Prince Leopold (horse)
{{Short description|British Thoroughbred racehorse}}
{{Infobox racehorse
| horsename = Prince Leopold
| image_name = Leopold (horse).jpg
| caption = Circa 1816 wax diorama of Prince Leopold by an unknown artist
| sire = Hedley
| grandsire = Gohanna
| dam = Gramarie
| damsire = Sorcerer
| sex = Stallion (Gelded in 1817)
| foaled = 1813
| country = United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
| colour = Bay
| breeder = The Duke of York
| owner = The Duke of York
| trainer = William Butler
| record = 8:3-2-2 (includes one walk-over)
| earnings =
| race = Epsom Derby (1816)
Port Stakes (1817)
| awards =
| honours =
| updated=
}}
Prince Leopold (1813–1817) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and winner of the 1816 Epsom Derby. Prince Leopold was bred by the Duke of York and raced as a three and four-year-old. The bay colt had an unruly temperament, and was castrated at the end of the 1817 racing season in an attempt to improve his behavior, but he died shortly after the procedure.
Background
Prince Leopold was bred by the Duke of York and was foaled at the Duke's Oakland Park stud{{cite journal|last=Staff|title=Experiences of Mr. Thomas Coleman|journal=Baily's Magazine of Sports & Pastimes|date=January 1876|volume=28|pages=83|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UZQbAQAAIAAJ&q=stud+%22oatlands+park%22&pg=PA83}} in 1813. His sire, Hedley (foaled in 1803), raced at age four and five, winning a few 100-guinea races before he retired to stud in Wingfield, Berkshire in 1809.{{cite web|last=Erigero|first=Patricia|title=Gohanna|url=http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/Gohanna.html|publisher=Thoroughbred Heritage|access-date=8 January 2012}} Prince Leopold was Hedley's most notable son. Gramarie (foaled 1807), Prince Leopold's dam, was also bred by the Duke of York and produced a full-sister to Prince Leopold, Leopoldine, that became the {{glossary link|glossary=Glossary of equestrian terms|tail-female}} ancestress of several French stakes winners, most notably Bois Roussel. Gramarie also produced Bella Donna, the granddam of Derby winner Amato.{{cite web|last=Erigero|first=Partricia|title=Sorcerer|url=http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/Sorcerer.html|publisher=Thoroughbred Heritage|access-date=8 January 2012}}
Racing career and death
Prince Leopold did not race as a two-year-old, and he started seven times in his three-year career with a total of two wins and one "walk over" (win by default). The colt's most important win was in the Derby, and the Duke of York won the Derby a second time in 1822 with the colt Moses. The Duke of York's racing establishment was managed by the Duke's groom, Warwick Lake, and Prince Leopold was registered under Lake's name for most of his racing engagements.{{cite journal|title=Newmarket-First October Meeting|journal=Racing Calendar|date=April 1817|volume=28|pages=135|hdl=2027/nyp.33433066590765?urlappend=%3Bseq=187|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433066590765?urlappend=%3Bseq=187|access-date=8 January 2012}}
=1816: three-year-old season=
The 1,575-guinea Derby was held on 30 May with 11 horses lining up for the start. The race favorite was the colt Nectar who had won the 2,000 Guineas Stakes. In the final strides of the race, Nectar and Prince Leopold battled for the win, with Prince Leopold winning by half a length.{{cite book|last=Bertram|first=James Glass|title=The Blue Ribbon of the Turf|year=1890|publisher=Chatto & Windus|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/blueribbonturfa00bertgoog/page/n291 274]|url=https://archive.org/details/blueribbonturfa00bertgoog|quote=prince leopold.}} The Duke of York reportedly won several thousand pounds by betting on Prince Leopold to win the Derby.{{cite book|last=Malden|first=Henry Elliot|title=The Victoria history of the county of Surrey, Volume 2|year=1905|publisher=A. Constable|location=London|pages=496|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9rvcMESLXx4C&q=epsom+%22prince+leopold%22+derby&pg=PA496}}
