Gamos (horse)

Gamos
Engraving of Gamos by Edward Hacker after Harry Hall, 1870.
Sire	Saunterer
Grandsire	Birdcatcher
Dam	Bess Lyon
Damsire	Longbow
Sex	Mare
Foaled	1867
Country	United Kingdom
Colour	Chestnut
Breeder	Lord Falmouth
Owner	William Graham
Trainer	Henry Woolcott
Major wins
Epsom Oaks (1870)

Gamos (1867–1893) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1870 Epsom Oaks. Sold to William Graham as a yearling, Gamos won six out of eight starts as a two-year-old in 1869, but failed to improve her racing form after the 1870 Oaks. Gamos raced until she was four-years-old and retired from racing in 1871. Gamos was not successful as a breeding mare and died in 1893 after being sold for £15 in 1890.

Gamos was bred by Lord Falmouth and was foaled at his Mereworth stud farm in 1867. Her sire, Saunterer, was a black horse bred by R.M. Jacques and foaled in 1854 at Easby Abbey in Yorkshire. He was owned during and after his three-year-old season by James Merry, winning the Chester Handicap and the 1858 Goodwood Cup. Her dam, Bess Lyon, was an unsuccessful racehorse that was bought by Lord Falmouth in 1860. Bess Lyon produced eight foals between 1865 and 1877, including four full-siblings to Gamos: the fillies Loadstar and Marriage (sent to South Africa in 1875) and the colts Libertine and King George.

In the later part of 1867, Bess Lyon and Gamos were sold for £600 to William Blenkiron, who owned the Middle Park Stud in Kent. In 1868, William Graham (1808–1876) purchased Gamos for 220 guineas at Blenkiron's yearling sale. Graham had won the 1865 Oaks with Regalia and had captured the 1868 Oaks, 1,000 Guineas Stakes and St. Leger Stakes with Formosa. William Graham was born in Dufton Wood and was a successful wrestler in the 1820s and 1830s and was a part owner of a gin distillery.

Gamos was a tall, light chestnut filly that stood 16 hands high and was noted by The Farmer's Magazine as having an unattractive "plain looking" head set on a "lean, ungainly neck." Her shoulders were well formed, but her hocks were straight and her joints appeared infirm, attributes that did not "bear the least resemblance to her sire." From Harry Hall's 1870 portrait of the filly, Gamos had a narrow white blaze, a completely white muzzle and socks on her hind legs. Her coarse looks were attributed to Bess Lyon's influence, as she was noted for producing "ugly foals." Graham selected Greek and Latin names for his two-year-old horses in 1869.Gamos is a Greek word that means marriage.