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Lot Essay
The Race
William Pick's An Authentic Historical Racing Calendar of 1786, which delved back prior to the first national record for 1727 with events in Yorkshire, notes that this race-meeting at York began on Monday August 2, 1725 with His Majesty's 100 guineas for six-year-olds, in four-mile heats, won by Mr Williams's bay horse Squirrel. Pick records the race for the present cup as follows:
'Thursday the 5th, The Ladies' Gold Cup of 60l. value, for five years old horses, &c. wt. 10st. one four-mile heat, was won by Mr Routh's grey horse, Surley against a field of seventeen which included Mr Taylor's chestnut filly Ladylegs, afterwards called Bald Charlotte, a famous horse which was often painted. Pick describes the race:
'Quintin took the lead at starting, and continued first for some lengths till within the last distance, where the course, owing to severe rains, was remarkably sad and heavy; to avoid this ground, his rider, Stephen Jefferson, ran him quite wide, which gave Match'em Tims, who rode Surley, (a horse much superior in strength to Quintin) an opportunity to contest the race in, and which he won with great difficulty.'
Cuthbert Routh and Surley
Cuthbert Routh, Esq. was born in 1694 and married Judith (1694-1775), daughter of Sir Mark Milbanke, 2nd Bt. of Halnaby, co. York, an early breeder of thoroughbreds. In 1719 Routh bought the estate of Dinsdale, co. Durham from Rowland Place, stud-master to Oliver Cromwell. He later moved to Snape Castle just southwest of Bedale in the North Riding, which had been in his family for centuries. He had four daughters, Elizabeth (known as Betty), Dorothy (Dolly), Judith, and Jane (Jenny). Several daughters raced horses in their father's lifetime but this seemed to come to a halt when he died. However, Judith married George Baker and that family bred and raced horeses into the 19th century.
Cuthbert Routh was a prolific breeder of horses and his own stud book is a rare survival from the 18th century; that of fellow breeder John Hutton (see lot 10) existed in the 19th century but was subsequently lost. From Routh's own records we know that his winner was a grey horse bred in 1720 by Mr Hutton and bought by Routh in April 1725. The horse was by Hutton's Surley; as a result the 1725 winner is purposely called Routh's Surley.
Routh records that:
'I gave Mr Hutton a 100 guineas for this horse and sold him ye same year after winning the Stakes at Richmond and Gold Cups at York to Mr Herbert on 10th December 1725 for 250 guineas and 50 more for the first 100 he won.'
Routh's record book is a wealth of racing information as it runs to over 50 pages of very small print. The book runs from 1718 to a day or so after his death in 1752 as he actually dated the final entry to cover the end of his accounting year on 1st May 1752.
For years Routh's horses were trained and ridden by Thomas Jackson who was also a leading jockey, although Surley was ridden in the present race by the famous jockey, Matchem Tims, for whom no doubt the celebrated horse Matchem was named when foaled some 20 years later. After Routh's death, which was recorded in the Gentleman's Magazine on 27 April 1752, as 'Cuthbert Routh of Snape, Yorkshire Esq., famous for his breed of race-horses', Jackson went south to work for Jemison Shafto near Newmarket.
William Pick's An Authentic Historical Racing Calendar of 1786, which delved back prior to the first national record for 1727 with events in Yorkshire, notes that this race-meeting at York began on Monday August 2, 1725 with His Majesty's 100 guineas for six-year-olds, in four-mile heats, won by Mr Williams's bay horse Squirrel. Pick records the race for the present cup as follows:
'Thursday the 5th, The Ladies' Gold Cup of 60l. value, for five years old horses, &c. wt. 10st. one four-mile heat, was won by Mr Routh's grey horse, Surley against a field of seventeen which included Mr Taylor's chestnut filly Ladylegs, afterwards called Bald Charlotte, a famous horse which was often painted. Pick describes the race:
'Quintin took the lead at starting, and continued first for some lengths till within the last distance, where the course, owing to severe rains, was remarkably sad and heavy; to avoid this ground, his rider, Stephen Jefferson, ran him quite wide, which gave Match'em Tims, who rode Surley, (a horse much superior in strength to Quintin) an opportunity to contest the race in, and which he won with great difficulty.'
Cuthbert Routh and Surley
Cuthbert Routh, Esq. was born in 1694 and married Judith (1694-1775), daughter of Sir Mark Milbanke, 2nd Bt. of Halnaby, co. York, an early breeder of thoroughbreds. In 1719 Routh bought the estate of Dinsdale, co. Durham from Rowland Place, stud-master to Oliver Cromwell. He later moved to Snape Castle just southwest of Bedale in the North Riding, which had been in his family for centuries. He had four daughters, Elizabeth (known as Betty), Dorothy (Dolly), Judith, and Jane (Jenny). Several daughters raced horses in their father's lifetime but this seemed to come to a halt when he died. However, Judith married George Baker and that family bred and raced horeses into the 19th century.
Cuthbert Routh was a prolific breeder of horses and his own stud book is a rare survival from the 18th century; that of fellow breeder John Hutton (see lot 10) existed in the 19th century but was subsequently lost. From Routh's own records we know that his winner was a grey horse bred in 1720 by Mr Hutton and bought by Routh in April 1725. The horse was by Hutton's Surley; as a result the 1725 winner is purposely called Routh's Surley.
Routh records that:
'I gave Mr Hutton a 100 guineas for this horse and sold him ye same year after winning the Stakes at Richmond and Gold Cups at York to Mr Herbert on 10th December 1725 for 250 guineas and 50 more for the first 100 he won.'
Routh's record book is a wealth of racing information as it runs to over 50 pages of very small print. The book runs from 1718 to a day or so after his death in 1752 as he actually dated the final entry to cover the end of his accounting year on 1st May 1752.
For years Routh's horses were trained and ridden by Thomas Jackson who was also a leading jockey, although Surley was ridden in the present race by the famous jockey, Matchem Tims, for whom no doubt the celebrated horse Matchem was named when foaled some 20 years later. After Routh's death, which was recorded in the Gentleman's Magazine on 27 April 1752, as 'Cuthbert Routh of Snape, Yorkshire Esq., famous for his breed of race-horses', Jackson went south to work for Jemison Shafto near Newmarket.