Champion (horse)

Champion
Champion. Coloured engraving after a painting by John Nott Sartorius.
Sire	Potoooooooo
Grandsire	Eclipse
Dam	Huncamunca
Damsire	Highflyer
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1797
Country	Kingdom of Great Britain
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Christopher Wilson
Owner	Christopher Wilson
Trainer	T. Perren
Record	9:6-0-2
Major wins
Epsom Derby (1800) St Leger (1800)

Champion (1797 – after 1809) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from May 1800 to May 1802 he ran nine times and won five races. In the summer of 1800 he proved himself one of the best British colts of his generation, winning the Epsom Derby on his racecourse debut. Later that year he became the first Derby winner to win the St Leger, a feat which was not equalled until 1848. He was retired from racing after being injured on his only start as a five-year-old in 1802.

Champion was a bay horse bred at Oxton Hall near Tadcaster in North Yorkshire by his owner Christopher Wilson, a highly respected figure in the racing world who, in his later years, was known as "The Father of the Turf". He was the second of three Derby winners sired by the unusually named Potoooooooo, a highly successful racehorse who became an important and influential sire. Champion's dam, Huncamunca was the direct female ancestor of the Derby winner Mameluke as well as Charlotte (1000 Guineas)and Maid of Orleans (Oaks Stakes).

Champion made his first appearance in the Derby at Epsom on 29 May. Despite his lack of previous experience he was made favourite at odds of 7/4 in a field of thirteen runners. Ridden by Bill Clift, he won "in a very high style" from Lord Egremont's unnamed colt by Precipitate out of Tag.

Champion returned to Yorkshire for his three remaining races of 1800. At York on 28 August he ran against three opponents in a Sweepstakes over one and a half miles. He started 4/5 favourite but finished third of the four runners behind Sir Harry Tempest-Vane's colt Rolla, with Lignum Vitae second. At the same course two days later he met Rolla again in a race over two miles and reversed the form at odds of 7/1. His mixed form did not deter Christopher Wilson, who, while staying at York's Black Swan Hotel, made so many bets on his colt for the St Leger that he ran out of paper on which to record them.