MARK OF ROBERT GARRARD, LONDON, 1879

The Goodwood Cup, established in 1808, is a flat race ran at the Goodwood Racecourse in West Sussex in late July or early August. The race is open to horses aged three years or older and – together with the Ascot Gold Cup and the Doncaster Cup – forms part of the Stayers’ Triple Crown. This trophy was awarded to the bay thoroughbred Isonomy (1875-1891) for his victory in the Goodwood Cup in 1879, ridden by jockey Tom Cannon, Sr. (1846-1917) and trained by John Porter (1838-1922), one of the most successful horse trainers of the Victorian era. Considered one of the greatest racehorses of the 19th century, Isonomy aged four became the first horse to complete the Gold Cup/Goodwood Cup/Doncaster Cup triple: a feat that remained unmatched until 1949. Overall Isonomy won ten of his fourteen starts and sired two winners of the ‘Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing’: Isinglass and Common. Isonomy’s owner, Frederick Gretton (1838-1882) was a brewer and keen gambler. Gretton was mostly successful as a horse owner, clearing £100,000 by Isonomy alone. However his investments in yearlings generally proved less successful and he was well-known for his profligacy at the track. He died aged 44, from illness likely related to drinking.

This trophy bears the marks of Garrard & Co. and was almost certainly designed by Harrison Weir (1824-1906), an acclaimed illustrator. Weir created a number of elaborate trophies for Garrard from the 1860s through the 1880s, including the 1865 Goodwood Stewards’ Cup, sold at Christies New York on 19th May 2010, lot 94. In 1879 Weir also designed the Stewards’ Cup, again for Garrard,