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Chanticleer
Sire Line
Birdcatcher
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Chanticleer gr c 1843
(Birdcatcher - Whim, by Drone). Sire Line
Birdcatcher.
Family 23. Chanticleer was bred in Ireland by
Christopher St George, who had purchased his dam, Whim (gr f 1832
Drone) in 1838. She was bred by Colonel Westenra, and ran for three or
four years in Ireland, winning the Anglesey Stakes and placing second in
many of her races.
He was described as standing very
close to sixteen hands with a plain head, powerful shoulders, large arms
and a great depth of girth, measured in 1848 at 67 3/4 inches. His
immense ribs coupled with his roach back were also considered to be a
source of strength, offsetting the straightness of his quarters, which
were said to droop towards his tail. His good thighs and hocks were
tempered by upright pasterns and light bone. A very free mover, he was
thought to be an excellent stayer with fine speed and courage.
"The Druid" wrote of him
that "he was a horse of strong constitution, but very bad temper,
in fact a perfectly mad horse, when I'Anson first got hold of him. He
was, however, at all times very savage; and so furious was he, on one
occasion, that they were obliged to get the stable lad out of his box
through the window. Sometimes he would roar like a bull; and, when at
Hambleton, Harry Stebbings said he would rather be off the Moor when
Chanticleer was on it."
After winning three Queen's Plates
at the Curragh in 1847 he was purchased by James Merry and sent to
trainer William I'Anson at Gullane in Scotland. Merry also owned the
Derby winners Thormanby (ch c 1857
Windhound) and Doncaster (ch c 1870
Stockwell).
Merry won many races and a great deal of money with Chanticleer,
supposedly including over £50,000 in bets. Chanticleer started
thirty-two times and won nineteen races worth £4,485, his best wins
coming in the Northumberland Plate, the Goodwood Stakes and the
Doncaster Cup at five years of age.
He stood the 1855 season at the
Rawcliffe Stud Paddocks, near York, along with
The Flying Dutchman
(br c 1846 Bay Middleton), Slane (b c 1833 Royal Oak) and the
Connaught Ranger (ch c 1842 Harkaway), the latter a half-brother to
Birdcatcher.
His best offspring was Sunbeam (b f 1855), winner of the St Leger
Stakes and ancestress of Phalaris (br c 1913
Polymelus).
His grey colour was transmitted
via his daughter Souvenir (gr f 1856), dam of Strathconan (gr c 1863
Newminster), down to
The Tetrarch (gr c 1911
Roi Herode) ensuring the
survival of the grey coat colour seen in most of today's thoroughbreds.
| Chanticleer |
Birdcatcher |
Sir
Hercules |
Whalebone |
| Peri |
| Guiccioli |
Bob
Booty |
| Flight |
| Whim |
Drone |
Master Robert |
| Sir
Walter Raleigh Mare |
| Kiss |
Waxy Pope |
| Champion Mare |
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| Race Record |
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| At 2: 2nd in the Paget Stakes at the Curragh, won by Mr Kennedy's
Burgundy (b c Ishmael), beating Mr Preston's Harkover (ch c Harkaway)
and two others, 3rd in a 300 sovereigns sweepstakes at the Curragh, won
by Lord Howth's Mermaid (b f Ishmael). |
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| At 3: all at the Curragh, won £160 beating Mr Disney's Rhadamanthus
(b c Freney) and three others, won £180 beating Mr Courtenay's Bantam (b
c Euclid), Mr Digby's Woodpecker (ch c Turcoman), Mr Preston's
Osprey (ch f Birdcatcher) and one other, won the Queen's Plate in
October, beating Captain Hamilton's Fairy Queen (b f
Sir Hercules), Mr
H Osborne's Red Vixen (ch f Harkaway) and seven others, 2nd in the
Queen's Plate in September, won by Burgundy, beating Mr O'Neill's Caurouch (ch c Birdcatcher), who later won the Cesarewitch, and three
others, 2nd in the Kirwan Stakes, won by Bantam, beating Mr Watts's,
formerly Mr White's, Plover (br c Birdcatcher) and Mr Irwin's The
Connaught Ranger (ch c Harkaway), 3rd for a 100 guineas purse won by Mr
Watt's Mogador (br c Verulam), beating Mr Irwin's Horn of Chase (ch c
Harkaway), unplaced for the Madrid Stakes won by Mr White's Plover
(br c Birdcatcher). |
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| At 4: won the Queen's Plate at the Curragh in April beating Mr Whaley's
(formerly Mr Kennedy's) Burgundy, Mr White's Rat-trap (ch c
Ratcatcher), Mr Watts's General Tom Thumb (b c Ishmael) and four
others, won the Queen's Plate at the Curragh beating Mr Mangan's
Farnham (ch c Harkaway), Colonel Westenra's Venom (ch f Ratcatcher)
and four others, the next day won the Queen's Plate, beating Mr
Ferguson's Fireaway (ch c Freney) and Farnham, won a third Queen's
Plate beating Rat-trap, Fireaway, Wren (bl f Birdcatcher) and one
other, won the Glasgow Cup at Paisley beating Tom Tough (b c Young
Priam), won the Silver Bells and 50 sovereigns at Paisley beating Tom
Tough, 3rd in the 50 sovereigns Kirwan Handicap at the Curragh in June,
won by Colonel Westenra's Joc-o'-Scot (br c Hetman Platoff), 3rd in the
Fitzwilliam Stakes at Doncaster, won by Mr E L Mostyn's Wilderness
