Spilletta (1749 – 1776) was a

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 ...

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 ...

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

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

of the undefeated

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 ...

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'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

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 ...

bred by the Sir Robert Eden and foaled in 1749. She was sired by the undefeated

Regulus Regulus is the brightest object in the constellation Leo (constellation), Leo and one of the List of brightest stars, brightest stars in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation designated α Leonis, which is Latinisation of names, ...

. 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's Tantivy and Mr. Curzon's Jason.

Stud career

Spilletta was a broodmare at the

Duke of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British royal family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom w ...

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. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

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 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 ...

and a match against

Bucephalus Bucephalus (; ; – June 326 BC) or Bucephalas, was the horse of Alexander the Great, and one of the most famous horses of classical antiquity. According to the '' Alexander Romance'' (1.15), the name "Bucephalus" literally means "ox-h ...

. He sired

Planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...

, 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 defe ...

, Mercury, Young Eclipse,

Saltram Saltram House is a grade I listed George II era house in Plympton, Devon, England. It was deemed by the architectural critic Nikolaus Pevsner to be "the most impressive country house in Devon". The house was designed by the architect Ro ...

, 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 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 ...

. * 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'', ''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 ...

'' * Spilletta is

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 ...

4S × 3D to the stallion Snake, meaning that he appears fourth generation on the sire side of his pedigree and third generation on the dam side of his 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 Prince William, Duke of Cumberland