Coronation (horse)

Coronation
Coronation and Conolly. 1841 aquatint by Francis Calcraft Turner.
Sire	Sir Hercules
Grandsire	Whalebone
Dam	Ruby
Damsire	Rubens
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1838
Country	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Abraham Rawlinson
Owner	Abraham Rawlinson
Trainer	Ben Painter Isaac Day
Record	7:6–1–0
Major wins
Epsom Derby (1841) Ascot Derby (1841)

Coronation (foaled 1838) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from August 1840 to September 1841 he ran seven races. He began his career with a run of six successive victories including the 1841 Epsom Derby. He was retired after being narrowly defeated in the St. Leger Stakes at Doncaster. Coronation later had moderate success as a stallion before he was exported to Russia.

Coronation, a "blood" bay horse standing 16 hands high, was bred by his owner, Abraham Rawlinson of Chadlington in Oxfordshire. The Farmer's Magazine described him as a "splendid looking animal" with a strong, tapering head, muscular shoulders and long legs. Coronation was prepared for racing "with considerable ability" by Ben Painter (or Painten), Rawlinson's "stud groom" at Chadlington and Heythrop Park. He was foaled in the year of Queen Victoria's coronation.

Coronation's sire, Sir Hercules, was an Irish-bred racehorse who ran third in the St Leger of 1829. He went on to become a highly successful and influential stallion. He sired many important winners including Faugh-a-Ballagh (St Leger), The Corsair (2000 Guineas) and Birdcatcher, the male-line ancestor of most modern thoroughbreds.

Coronation ran twice as a two-year-old in the summer of 1840. On his first appearance on 18 August he easily won a four-runner Sweepstakes for two- and three-year-old at Oxford Racecourse from a filly named Pelerine. He followed up by beating two opponents in a Sweepstakes at Warwick, winning by a neck from St Cloud, at odds of 1/4. After the race he was described as "the finest two-year-old" of the season and bookmakers offered him at odds of 18/1 for the following year's Derby.