Captain Cuttle was a British

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse and sire. He ran only six times in a career which was restricted by chronic injury problems. He was the outstanding British colt of his generation, winning The Derby and the

St James's Palace Stakes The St James's Palace Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 7 furlongs and 213 yards (1,603 metres). It is sche ...

in 1922. He retired after winning his only race as a four-year-old in 1923.

Background

Captain Cuttle, an exceptionally good-looking chestnut horse with a broad white blaze and three white

socks A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. In the lat ...

, was bred by his owner Lord Woolavington. He was from the first crop of foals sired by the unbeaten champion,

Hurry On Hurry On (7 May 1913 – 1936) was an undefeated British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire that revived the Matchem sire line.Leicester, Sir Charles, "Bloodstock Breeding", J.A. Allen & Co, London, 1969 English trainer Fred Darling called Hurry ...

, making him a representative of the

Godolphin Arabian The Godolphin Arabian (–1753), also known as the Godolphin Barb, was an Arabian horse who was one of three stallions that founded the modern Thoroughbred (the others were the Darley Arabian and the Byerley Turk). He was named after his best-kn ...

sire line. Apart from Captain Cuttle, Hurry On sired the winners of seven Classics including the Derby winners

Coronach A coronach (also written coranich, corrinoch, coranach, cronach, etc.) is the Scottish Gaelic equivalent of the Goll, being the third part of a round of keening, the traditional improvised singing at a death, wake or funeral in the Highlands of S ...

and Call Boy. His most influential son was 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 (4,01 ...

winner Precipitation, who sired four classic winners. Captain Cuttle was named after the character in Dickens' novel ''

Dombey and Son ''Dombey and Son'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens. It follows the fortunes of a shipping firm owner, who is frustrated at the lack of a son to follow him in his footsteps; he initially rejects his daughter's love before eventual ...

''. Like his sire, Captain Cuttle was trained throughout his career by Fred Darling at Beckhampton in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershir ...

, and was ridden in his most important races by the leading British jockey of the era

Steve Donoghue Steve Donoghue (8 November 188423 March 1945) was a leading English flat-race jockey in the 1910s and 1920s. He was Champion Jockey 10 times between 1914 and 1923 and was one of the most celebrated horse racing sportsmen after Fred Archer, ...

. The colt was particularly devoted to his trainer, following him "like a pet dog."

Racing career

1921: two-year-old season

Captain Cuttle was a slow-maturing colt and was not highly tried at two. He made only one appearance on the racecourse, finishing second in a minor race at

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated i ...

. Captain Cuttle's heavy physique and immaturity put a strain on his forelegs, leading Darling to treat him very carefully, riding the colt himself in most of his exercise work.

1922: three-year-old season

Captain Cuttle began his three-year-old season in the

Wood Ditton Stakes Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of ligni ...

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...

, which he won by six lengths. He became ill after the race and had not fully recovered by the time he ran in the

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 (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year ...

. He finished third in the Newmarket

Classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a '' ...

, beaten a total of seven lengths, behind

St Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and Pondoland. There were doubts concerning the colt's stamina, and he started at odds of 10/1 in a field of thirty for the Epsom Derby four weeks later. Captain Cuttle missed the parade for the Derby after a delay caused by a

shoeing Shoe-throwing, or shoeing, showing the sole of one's shoe or using shoes to insult are forms of protest in many parts of the world. Shoe-throwing as an insult dates back to ancient times, being mentioned in verse 8 of Psalm 60 and the similar ...

accident. Allegations were later made in the '' Daily Express'' that Captain Cuttle had been illegally injected with

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...

, to combat lameness caused by the incident. Lord Woolavington responded by instituting legal proceedings against the newspaper for libel. Ridden by Donoghue, Captain Cuttle was prominent from the start before moving into the lead entering the straight. He was soon clear and won easily by four lengths from Tamar in a race record time of 2:34.6. The colt was reported to be lame after the race and there were rumours that his career was over but he appeared to have recovered in time for

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races a ...

where he won the St James's Palace Stakes over a mile. He then suffered a tendon injury which forced him out for the rest of the season.

1923: four-year-old season

On his 1923 debut, Captain Cuttle won the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Kempton. He was being prepared for 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 (4,01 ...

when his tendon problems recurred and he was retired to stud.

Assessment

In their book ''A Century of Champions'', John Randall and Tony Morris rated Captain Cuttle the seventy-third best British horse of the 20th Century and the second best Derby winner of the 1920s .Randall, J and Morris, T. . Portway Press, 1999, p. 128

Stud career

Captain Cuttle retired to his owner's stud at Lavington,

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an a ...

. He had some success, siring the

1000 Guineas The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,60 ...

winner Scuttle but did not live up to expectations and was sold for a reported £40,000 to stand in Italy in 1927. He died at the Mirafiori stud, near

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

in March 1932 after breaking his back in a freak accident.

Pedigree

Name

The name "Captain Cuttle" was taken from a character in

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

, Captain Edward Cuttle. It was subsequently applied to an LNER Class A3 locomotive, No. 2745 ( BR number 60091), many of which class were named for racehorses.

References

{{Epsom Derby Winners 1919 racehorse births 1932 racehorse deaths Epsom Derby winners Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 22-c Godolphin Arabian sire line