Tattersalls couldn’t have picked a better name than ‘Sceptre’ for the mare section elite sessions during the December Sale, the first of which takes place today. The word ‘Scepter’ exudes majesty but the Horse Scepter is even more special. Furthermore, her story is one in which the Tattersalls play a prominent role.
Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, was one of the most successful owners of the Victorian era. He raced against some great crossbreeds including the mighty Ormonde, whom John Porter trained to win the Triple Crown in 1886. Sadly, the Duke died in December 1899 and the terms of his will meant the estate had to put his horses up for sale. The Tattersalls July sale at the 1900 Park Paddocks was the auction of choice. Young 2nd Duke of Westminster, grandson and heir to 1st Duke, wanting to keep the essence of the stallion but couldn’t be there because he was overseas (on active duty during the Boer War), so he sent his agent, Cecil Parker, with John. Porter arrives at the Park Paddocks, with instructions that they should buy anything. Porter is considered the best prospect.
Also bound to Newmarket the Week of July 1900 was the trusty Robert Standish Sievier, one of the great racing figures of that era (or any other era). As a huge gambler, he was usually completely broke, but he happened to have been on a good run recently. In a time when the old-fashioned aristocratic owner/herder reigned supreme, the best-bred ponies were almost never for sale. ievier sniffed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy some first-rate leads and was determined to get the best shipment of Eaton Stud, no matter what.
With Sievier, nothing is simple. On this occasion, his little prank was to send money in advance (£20,000 in the form of a £500 note) to Somerville Tattersall, but only after the banks had closed the night before, thus ensuring that Mr. Tattersall had spent an anxious and sleepless night locked in his room. room in the White Hart Hotel, aware that his pockets full of money make him an obvious target for criminals!
Everyone agrees that the ice cream of the Eaton draft includes a filth from the first Persimmon affair of Ornament’s full sister Ormonde. However, she is not the only diamond considered to be in the mine, and two lots before her was a gorgeous Ormonde horse Orme pony out of the Kissing Cup. John Porter advised Parker to buy this pony, but Sievier wanted it too. The bid quickly surpassed the existing record price for one year (6,000 guineas) until Sievier placed a bid for 9,000 guineas, Porter increased it by 100 guineas. Sievier conceded defeat.
The price of Orme’s pony stunned the audience, but it did not maintain the record for long. Two lots later, the plump persimmon from Ornament entered the ring.
Sievier opened at 5,000 guineas before the auction followed the same pattern as the Orme pony auction. This time, however, when Porter offered 9,100 guineas, Sievier immediately offered 10,000. The problem for Porter and Parker was that the young Duke didn’t specify any money. Porter instructed Parker to spend 18,000 guineas of the Duke’s money, and things seemed to be spiraling out of control. The two men reluctantly decided that was enough. The scepter is now Bob Sievier’s horse, for 10,000 guineas, a record that stood for 19 years.
All told, Sievier spent 22,500 guineas on that sale, most of it on Scepter and an Orme pony from Gantlet for which he paid 5,600 guineas and whom he, rather cheekily, put named the Duke of Westminster. His last purchase was not one of Westminster horses but a giant pony of the 1894 Derby winner Ladas named Lavengro, bred by Lord Rosebery, to whom he had given it as a gift. 700 guineas.
Sievier brought Sceptre, Duke Of Westminster, Lavengro and others into training with Charles Morton at Letcombe Regis, near Wantage. The chain had a very successful summer in 1901, especially since both Lavengro and Duke Of Westminster won at Ascot. Morton had to race the Scepter sparingly because she was jarring on firm ground, but she won Woodcote S. at Epsom and July S. at Newmarket. It should all be rosy in Sievier’s world, but it’s not.
Later that year, Sievier got into trouble, and, as usual, his prank proved his failure. Furthermore, it was not only that he had no money; Nor does he have a coach. Morton received an offer to become Jack Joel’s personal trainer, an offer too good to refuse. Joel and Sievier are sworn enemies, especially since Sievier has developed a habit of teasing Joel in his newspaper. winning postand it is generally felt that Joel’s primary motive for hiring Morton was to disrupt Sievier’s racing activities.
Despite being in urgent need of money, Sievier flatly turned down offers of £60,000 for three underage stars. However, he had to sell something as his creditors were reeling, and he ended up accepting a £25,000 bid from John Porter (on behalf of Mr George Faber) for the Duke Of Westminster .
In the interim, Sievier has some cash, but he still doesn’t have a coach. Undeterred, he did what he usually does, i.e. he chose the unusual option, which in this case means decided to train the Scepter himself. Luckily, he was able to rent (from John Porter) the right property: Elston House at Shrewton in Wiltshire.
