Waxy (horse)

Waxy's sire, Pot-8-Os, was a successful sire of racehorses that had won 34 races during his seven-year racing career. In addition to Waxy, Pot-8-Os produced the mare Parasol (the dam of Partisan) and the colt Lottery.[7] Waxy was Pot-8-Os most successful son in the breeding shed, with Waxy's sons carrying on the direct-male line well into the 20th century.

Waxy's dam, Maria, was bred by Lord Bolingbroke and was sired by the Thoroughbred foundation sire Herod. She produced ten foals between 1784 and 1797, with Waxy being her sixth foal and one of two by Pot-8-Os.[1] Waxy's full-brother, Worthy (foaled in 1795), was a moderately successful racer and was later a breeding stallion for the East India Company.[8] Maria died in 1797, about two weeks after foaling the filly Wowski, later the dam of Derby winner Smolensko, Sir Charles and Thunderbolt.[1]

In the words of jockey Sam Chifney, Waxy was a "handsome, rich bay, with a white stocking on the off-hind [right] leg, good length, and especially beautiful quarters."[9] In the words of his exercise rider (who wrote an anonymous letter to The Sporting Magazine in 1828), Waxy was "one of the finest formed horses, perfect in symmetry, beautiful in colour, admirable in all his paces, and of the finest temper when in work."[10] However, when Waxy was confined to a stall during the winter months, his temperament became unruly and unpredictable leading the anonymous writer to remark that, "Oft has he kicked the lappets of my coat over my head."[10] One of the few, possibly only, surviving portraits of Waxy was painted by Francis Sartorius in 1794 or 1795, and the depiction was praised in commentary for Sporting Magazine for its "neatness" and for "the truth of representation it so evidently display[ed]."[11] While most breeding stallions and racehorses of the era had stable companions, Waxy reportedly was fond of rabbits in his later years and "was never happy without a rabbit in his paddock"[12] with one female rabbit making her nest in the middle of his stall and raising generations of rabbits at the site that were never harmed by Waxy.[7]

Waxy's trainer, Robert Robson (center) with jockey Frank Buckle (left) and John Wastel in a painting by Benjamin Marshall, c. 1802.

The Epsom Derby occurred on 18 May and was attended by "as numerous a company as ever appeared on the course."[6] Eleven horses lined up for the start, seven of them sired by Pot-8-Os.[7] The starting odds for Waxy to win the Derby were 100 to 7 and 100 to 10 (depending on the bookmaking operation) and at the Tattersalls betting room he "was so little thought of, that he had never been mentioned" in the betting.[6] The race favorite was Lord Egremont's colt "Brother to Precipitate" (later named Gohanna in 1795) with this horse taking the lead in the initial strides of the race. Waxy pushed Brother to Precipitate (a "bump" in modern racing terms) at the track's first turn, taking and maintaining the lead to become an "easy winner" of the Derby.[6] Three of the top four finishers were sired by Pot-8-Os, with second-place finisher Brother to Precipitate being the exception.[12] The meeting was also notable for a "dreadful accident," a collision between a servant on horseback with the colt Exiseman, the winner of the race after the Derby, and for the antics of John Lade dressed in a "loose undress of blue and white striped trowsers" asking the crowd to determine whether he was "the captain of a privateer or an ambassador from the Great Mogul."[6]

At Lewes on 1 August, Waxy won an 80-guinea sweepstakes race against Lord Egremont's colt Mercury while carrying seven pounds more than the other horses in the race as a handicap for his win in the Derby.[17] At Abingdon on 11 September, Waxy won a two-mile 40-guinea sweepstakes race against the colt Rockingham.[18]

Waxy won the Jockey Club Plate at the Second Spring meeting at Newmarket in May.[19] At the same meeting a few days later, Waxy was beaten by Lord Egremont's colt Brother to Precipitate in a match race.[20] On At Ipswich on 1 July, Waxy won a match race against Charles Bunbury's colt Robin Gray.[21] At Lewes in July, Waxy ran against his previous rival, Brother to Precipitate, and won both heats[22] in the four-mile Duke of Richmond's Plate for horses bred in Suffolk.[23] On the same day, Waxy was the only horse that presented for the 60-guinea Ladies' Plate and won by default (termed as a "walk over").[22]

At Oxford on 18 August, Waxy was second in a 100-guinea cup race to Mr. Durand's filly Hermione.[24] At Lewes on 6 August, Waxy was third in the four-mile Ladies' Plate to the colt Guildford and Lord Egremont's horse Gohanna.[25] On 19 September at Salisbury, Waxy won two heats to win the 100-guinea His Majesty's Plate against the five-year-old horse Guatimozin.[26]

At the First Spring meeting, Waxy was second in the 100-guinea King's Plate to the colt Gabriel.[27] In March at Newmarket, Waxy was third in the first class of the Oatland Stakes to the colts Viret and Pecker.[28] In May, Waxy won His Majesty's Plate at Guildford against Gohanna and Guildford.[29] On 31 August at Salisbury, Waxy won two four-mile heats against Gohanna for the 100-guinea His Majesty's Plate.[30]

On 18 July at Oxford in the running for the Gold Cup, Waxy did not place and was noted to have "broke down" during the running.[16] This was his last appearance on the turf and he was retired to stud the following season in 1798.

Waxy produced 190 winners in his stud career,[38] including four winners of the Epsom Derby and three winners of The Oaks. His first Derby winner, Waxy Pope, was foaled when Waxy was 16 years old and most of his notable offspring were produced in the last nine years of his life under the ownership of the Duke of Grafton and his son.[39] Waxy was the leading sire in 1810, mostly due to the racing success of Pope and Whalebone. His importance to Thoroughbred genetics and prevalence in the General Stud Book led him to be likened to "the ace of trumps,"[40] the most powerful card in bridge, due in part to the success of his sons Whisker and Whalebone. In the mid-20th century, the paternal line of most of the world's male Thoroughbreds traced to the Darley Arabian through Waxy,[41] and Waxy's line was one of only three male lines tracing to Eclipse that persisted into the 20th century (the others tracing through Hambletonian and Joe Andrews).[42] In the words of 20th-century Thoroughbred pedigree analyst John Furman Wall, "with his advent, superb quality was a reality."[38]

Waxy produced four Epsom Derby winners: Waxy Pope (1809), Whalebone (1810), Blucher (1814) and Whisker (1815). He also sired three fillies that won The Oaks: Music (1813), Minuet (1815) and Corinne (1818). Corinne also won the 1,000 Guineas Stakes in 1818.[43] His most productive offspring were produced by the mare Penelope (by Trumpator) and include Whalebone, Whisker, Web, Woful, Wire and Wilful. Penelope was bred and owned by the Duke of Grafton, and all of her foals were foaled at Euston Hall. Whisker was more notable for siring broodmares, and Whalebone was a good producer of colts. Waxy Pope was a leading sire in Ireland and Blucher was a marginally successful sire.

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