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Aimwell
Aimwell
Sire	Mark Anthony
Grandsire	Spectator
Dam	sister to Postmaster
Damsire	Herod
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1782
Country	Kingdom of Great Britain
Colour	Brown
Breeder	Mr. Carteret
Owner	Lord Clermont
Trainer	J. Pratt
Record	8:5-2-1
Major wins
	Epsom Derby (1785)

Aimwell (1782 – after 1786) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. In a career that lasted from autumn 1784 to spring 1786, he ran eight times and won five races. In 1785, he won the sixth running of the Epsom Derby as well as three races at Newmarket. He was beaten in his only race in 1786, and did not appear in any subsequent records.

Background

Aimwell, named after a character in The Beaux' Stratagem, was a brown horse bred by William Fortescue, 1st Earl of Clermont, who owned him during his racing career.^[1] Unlike all modern Thoroughbreds, which descend in the male line from either the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian, or the Byerley Turk, Aimwell was descended from a grey stallion usually known as Alcock's Arabian.^[2] Although the Alcock Arabian's sireline became extinct, his influence survives as the probable source of the grey colour in the modern Thoroughbred.^[3]

Aimwell's sire, Mark Anthony, a half-brother to Highflyer, won twenty races at Newmarket for his owner, the Duke of Ancaster, in the early 1770s.^[4] Aimwell was the second of ten foals produced by a mare by Herod, known as the sister to Postmaster, who was bred by Mr Carteret and later sold to Lord Clermont.^[5]

Racing career

1784: two-year-old season

Aimwell began his career at the Houghton meeting at Newmarket in late October or early November 1784. He won a 150 guinea race, beating Mr Panton's colt Archer over the six furlong Two Year Old Course. Archer was the 8/11 favourite and the only other runner.^[6]

1785: three-year-old season

In spring 1785, Aimwell won 100 guineas by defeating Archer again over the same course and distance. On this occasion Aimwell carried seven pounds more than his opponent and started the 2/5 favourite. At the same Newmarket meeting, he finished third in the Prince's Stakes, a race won by Mr Fox's Balloon, who defeated Lord Grosvenor's Grantham in a run-off after a dead heat. At Epsom on 5 May, Aimwell started at odds of 7/1 for the Derby in a field of ten runners, with Grantham and Balloon joint favourites on 2/1. Ridden by C. Hindley he won the race from Grantham, with Balloon unplaced.^[7]

After a five-month break, Aimwell returned for three races at Newmarket in the autumn. At the First October meeting he won a match race over the four mile Beacon Course, winning a 300 guinea prize by beating Mr Vernon's horse Mousetrap. Aimwell was beaten in a 200 guinea Sweepstakes at the Second October meeting, in which he finished second of the four runners to Guyler.^[8] At the Houghton meeting two weeks later he conceded 35 pounds to Sir Charles Bunbury's Blacklock and won a match over ten furlongs "Across the Flat" to claim a prize of 100 guineas.^[6]

1786: four-year-old season

Aimwell stayed in training at the age of four years, but ran only once. At the Second Spring meeting at Newmarket he was beaten in a two-mile match in which he attempted to concede six pounds to Balloon.^[7]

Stud career

Nothing is recorded of Aimwell after his match race against Balloon. He does not appear in any list of stallions and he had no foals registered in the General Stud Book.^[9]

Pedigree

Pedigree of Aimwell (GB), brown stallion, 1782
Sire Mark Anthony (GB) 1767	Spectator 1749	Crab	Alcock's Arabian
		Crab	sister to Soreheels
		Partner mare	Partner*
		Partner mare	Bonny Lass
	Rachel 1763	Blank	Godolphin Arabian
		Blank	Amorett
		Regulus mare	Regulus
		Regulus mare	Soreheels mare
Dam sister to Postmaster (GB) 1774	Herod 1758	Tartar	Partner*
		Tartar	Meliora
		Cypron	Blaze
		Cypron	Salome
	Snap mare	Snap	Snip
		Snap	sister to Slipby
		Gower Stallion mare	Gower Stallion
		Gower Stallion mare	Grey Childers mare (Family:10)^[10]

* Aimwell is inbred 4S × 4D to the stallion Partner, meaning that he appears fourth generation on the sire side of his pedigree and fourth generation on the dam side of his pedigree.

References

^ Patricia Erigero Thoroughbred Heritage. "Thoroughbred Foundation Sires - A". Tbheritage.com. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
^ "Curwen's Bay Barb". Bloodlines.net. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
^ Swinburne, JE; A Hopkins; MM Binns (2002). "Assignment of the horse grey coat colour gene to ECA25 using whole genome scanning". Animal Genetics. 33 (5): 338–342. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2052.2002.00895.x. PMID 12354141. All grey Thoroughbred horses trace back to the Alcock's Arabian (b1700).
^ "Early Studbook M". Bloodlines.net. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
^ The General stud book. J. S. Skinner. 1834. p. 208. Retrieved 2012-02-08. aimwell.
^ ^a ^b William Pick, R. Johnson (1822). The turf register and sportsman & breeder's stud-book Vol. III. W. Sams. p. 405. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
^ ^a ^b William Pick, R. Johnson (1822). The turf register and sportsman & breeder's stud-book Vol. III. W. Sams. p. 409. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
^ William Pick, R. Johnson (1822). The turf register and sportsman & breeder's stud-book Vol. III. W. Sams. p. 303. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
^ The General stud book. J. S. Skinner. 1834. Retrieved 2012-02-20. aimwell.
^ "Fair Helen - Family 10". Bloodlines.net. Retrieved 2012-02-08.