Noble (horse)

Noble was a bay horse standing 15.1 hands high[1] bred by his owner, Thomas Panton. Noble was one of three Derby winners sired by Highflyer a successful racehorse who became an outstanding breeding stallion,[2] winning the title of Champion sire on 13 occasions (1785-1796, 1798).[3] He was the fourth of ten foals produced by Lord Farnham's mare Brim,[4] an important broodmare who was the direct female ancestor of the Derby winners Cedric and Doncaster.[5]

There are few available records for Noble's racing career, and it is likely that he had more races than the three detailed below.

In 1790 Noble stood as a stallion at Hampton Lodge near Farnham in Surrey at a fee of 2 guineas.[1] By 1793 he had been moved to Mitchen Hall near Godalming. He was described as "a sure foal-getter" whose offspring were "handsome, large and bony".[10] His fee had increased to 3 guineas by 1796, when he was based at Yateley in Hampshire, but he did not appear in subsequent lists of stallions in the Racing Calendar.[11]

Noble has only one recorded foal in the General Stud Book: a colt named Sheet Anchor was registered as being bred by Mr Durand in 1795 sired by Noble out of a mare by Herod.[12] This may suggest that his stud career mainly involved covering non-Thoroughbred mares. A report from 1822 mentions two other foals, Mr Vernon's Young Noble and Mr Whaley's Mary Grey, but notes that "very few of his get were ever trained."[8]

• Noble was inbred 3 × 3 to Blank, meaning that this stallion appears twice in the third generation of his pedigree. He was also inbred 4 × 4 to Croft's Partner.