Sir Bevys

Sir Bevys
Sir Bevys: Engraving by D George Thompson after a picture by James E Doyle
Sire	Favonius
Grandsire	Parmeasan
Dam	Lady Langden
Damsire	Kettledrum
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1876
Country	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Colour	Brown
Breeder	Lord Norreys
Owner	Lionel de Rothschild
Trainer	Joseph Hayhoe
Record	6: 2-1-0
Earnings	£7,372
Major wins
Epsom Derby (1879)

Sir Bevys (1876–1896) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from 1878 to 1879 he ran six times and won two races. His most important success came in the 1879 Epsom Derby: his only other win was in a selling race. At the end of the 1879 season he was retired to stud where he had little success.

Sir Bevys was a dark brown "almost black" colt standing 15.2 hands high bred at Wytham, Oxfordshire by Lord Norreys. He was sold to Lionel de Rothschild, who used the name “Mr Acton” for his racing interests. Sir Bevys was sent into training with Rothschild’s private trainer Joseph Hayhoe at the Palace House stable at Newmarket, Suffolk.

Sir Bevys’s sire, Favonius, a male-line descendant of the Byerley Turk, had won the Derby for Meyer de Rothschild in 1871, but sired few other notable horses. His dam, Lady Langden, was an unraced half sister to the St Leger winner Caller Ou. Apart from Sir Bevys, she was notable for producing Hampton, an outstanding stayer who became a successful and influential sire.

Sir Bevys won one race from four starts as a two-year-old. He began his career by running unplaced in the Fernhill Stakes at Ascot and a minor race Newmarket in summer. In autumn, he returned to Newmarket and ran twice in two days. On 1 October he won a £187 selling race and on the following day he finished second to Out of Bounds in the Ditch Mile Nursery Handicap.

Sir Bevys appeared in the betting lists for the Derby in April, when he was offered at odds of 50/1. He was backed down to 25/1, but drifted out again after appearing to lack the "dash" of a Derby winner, although in May Bell's Life reported that his performances in training had improved.