Kisber (horse)

Kisber
Kisber, contemporary engraving
Sire	Buccaneer
Grandsire	Wild Dayrell
Dam	Mineral
Damsire	Rataplan
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1873
Country	Hungary
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Hungarian Imperial Stud
Owner	Alexander Baltazzi
Trainer	Joseph Hayhoe
Record	7: 3-0-1
Earnings	£
Major wins
Dewhurst Stakes (1875) Epsom Derby (1876) Grand Prix de Paris (1876)
Honours
Leading sire in Germany (1894, 1895, 1896)

Kisber (1873–1895) was a Hungarian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from 1875 to 1876 he ran seven times and won three races. In the summer of 1876 he became the third of six horses to win both the Epsom Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris. He was the second foreign-bred horse, after Gladiateur in 1865, to win the Derby: he remains the only Hungarian-bred horse to do so. At the end of the season he was retired to stud.

Kisber was a powerfully built bay horse, bred at the Hungarian Imperial Stud from thoroughbreds which had been imported from England. His sire, Buccaneer, a member of the Byerley Turk sire line, had won several important races including the July Stakes and the Royal Hunt Cup. He sired several notable winners (including Formosa, a filly who won four British Classic Races in 1868) and was British British Champion sire in 1868 and 1869. By the time his efficacy as a stallion became apparent, however, he was no longer available to British breeders, having been exported to the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1866. Kisber’s dam, Mineral, was a daughter of the 1000 Guineas winner Manganese. Mineral won several minor races and, before her export to Hungary, produced the St Leger winner Wenlock.

Kisber was sent to the sales as a yearling and bought for approximately £500 by the Turkish-born brothers Alexander and Hector Baltazzi. He was sent into training in England with Joseph Hayhoe at his Palace House stable in Newmarket, Suffolk.

Until 1946, thoroughbreds were allowed to race in England without being officially named. The colt who would become Kisber raced unnamed as a two-year-old when he was known simply as "The Mineral Colt". Shortly before he ran in the Derby he was named in honour of his birthplace.