Spilletta (1749 – 1776) was a British Thoroughbred

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, 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 basic pr ...

. She only raced once and is best known for being the dam of the undefeated

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that 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 ce ...

Background

Spilletta was a

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 (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

filly A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

bred by the Sir Robert Eden and foaled in 1749. She was sired by the undefeated Regulus. Regulus was also a very successful stallion, becoming Champion sire eight times. Regulus also sired Careless and Cato. Spilletta's dam was Mother Western, a daughter of Smith's son of Snake.

Racing career

Spilletta only started one race, in April 1754 at Newmarket for a £50 Plate. She lost the race to Sir Charles Sedley's Royal, the

Marquess of Hartington A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

's Tantivy and Mr. Curzon's Jason.

Stud career

Spilletta was a broodmare at the Duke of Cumberland stud. She produced five foals: * Ariaden – a bay filly foaled in 1759 and sire by Crab. *

– a

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

stallion foaled in 1764 and sired by Marske. He was undefeated during his 18 race career and is generally considered one of the best horses ever. His wins included 11 King's Plates, the Great Subscription Purse and a match against Bucephalus. He sired Planet, Pot-8-Os,

King Fergus King Fergus (1775–1801) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He won several races, but achieved greater success as a sire. He was British Champion sire in 1797 and his progeny included St Leger Stakes winner Hambletonian, who was only def ...

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

, Young Eclipse,

Saltram Saltram House is a grade I listed George II era mansion house located in the parish of Plympton, near Plymouth in Devon, England. It was deemed by the architectural critic Pevsner to be "the most impressive country house in Devon". The ho ...

, Serjeant and Annette. Eclipse is the sire-line ancestor of most Thoroughbreds alive today. * Proserpine – a bay mare foaled in 1766 and sired by Marske. She never raced, but was the dam of Humbug and six others. * Garrick – first called Hyperion, a chestnut stallion foaled in 1772 and sired by Marske. He won a 140 guineas race at Newmarket in 1777. As a stallion he stood at Newmarket and near Malton in Yorkshire. * Briseis – a chestnut filly foaled in 1774 and sired by Chrysolite. Spilletta died in 1776.

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 (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

, br. = Brown'' * Spilletta was inbred 3x4 to Snake. This means that the stallion appears one in the third generation and once in the fourth generation of her pedigree.

References

{{reflist 1749 racehorse births 1776 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the Kingdom of Great Britain Racehorses trained in the Kingdom of Great Britain Thoroughbred family 12