Lord Murphy (1876 – after 1881) was an American

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 that was bred in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and is best known for winning the 1879

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

. He was originally named Patmus and was a grandson of Lexington. He descended from the Byerly Turk. The 5th Kentucky Derby was run on a fast track with a field of nine horses, including the notable racer and future leading sire

Falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

. Lord Murphy was knocked almost to his knees by Ada Glenn on the first turn, but managed to pull himself up from 7th to 1st place at the mile marker to win over the fast approaching Falsetto. Lord Murphy was bought soon after his Derby win by horseman James R. Keene, who promptly shipped him overseas to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

racing circuit. His arrival was greeted with interest in Britain, as he was "purely American", rather than being bred from relatively recent European exports. Lord Murphy did not race well in Britain, being unplaced in the 1880 Chatsworth Handicap Plate at Derby and the 1881 Visitors Plate run at the Craven meeting. He acquired a "savage" temper and became a " roarer", an ailment that Keene thought developed secondary to the change in weather between the United States and England. Keene sold Lord Murphy to Richard Ten Broeck in May 1881. He was later sold at a British public auction in Newmarket on July 6, 1881, the horse fetching a small sum of 10 guineas ($50)."When The Bloom Is Off The Roses", ''Sports Illustrated'', April 28, 198

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Pedigree

References

1876 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Tennessee Racehorses trained in the United States Kentucky Derby winners Thoroughbred family A10 Byerley Turk sire line {{Racehorse-stub