Duke of Leeds was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1694 for the prominent statesman Thomas Osborne, 1st Marquess of Carmarthen, who had been one of the Immortal Seven in the Revolution of 1688. He had already succeeded ...

chestnut filly by

Selim Salim, Saleem or Selim may refer to: People *Salim (name), or Saleem or Salem or Selim, a name of Arabic origin **Salim (poet) (1800–1866), Kurdish poet **Saleem (playwright), Palestinian-American gay Muslim playwright, actor, DJ, and dancer * ...

. The filly was rested for five months before running in the St Leger at Doncaster on 27 September. Ridden by John Jackson she started the 5/2 favourite in a field of seventeen runners. Altisidora won the classic by a head from Lord Fitzwilliam's colt Camelopard with Tiger in third. Two days later, Altisidora contested a sweepstakes over the St Leger course and defeated five opponents at odds of 1/4.

1814: four-year-old season

As a five-year-old in 1814, Altisidora was unbeaten in four races. At York in August she defeated Camelopard at level weights in a two-mile match race, earning 500

for her owner. Over the same course on the following afternoon she won a sweepstakes in which she defeated Lord Scarborough's five-year-old Catton at

weight-for-age {{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Weight for Age (WFA) is a term in thoroughbred horse racing which is one of the conditions for a race. History The principle of WFA was developed by Admiral Rous, a handicapper with the English Jockey Club. Rou ...

. In autumn, Altisidora returned to the Doncaster St Leger meeting, where she had two engagements on 29 September. She was able to claim the Doncaster Club Stakes without having to race as the other runners were withdrawn, allowing the filly to

walk over John Baxter Taylor and William Robbins (athlete)">William Robbins to refuse to race in protest. A walkover, also W.O. or w/o (originally two words: "walk over"), is awarded to the opposing team/player, etc., if there are no other players avail ...

. Later that afternoon she defeated Camelopard again in a four-mile sweepstakes in which she received four pounds from the colt.

1815: five-year-old season

Altisidora did not appear as a five-year-old until 21 August at York when she contested a subscription race over two miles. She started odds-on favourite but suffered her first defeat for three years as she was beaten into second place by Catton. Two days later she ran in the second of the three

races and "won easy" from Hocuspocus and Kexby. The third and final of the Great Subscription Purse races was held the following afternoon with Catton her only opponent. On this occasion the colt started favourite and repeated his earlier victory over the filly. In September, Altisidora ran for the third year in succession at the St Leger meeting and contested four races. On the opening day she won the one and a half mile Fitzwilliam Stakes, beating seven opponents at odds of 4/6. Two days later she received seven pounds from Catton in the Doncaster Stakes, but again finished second to Lord Scarborough's horse. On the following afternoon she finished last of the three runners behind the three-year-old St Leger winner

Filho da Puta Filho da Puta (14 April 1812 – 25 August 1835) was a Great Britain, British Thoroughbred Horse racing, racehorse. He won nine of his 12 races including the St. Leger Stakes and Doncaster Cup, Doncaster Gold Cup. He also sired St. Leger wi ...

in the Doncaster Club Stakes over two miles and then immediately reappeared to beat two opponents in a four-mile sweepstakes. Altisidora ended her racing career at

Racecourse on 11 October. She won a King's Plate over four miles and then turned out again for the Richmond Gold Cup over the same course and distance. The mare ran unplaced for the first time as she finished seventh of the ten runners behind Filho da Puta and Doctor Syntax.

Stud career

Altisidora was retired from racing to become a broodmare for Richard Watt's stud at Bishop Burton. She produced eight foals in eight years: * Caesar, 1817, chestnut colt sired by Cerberus * Catiline, 1818, chestnut colt by Cerberus * 1819, chestnut filly by

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

* Abron, 1820, bay colt by

Whisker Whiskers, also known as vibrissae (; vibrissa; ) are a type of stiff, functional hair used by most therian mammals to sense their environment. These hairs are finely specialised for this purpose, whereas other types of hair are coarser as t ...

* 1821, chestnut filly by

Blacklock Blacklock is a surname of Scottish and English origin. Notable people with the surname include: * Ambrose Blacklock (1784–1866), Scottish-born farmer, physician and political figure in Upper Canada * Charlotte Blacklock (1857–1931), British suf ...

, killed by

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

in 1838 * Worthless, 1822, bay filly by

Walton Walton may refer to: People * Walton (given name) * Walton (surname) * Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer Places Canada * Walton, Nova Scotia, a community ** Walton River (Nova Scotia) *Walton, Ontario, a hamlet United Kingd ...

* 1823, chestnut filly by Catton, dam of the

winner

Ralph Ralph (pronounced or ) is a male name of English origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Old High German ''Radulf'', cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms are: * Ra ...

* 1824, chestnut colt by Magistrate Altisidora died at Bishop Burton on 25 January 1825.

Honours

One of Bishop Burton's

Public House A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

s was renamed The Altisidora in honour of the local mare, and has retained the name to the present day.

Pedigree

References

{{St Leger Winners 1810 racehorse births 1825 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 11-g St Leger winners