Virago (horse)

Virago
Virago. After a painting by Harry Hall
Sire	Pyrrhus The First
Grandsire	Epirus
Dam	Virginia
Damsire	Rowton
Sex	Mare
Foaled	1851
Country	United Kingdom
Colour	Chestnut
Breeder	Robert Stephenson
Owner	Henry Padwick ("Mr Howard")
Trainer	John Barham Day
Record	16:11-0-1
Earnings	ca. £10,000
Major wins
Great Metropolitan Handicap (1854) City and Suburban Handicap (1854) 1000 Guineas (1854) Nassau Stakes (1854) Goodwood Cup (1854) Yorkshire Oaks (1854) Doncaster Cup (1854)

Virago (1851–1869) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. In a career which lasted from November 1853 to July 1855 she ran sixteen times and won eleven races. All but one of her victories came as a three-year-old in 1854, a year in which she dominated British racing, winning major events at distances ranging from one mile to three miles. Her wins included the classic 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, the Nassau Stakes and the Yorkshire Oaks against her own age and sex. More notable were her successes in open competition, including the Goodwood and Doncaster Cups and three of the season's most valuable handicap races. She was regarded by many British experts as one of the greatest racehorses of the 19th century.

Virago, a dark chestnut filly with one white foot who stood 16 hands high, was bred, like the Derby winner Voltigeur, by Robert Stephenson at his stud at Hart, near Hartlepool, County Durham. Virago was described as "more racing-looking than handsome" and having a "quiet and docile" temperament. As a yearling, she was bought for either £300, £350 or £460 (sources differ) at the Doncaster sales by Henry Padwick, a notorious moneylender who used the name "Mr. Howard" for his racing interests, with John Scott as the underbidder. John Barham Day, who was ironically known as "Honest John", trained the filly at Padwick's stable at Findon, West Sussex. According to his son William, later a successful trainer in his own right, Day believed that he had acquired "the finest yearling in the world".