Cwrw

Cwrw
Sire	Dick Andrews
Grandsire	Joe Andrews
Dam	Lady Charlotte
Damsire	Buzzard
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1809
Country	United Kingdom
Colour	Brown
Breeder	3rd Earl of Darlington
Owner	3rd Earl of Darlington J C Villiers A Bacon E Gould
Record	26: 6-10-3
Major wins
2000 Guineas (1812) Match against Hydaspes (1813)

Cwrw (foaled 1809) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire and best known for winning the classic 2000 Guineas in 1812. In a racing career which lasted from April 1812 until September 1816 he won six of his twenty-six races. He won the 2000 Guineas on his racing debut in a race which led indirectly to a change in the betting rules in the United Kingdom. Cwrw won his two other races in 1812, but the rest of his career was relatively undistinguished. He passed through the hands of various owners winning once in 1813, once in 1814 and once in 1816. He was retired from racing and exported to stand as a breeding stallion in South Africa. Cwrw is the Welsh word for beer.

Cwrw was a brown horse bred by his owner William Vane, 3rd Earl of Darlington, later the 1st Duke of Cleveland. He was the fourth of eleven foals produced by Lady Charlotte (1799-1818) a mare bred by Mr. Wilkinson. Lady Charlotte was a half-sister of the St Leger Stakes winner Paragon and the successful breeding stallion Whiskey.

He was sired by Dick Andrews, a grandson of Eclipse whose other progeny included the Oaks winner Manuella, the St Leger Stakes winner Altisidora and the successful stallions Tramp and Muley Moloch.

Until 1913, there was no requirement for British racehorses to have official names, and the horse who later became known as Cwrw began his racing career as Lord Darlingtons's br. c. by Dick Andrews out of a sister to Kite, by Buzzard . Lord Darlington's colt made his first appearance on 14 April 1812 when he was one of seven three-year-olds, from an original entry of twenty-four, to contest the fourth running of the 2000 Guineas Stakes over the Rowley Mile course. Ridden by Sam Chifney, he won by a neck from Lord Stawell's colt Cato. According to later writers, the 2000 Guineas of 1812 was the subject of a major betting coup. Before the race, a huge amount of money was wagered on Lord Darlington's other runner, an unnamed colt sired by Remembrancer which caused the odds of the other runners to lengthen. Shortly before the race, the impression that the Remebrancer colt was his owner's favoured entrant was enhanced when he appeared before the crowds ridden by Chifney, while Cwrw was ridden by an unknown stable lad. When the horses arrived at the start, however, Chifney swapped mounts and the Remembrancer colt was withdrawn. Darlington and his confederates collected on their winning bets, and, under the betting rules then in force, were able to recoup their losing bets on the Remembrancer colt, which were declared void. The incident led to the extension of "Play-or-Pay" betting, in which bets on withdrawn horses counted as losing bets, in most major races.

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Wikipedia