Ellington (horse)

Ellington
Ellington. Contemporary etching by an unknown artist.
Sire	The Flying Dutchman
Dam	Ellerdale
Damsire	Lanercost
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1853
Country	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Colour	Brown
Owner	Octavius Vernon Harcourt
Trainer	Thomas Dawson
Record	10:3-3-0
Earnings	£6,825
Major wins
Champagne Stakes (1855) Epsom Derby (1856)

Ellington (1853 – 1870) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from 1855 to 1856 he ran eleven times and won four races. A leading two-year-old in 1855, when his wins included the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster, he won only one of his seven races the following year. That win, however, came in the Epsom Derby, where his ability to handle soft ground proved to be decisive. Ellington was retired to stud at the end of the his three-year-old season, but had very little impact as a sire.

Ellington was a long, low brown horse standing 15.2½ hands high with a "coarse" head and unusually large feet. He was owned by Octavius Vernon Harcourt, an admiral in the Royal Navy. Ellington was trained at Middleham, North Yorkshire, by Thomas Dawson, the older brother of the more famous Mathew Dawson.

Ellington's sire, The Flying Dutchman was one of the outstanding horses of the mid-nineteenth century, winning fourteen of his fifteen races including the Derby and the St Leger. He became a moderately successful stallion in England but had much greater success after being exported to France. Ellington's dam Ellerdale was a notable broodmare, who also produced the Epsom Oaks winner Summerside and the Champagne Stakes winner Gildermire.

As a two-year-old in 1855 Ellington began his career in August at York where he finished in fourth in the Eglington Stakes and then won the Sapling Stakes at the same meeting. In the latter race he went well clear and was winning so easily that his jockey, Thomas Aldcroft stopped riding and was almost caught on the line by Job Marson on Gildert. His most significant result came on 11 September when he contested the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster for which he started at odds of 10/1. He took the lead in the straight and won "cleverly" by three quarters of a length from Bird-in-Hand.