Orbit (foaled 1885) was a

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 ...

. He was trained at

Kingsclere Kingsclere is a large village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. At the centre of the village lies the Church Of England parish church of St. Mary's with its distinctive tower. St. Mary's church has C12 origins. It is cruciform and has N ...

by John Porter for the

1st Duke of Westminster Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, (13 October 1825 – 22 December 1899), styled Viscount Belgrave between 1831 and 1845, Earl Grosvenor between 1845 and 1869, and known as The Marquess of Westminster between 1869 and 1874, was an ...

. As a three-year-old he won the

Eclipse Stakes The Eclipse Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown ...

Breeding

Orbit was the son of

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, more commonly known as the Derby and sometimes referred to as the Epsom Derby, is a Group races, Group 1 flat Horse racing, horse race in England open to three-year-old Colt (horse), colts and Filly, fillies. It is run at Ep ...

and

Champion Stakes The Champion Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 1 furlong a ...

winner

Bend Or Bend Or (1877–1903) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1880 Epsom Derby. His regular jockey Fred Archer, winner of thirteen consecutive British jockey titles, said Bend Or was probably the greatest horse he had ever ridden. No ...

. His dam was Fair Alice, a daughter of

July Stakes The July Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and geldings. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and ...

winner Cambuscan.

Racing career

Orbit won three races as a two-year-old; the Criterion Nursery Handicap at Newmarket, the Kempton Park Champion Nursery Handicap and the Daveridge Stakes. Orbit started his three-year-old career by winning the

Craven Stakes The Craven Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 met ...

at Newmarket by ¾ length from Cotillon. His next race came 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 (1.6 km) and scheduled to take place each yea ...

at Newmarket.

Friar's Balsam Tincture of benzoin is a pungent solution of benzoin resin in ethanol. A similar preparation called Friar's Balsam or Compound Benzoin Tincture contains, in addition, Cape aloes or Barbados aloes and storax resin. The U.S. Navy stated that Comp ...

started as the 1/3 favourite for the race, with

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

at 100/12 and Orbit at 100/8. Orbit ran on well in the closing stages to finish in third place. Ayrshire won the race by two lengths from Johnny Morgan, who was a

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

in front of Orbit. After winning the 2000 Guineas win Ayrshire started as the 5/6 favourite for The Derby and Orbit was second favourite at 11/2. Orbit could only finish in fifth place, over seven lengths behind winner Ayrshire. He then finished second in the Triennial Stakes at

Ascot Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to: Places Australia * Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane * Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality * Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide * Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victoria ...

. Orbit started as the 9/4 favourite for the

Eclipse Stakes The Eclipse Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown ...

and in the final 100 yards of the race Orbit gradually edged away from stablemate

Ossory Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraí (Modern Irish), anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Diocese of Ossory. The home of t ...

and beat him by a length.

Stud career

After retiring from racing Orbit was exported to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

to stand at stud. He was a successful stallion there and his progeny included Olascoaga and Old Man, who won 18 of his 19 races. Such was his success at stud he was given the nickname "Stockwell Sudamericano" meaning "South American Stockwell" and referring to the British sire

Stockwell Stockwell is a district located in South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated south of Charing Cross. History The name Stockwell is likely to have originated from a local well, with "stoc" being Old Englis ...

Pedigree

''Note: b. =

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

, br. =

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

, ch. =

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 ...

'' * Orbit was

inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders an ...

4x4 to

Alice Hawthorn Alice Hawthorn (1838–1861) was a British thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. A bay filly, she was sired by Muley Moloch and out of Rebecca, by Lottery. She is considered one of the greatest British racemares of all time, and won over fifty ra ...

. This means that the mare appears twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.

References

{{Reflist 1885 racehorse births Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 4-k Champion Thoroughbred Sires of Argentina