(br f Sultan Junior), with a only a head between the first three, 4th
for the Liverpool Cup won by Mr Meiklam's Inheritress. |
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| At 5: won the
Welter Cup at Manchester, carrying 11 stone 6 pounds,
beating Sir J Gerard's Blackie "in a canter," won the
Castle Irwell Stakes at Manchester beating Mr Meiklam's Spaniard (b c
Don John) "easily," won the £970 Northumberland Plate at
Newcastle beating Mr Lane Fox's Executor (br c
Voltaire), who won that
year's Liverpool July Cup, Mr Murphy's Dough (ch c Tearaway), Mr
Gray's Reality (bl f Accident), Lord Eglinton's Glen Saddel (ch c St
Martin), who won that year's Great Metropolitan at Epsom, and six
others, won the £1120 Goodwood Stakes at Goodwood, beating Lord
Eglinton's Plaudit (br f Tomboy), Mr Shelley's Remembrance (br c
Colwick), Mr Courtenay's Bantam and twelve others, won the Cup at
Stirling, beating Mr Wauchope's Cybele (br f Inheritor) and two
others, won the Cup at Ayr, beating Glen Saddel, "easily," won
the Doncaster Cup beating Captain (later Admiral) Harcourt's Ellerdale
(br f Lanercost), who won that year the Cups at Stamford and Richmond
and the Queen's Plate at Lincoln, and Lord Eglinton's Van Tromp (br c
Lanercost), won both Queen's Plates at Edinburgh, walked-over for the
Manchester Cup, 3rd in the Ascot Stakes won by the Duke of Richmond's
Vampyre (b c Mus), beating twenty others, unplaced in the Goodwood Cup,
won by Van Tromp, unplaced in the Cambridgeshire, won by Colonel Peel's
Dacia (ch f Gladiator). |
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| At 6: won the Queen's Plate at Lichfield, 2nd in the Emperor of Russia's
Plate at Ascot, won by Van Tromp, beating Cossack and Collingwood, 2nd
for the Goodwood Cup, won by Lord Stanley's Canezou (br f
Melbourne),
who won that year's Newmarket Handicap and Queen's Plate, 2nd for the
Cup at Warwick, won by Lord Exeter's Glenalvon (b c Coronation), winner
of that year's Ascot Gold Vase and Queen's Plates at Goodwood and
Warwick, ran unplaced four more times and retired. |
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| Notable Offspring |
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| Chanticleer Mare (f 1852), dam of the stallion D'Estournel (br c
1864 Parmesan), and 2nd dam of the Chester Cup winner Glenlivat (b c
1867 Dundee). |
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| Chantress (b f 1855), 2nd
dam of the Doncaster Cup and Prix Morny winner Louis d'Or (b c 1877
Dollar), the Grand Criterium winner The Condor (b c 1882 Dollar) and
the Prix Morny winner Fontanas (br f 1886 Fontainebleau). The Condor
sired the Derby Italiano winner Cloridano (ch c 1897). |
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| Cock Robin (gr c 1854),
sired the dam of the Ascot Stakes winner Dan Dancer (ch c 1884 The
Miser). |
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| Ellen the Fair (gr f
1855), ancestress of the Argentine champion Yatasto (br c 1948 Selim
Hassan) and the Arkansas Derby winner Bold Ego (bbr c 1978 Bold
Tactics). |
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| Eller (gr f 1856), dam of
the very good filly Formosa (ch f 1865
Buccaneer),
winner of the Oaks, One Thousand Guineas, Two Thousand Guineas and St
Leger Stakes. Eller also produced the stallion Grey Palmer (gr c 1872
The Palmer). |
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| Ellermire (b f 1852), dam
of the Ascot Gold Vase winner Elland (b c 1862 Rataplan) and the
stallions Epigram (b c 1872 Blair Athol) and The Ill-Used* (b c 1870
Breadalbane). |
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| Lady Alice (br f 1855),
dam of Furze Chat (br f 1862 King Tom), a useful mare in
Family
16, and St Editha (b f 1873 Kingley Vale), the latter the dam of the
Derby winner and good stallion St Gatien (b c 1881 The
Rover). St Editha was also the 2nd dam of the Ascot Gold winner Marcion (ch c 1890
Royal Hampton). |
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| Queen of the Gypsies (b f
1860), dam of the Chester Cup winner Paul Jones (br c 1865
Buccaneer),
and ancestress of the Breeders' Cup Turf winner Theatrical (b c 1982
Nureyev). |
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| Songstress (b f 1860), dam
of the Ascot Stakes winner Ridotto (b c 1875 Cremorne), and the
stallion Macaroon* (ch c 1871 Macaroni). |
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| Souvenir (gr f 1856), dam
of the Great Yorkshire Stakes winner and good stallion Strathconan
(br c 1863 Newminster), perhaps best known as the damsire of
Le
Sancy (gr c 1884). |
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| Sunbeam (b f 1855), winner
of the St Leger Stakes, and dam of Sunshine (b f 1867
Thormanby),
the taproot of Family 1-h, she in
turn the dam of Sunray (bbr f 1874 King of the Forest), taproot of
Family
1-i. Sunbeam was the 6th dam of Phalaris
(br c 1913 Polymelus). |
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| Vengeance (b c 1852),
winner of the Cesarewitch Stakes. |
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