Sceptre’s first run of the year was at Lincolnshire H., an odd choice as a Classic test but as a big betting race that gave Sievier the chance to take a ‘turn in the martial arts’ radio’ seriously. She ran very well, but not quite as well as Sievier needed: she finished second, headed. Undeterred, he continued to Newmarket. The first was 2,000 Guineas, of which she and the Duke of Westminster began to love each other. During the race, she never saw her former stable companion again as she did her best to win the race’s record time. Two days later, she stepped back in 1,000 Guineas and once again went all out to set a new race record.
At Epsom, things went wrong for Scepter during the Derby, including missing the first part and then making up for lost ground too quickly. She finished fourth behind Ard Patrick, leaving the impression that she would have won easily had a better racer on board. It could only be a partial consolation for Sievier when Scepter trotted home to Oaks two days later.
Ascot is on the horizon, but that can’t come anytime soon for Sievier. In the interim, he sent her to Longchamp to attend France’s premier Classics, the Grand Prix de Paris. Once again Herbert Randall (a former amateur that Sievier employs for no other reason than he distrusts all established riders) is not riding well. Even so, she still finished ahead of winner Kizil Kourgan, who in France is considered the real champion within two distances.
Back in England in time to reach Ascot, Scepter was defeated in the S. Coronation Ceremony under another shock from Randall. Sievier eventually decided that was enough, and invited Hardy, the apprentice who had ridden her in the Lincoln, to ride her the next afternoon at St. James. Derby match.
Sievier also ran Scepter twice at Goodwood. She was beaten in Sussex S. but then was beaten very hard. Sievier’s response was to give her three more gallops against Nassau S., just two days later. These unconventional methods clearly worked when she did her second assignment.
At Doncaster, she won the tough St Leger race in three long runs. Sievier, of course, couldn’t resist the temptation to come back with her two days later at Park Hill S. Starting on May 1, she raced as usual, a tired horse, but still came second. Even Sievier accepted that Scepter had had enough for the year, and stripped her of Cambridgeshire. As his creditors approached, he reluctantly put her on the December Sale, but rumors circulated that her collapse meant she failed to hit her reserve of 24,000 guinea me.
Sievier ended the 1902 season as champion owner with a stake of £23,686 and was the sole owner/coach ever to have been England’s championship coach, a title brand that he will probably keep forever. However, his disastrous defeat meant that he started 1903 almost penniless. The only way to keep his creditors was to sell his pride and joy, which he did in the spring, for £25,000 to William Bass, who sent her to Manton to Coached by Alec Taylor Jr.
Alec Taylor Sr is famous for his hard work raising horses, but his son took the opposite approach. As a result, Scepter found herself enjoying a lifestyle very different from what she had known before. Her first run of the summer was in Ascot (where she must have been surprised to find out that it was possible to attend a big meeting and only run once!), where she won the prize. Hardwicke S. However, she was unimpressive and failed badly afterward, forcing Taylor to admit that Sievier’s old-school regimen might actually be right for her.
Followed by the ‘race of the century’, a legendary Eclipse S pitted the winners of eight British Classics, i.e. Sceptre, Ard Patrick (who beat her in the Derby) and Rock Sand , who ended that season as a Triple Crown winner. At this point, Taylor has been working harder with Scepter, but even so, she’s still not quite fit. Though still not at her peak, she fell by a neck to Ard Patrick at the end of the battle straight up Sandown, with Rock Sand withering in the extended final to finish third.
Scepter went through the rest of the season undefeated. Later that year, Taylor remarked that, if he had coached Scepter in the first place, she would have gone through her career undefeated. Taylor’s usually modest response, itself a compliment to Sievier, was thought-provoking: “Very likely. But if I coached her through, she wouldn’t have won four Classics.”
The story of Sceptre, who continued to train at the age of 5 but past her peak, is far from over. She visited the Park Paddocks two more times (for the July 1911 and ’17 Sales). In the first of these, Somerville Tattersall, realizing she was about to be bought for export, knocked her down for himself (for 7,000 guineas) before selling her to John Musker. On the second occasion she was purchased, aged 18 and with what turned out to be her last pony, for 2,500 guineas by Lord Glanely, of whom she died at the hatchery in Exning in October February 1926, at the age of 27.
It goes without saying that Scepter hasn’t made anything as good as she herself has been. How could she have done it? Despite this, she still finished second in 1,000 Guineas (Maid Of Corinth, by Cyllene). Maid Of Corinth’s sister Maid Of The Mist is also very smart, and then did even better in school, where she bred two Classic winners: Sunny Jane, Oaks year winner. 1917 and Crag An Eran, who in 1921 won 2,000 Guineas and then finished second in the Derby against the Comedians trained by Joel’s Morton. Sceptre’s descendants have continued to breed fine horses, including 1963 Derby winner Relko (Fr) and 2000 Preakness S. winner Red Bullet.
Chapters about today’s Scepter have long been in racing history books. However, she will never be forgotten, and the Tattersalls will be applauded for this wildly fitting way to keep the legend alive.