On 1 October at the First October meeting at Newmarket, Prince Leopold was third in the St. Leger Stakes being beaten by the colts Sovereign and Sir Richard.{{cite journal|last=Staff|title=Newmarket First October Meeting|journal=The Sporting Magazine|year=1817|volume=49|pages=14|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R7wCAAAAYAAJ&q=leopold&pg=RA1-PA14}} The next day, Prince Leopold received 125 guineas after a subscription race did not attract enough entries (termed as a "walk over").{{cite journal|last=Weatherby|first=Edward and James|title=Newmarket First October|journal=Racing Calendar|year=1816|volume=44|pages=142|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7EQFAAAAYAAJ&q=leopold&pg=PA142|access-date=8 January 2012}} On 17 October at the Second October meeting, Prince Leopold was fourth in the second class of the October Oatlands Stakes where the winner was his sire's five-year-old full-brother Wanderer.{{cite journal|last=Staff|title=Newmarket Second October Meeting|journal=The Sporting Magazine|year=1817|volume=49|pages=24|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R7wCAAAAYAAJ&q=leopold&pg=RA1-PA24}}
=1817: four-year-old season and death=
At the Newmarket-Craven meeting, Prince Leopold won the Port Stakes out of a field of five horses.{{cite book|last=Whyte|first=James Christie|title=The History of the British Turf, Volume 2|year=1840|publisher=H. Colburn|location=London|pages=158|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=urQUAAAAYAAJ&q=%22prince+leopold%22+skim+lake&pg=PA158}} At the First Spring meeting at Newmarket, Prince Leopold was beaten by Mr. Wyndham's colt Skim in a match race.{{cite journal|title=Newmarket-First Spring Meeting|journal=Racing Calendar|date=April 1817|volume=28|pages=17|hdl=2027/nyp.33433066590765?urlappend=%3Bseq=69|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433066590765?urlappend=%3Bseq=69|access-date=8 January 2012}} On 5 May at Newmarket, Nectar beat Prince Leopold in a match race,{{cite journal|title=Newmarket-Second Spring Meeting|journal=Racing Calendar|date=April 1817|volume=28|pages=25|hdl=2027/nyp.33433066590765?urlappend=%3Bseq=77|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433066590765?urlappend=%3Bseq=77|access-date=8 January 2012}} and he finished third in a 150-guinea sweepstakes race at the same meeting a few days later.{{cite journal|title=Newmarket-Second Spring Meeting|journal=Racing Calendar|date=April 1817|volume=28|pages=28|hdl=2027/nyp.33433066590765?urlappend=%3Bseq=80|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433066590765?urlappend=%3Bseq=80|access-date=8 January 2012}}
Towards the end of the 1817 racing season, Prince Leopold's "temper being so bad they could do nothing with him,"{{cite journal|last=Staff|title=His Royal Highness the Duke of York|journal=The Sporting Magazine|year=1822|volume=10|pages=198|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sr0CAAAAYAAJ&q=%22prince+leopold%22+temper+cut+him&pg=PA198}} the decision was made to castrate him. The General Stud Book reports that Prince Leopold died after the operation in 1817,{{cite journal|last=Weatherby|title=Gramarie|journal=The General Stud Book|year=1832|volume=3|pages=157|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qqIrAQAAIAAJ&q=%22prince+leopold%22+castration&pg=PA157|access-date=8 January 2012}} but the Sporting Magazine lists his death year as 1818. The 1817 Racing Calendar reports that Lord Stawell's horse Pandour received a forfeit from Prince Leopold (listed as dead) on 29 September 1817, making the 1817 death date more likely.
Pedigree
{{Pedigree
|name = Prince Leopold (GB), Bay colt, 1813{{cite web|last=Staff|title=Prince Leopold 5x Pedigree|url=http://www.pedigreequery.com/prince+leopold2|publisher=Pedigreequery.com|access-date=7 January 2012}}
|inf =
|f = Hedley (GB)
Bay, 1803
|m = Gramarie (GB)
Black, 1807
|ff = Gohanna
1790
|fm = Catherine
1795
|mf = Sorcerer
1796
|mm = Sir Peter Mare
1802
|fff = Mercury
|ffm = Dundas Herod Mare
|fmf = Woodpecker
|fmm = Camilla
|mff = Trumpator
|mfm = Young Giantess
|mmf = Sir Peter Teazle
|mmm = Deceit
|ffff = Eclipse
|fffm = Tartar Mare
|ffmf = Herod*
|ffmm = Maiden
|fmff = Herod*
|fmfm = Miss Ramsden
|fmmf = Trentham
|fmmm = Coquette
|mfff = Conductor
|mffm = Brunette
|mfmf = Diomed^
|mfmm = Giantess
|mmff = Highflyer^
|mmfm = Papillon
|mmmf = Tandem
|mmmm = Perdita^
}}