Bloomsbury (horse)

Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury. Painting by Harry Hall.
Sire	Mulatto
Grandsire	Catton
Dam	Arcot Lass
Damsire	Ardrossan
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1836
Country	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Mr Cattle
Owner	Lord Chesterfield William Ridsdale
Trainer	William Ridsdale
Record	10:4-2-2
Major wins
Epsom Derby (1839) Ascot Derby (1839)

Bloomsbury (1836 –1861) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from May 1839 to July 1841 he ran ten times and won four races. His most important win came on his first racecourse appearance when he won the 1839 Derby. He went on to win important races at Ascot and Liverpool before his retirement after his five-year-old season. He was later exported to stand as a stallion in Germany. Bloomsbury's controversial origins were the subject of two formal objections and a court case which led to a crisis in English racing.

Bloomsbury was a bay horse described as looking "coarse" but very powerful, standing 15.3 hands high, bred by Mr Cattle, a farmer from Sheriff Hutton. The colt was sired by Mulatto the winner of the 1827 Doncaster Cup who went on to be a good, but unexceptional sire. Bloomsbury's dam, Arcot Lass, was one of the few mares to produce two Derby winners: her son St. Giles had won the race in 1832.

According to one account, the colt was acquired as a foal from his breeder by Robert Ridsdale, a professional gambler with a dubious reputation. When Ridsdale was forced to sell his horses in 1836, no bids were made for a weanling colt by Mulatto and his ownership was transferred to Ridsdale's brother, William, who also trained the horse, later named Bloomsbury, for racing. Ridsdale then sold the colt to Lord Chesterfield. According to another version, he was bought by Lord Chesterfield direct from his breeder as a yearling and then sent to be trained by William Ridsdale. Bloomsbury was certainly recorded as the property of Mr Ridsdale when entries for the 1839 St Leger were published at the start of 1838. The best contemporary account states that Robert Ridsdale had an arrangement with Mr Cattle to buy all the offspring off Arcot Lass. This arrangement was inherited by William Ridsdale who thereby acquired Bloomsbury and sold him to Chesterfield, although the details of the sale were never formally recorded. The exact details of Bloomsbury's breeding and ownership later became the subject of controversy.

In early 1839 Lord Chesterfield, withdrew the horses he owned from Ridsdale's stable and claimed Bloomsbury as his property. The dispute looked likely to result in Bloomsbury's entry for the Derby being declared void, but the matter was resolved when it was agreed that Chesterfield should be paid compensation for all Bloomsbury's entry fees and forfeits. The money was believed to come from Harry Hill, a bookmaker who stood to win a great deal of money if Bloomsbury won the Derby.