Noble (horse)

Noble (1783 – after 1796) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from May 1786 to May 1788 he ran at least three times and won two races. He won the seventh running of The Derby as a 30/1 outsider in what was probably his first race. His only other success came at Newmarket later that year. He was retired to stud where he stood as a stallion for several years but made little impact as a sire of winners.

Background[]

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.

Racing career[]

1786: three-year-old season[]

There is no record of Noble having run before the Derby, and it seems likely that the Classic was his first racecourse appearance. At Epsom, on 31 May Noble started a 30/1 outsider for the Derby in a field of fifteen runners.^[6] Dennis O'Kelly's filly Scota was the 2/1 favourite ahead of Lord Grosvenor's colt Meteor. Ridden by J. White, Noble won from Meteor with Claret finishing third.^[7] Following his defeat by Noble, Meteor set a British record by winning his next 21 races.^[6]

After a break of almost five months, Noble returned to the racecourse at Newmarket in autumn. At the Second October meeting, Noble ran in a 200 guinea Sweepstakes "Across the Flat" (ten furlongs). He won the race by beating Lord George Cavendish's brother to Steady at level weights.^[8]

1788: five-year-old season[]

On 7 May 1788, Noble returned to the scene of his most important success when he ran in a race at Epsom. The race was run in a series of four mile heats and Noble started favourite at 5/4. The race was won in three heats by the six-year-old mare Cowslip, the winner of the 1785 St Leger: the placed horses are not recorded.^[9]

Stud career[]

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]

Pedigree[]

• 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.

References[]