Tetratema

Tetratema
Tetratema, c. 1921
Sire	The Tetrarch
Grandsire	Roi Herode
Dam	Scotch Gift
Damsire	Symington
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	27 April 1917
Country	Ireland
Colour	Grey
Breeder	Dermot McCalmont
Owner	Dermot McCalmont
Trainer	Atty Persse
Record	16: 13-1-0
Earnings	£21,776
Major wins
National Breeders' Produce Stakes (1919) Molecomb Stakes (1919) Champagne Stakes (1919) Imperial Produce Plate (1919) Middle Park Stakes (1919) 2,000 Guineas (1920) Fern Hill Stakes (1920) King George Stakes (1920 & 1921) King's Stand Stakes (1921) July Cup (1921)
Awards
Leading British money winner (1919) Top-rated two-year-old in Britain (1919) Leading sire in GB & Ireland (1929)
Last updated on January 22, 2007

Tetratema (27 April 1917 – July 1939) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a racing career which lasted from May 1919 until October 1921 he won thirteen of his sixteen races, include the all twelve of his starts over the sprint distances of five and six furlongs. He was unbeaten in five races in 1919, including the Molecomb Stakes, Champagne Stakes, and Middle Park Stakes, and was the highest-rated two-year-old in Britain by a record margin. In the following year he had enough stamina to win the Classic 2000 Guineas over a mile, but failed to stay when unplaced in both the Epsom Derby and the Eclipse Stakes. He then returned to sprinting and won his remaining two races of 1920 and all four in 1921. His successes in this phase of his career included the King's Stand Stakes, July Cup and two runnings of the King George Stakes.

At the end of 1921 he was retired from racing and returned to his birthplace in Ireland to become a breeding stallion. He became a highly successful sire of winners and regularly featured among the leading sires in Britain and Ireland. Most of his best runners inherited their father's aptitudes, being particularly successful as two-year-olds and over sprint distances. Tetratema died at the age of twenty in 1939.

Tetratema was a grey horse bred and owned by Major Dermot McCalmont. He was a late foal, being born on 27 April 1917, at the Ballylinch Stud on McAlmont's Mount Juliet estate in Thomastown, County Kilkenny. McCalmont named his horse Tetratema, a choice which was described by one critic as being both "meaningless" and "ugly".

He was sired by The Tetrarch an unbeaten horse who was regarded as one of the fastest two-year-old ever seen in Britain and Ireland, but whose career was ended by injury before he could race at three. The Tetrarch showed very little interest in his stud duties (his attitude towards sex was described as being "monastic in the extreme") and as a result sired few foals. Tetratema's performances enabled The Tetrarch to win his only sires' championship in 1919. Tetratema's dam Scotch Gift won the Somerville Stakes at Newmarket and became a successful broodmare: her other foals included Tetratema's full-brothers The Satrap, a very fast colt who won the July Stakes and Richmond Stakes in 1926, and Arch Gift a sprinter whose wins included the Bretby Stakes.