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Eclipse (horse)

Eclipse
Eclipse(horse).jpg
Eclipse (by George Stubbs)
Sire Marske
Grandsire Squirt
Dam Spilletta
Damsire Regulus
Sex Stallion
Foaled 1 April 1764
Country Great Britain
Colour Chestnut
Breeder Duke of Cumberland
Owner William Wildman
Dennis O'Kelly
Trainer Sullivan
Record 18 starts, 18 wins (plus 7 heats)
Earnings 2,149 guineas
Major wins
Winchester King's Plate (1769)
Salisbury King's Plate (1769)
Canterbury King's Plate (1769)
Lewes King's Plate (1769)
Lichfield King's Plate (1769)
Match race against Bucephalus (1770)
Newmarket First Spring King's Plate (1770)
Guilford King's Plate (1770)
Nottingham King's Plate (1770)
York King's Plate (1770)
6yo+ Great Subscription Purse (1770)
Lincoln Heath King's Plate (1770)
Newmarket October King's Plate (1770)
Honours
Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park (GB)
Prix Eclipse at Maisons-Laffitte (France)
The Eclipse Awards (USA)
Last updated on 29 October 2012

Eclipse (1 April 1764 – 26 February 1789) was an undefeated 18th-century British Thoroughbred racehorse who won 18 races, including 11 King's Plates. After retiring from racing he became a very successful sire and today appears in the pedigree of most modern Thoroughbreds.

Eclipse was foaled during and named after the solar eclipse of 1 April 1764, at the Cranbourne Lodge stud of his breeder, Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. It was at this stud that his sire, the Jockey Club Plate winner Marske (by Squirt from The Ruby Mare) stood. His dam, Spilletta (foaled 1749), was by Regulus, who was by the Godolphin Arabian. Eclipse's male-line great-grandsire was Bartlett's Childers, and his male-line great-great-grandsire was Darley Arabian. Eclipse was a brother to the successful broodmare Proserpine. They were inbred to Snake in the fourth generation (4m x 4f) of their pedigree. After the death of Prince William in 1765, Eclipse was sold for 75 guineas to a sheep dealer from Smithfield, William Wildman.

Eclipse was a bright chestnut with a narrow blaze running down his face. He had a white stocking on his right hind leg. Eclipse was a big horse for his time, just over 16 hands (64 inches, 163 cm), and was an inch higher at the rump than at the withers. He was strong, sound and fast. He was sometimes criticized for having a large, unattractive head. His difficult temperament was well documented, and might have led to him being gelded. Instead he was turned over to a rough-rider, who worked him hard all day, and at night as well on poaching expeditions if the stories are to be believed. This treatment, rather than souring his disposition, settled Eclipse enough to allow him to be raced, although his jockeys never attempted to hold him.


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