Ladas (horse)

Ladas
"Ladas, winner of the 1894 Derby" painting by Emil Adam
Sire	Hampton
Grandsire	Lord Clifden
Dam	Illuminata
Damsire	Rosicrucian
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1891
Country	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Lord Rosebery
Owner	Lord Rosebery
Trainer	Mathew Dawson
Record	11: 7-2-1
Earnings	£18,558
Major wins
Woodcote Stakes (1893) Coventry Stakes (1893) Champagne Stakes (1893) Middle Park Plate (1893) 2000 Guineas (1894) Newmarket Stakes (1894) Epsom Derby (1894)

Ladas (1891–1914) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. His career attracted an unusual amount of attention as his owner, Lord Rosebery, became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the height of his success.

In a career that lasted from 1893 to 1894, Ladas ran eleven times and won seven races. He was the leading British two-year-old of 1893, being unbeaten in four starts including the Champagne Stakes and the Middle Park Stakes. In the following year, he won the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Derby at Epsom to complete the first two legs of the English Triple Crown. He was beaten by the four-year-old colt Isinglass in his next two starts and failed in his bid for the Triple Crown when beaten in the St Leger at Doncaster.

Ladas was retired to stud at the end of the season, and sired the winners of several important races. He died in 1914.

Ladas was a bay horse of almost faultless conformation, standing just under 16 hands high. He was bred at the Crafton Stud in Buckinghamshire by his owner, Lord Rosebery, a prominent Liberal statesman who became Prime Minister in 1894. He was trained by Mathew Dawson at Newmarket, Suffolk. Dawson, who was over seventy at the time, had "retired" from large-scale training in 1885, but continued to handle a small number of horses at his Melton House Stable. Ladas was ridden in his Classic wins by Jack Watts.