King Tom

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King Tom

Statue of King Tom at Mentmore Towers
Sire: Harkaway
Grandsire: Economist
Dam: Pocahontas
Damsire: Glencoe
Sex: Stallion
Foaled: 1851
Country: England
Colour: Bay
Breeder: Samuel Thellusson
Owner: Baron Mayer de Rothschild
Trainer: Not found
Record: 6: 3-?-?
Earnings: Not found
Major Racing Wins & Honours & Awards
Major Racing Wins
Biennial Stakes (1853)
Triennial Produce Stakes (1853)
Racing Awards
Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland (1870, 1871)

Infobox last updated on: March 13, 2007.

King Tom (1851-1878) was an British Thoroughbred racehorse. He was sired by Harkaway and out of the exceptional mare Pocahontas who also foaled Stockwell. King Tom won races at age two and at age three he was not quite recovered from an injury when he finished second by a neck to Andover in the 1854 Epsom Derby. He came out of the Derby with a tendon injury that curtailed his racing for the remainder of the year. At age four, King Tom returned to the track and won one race before breaking down.

Retired to stud duty, he became the founding stallion for Baron Mayer de Rothschild's Mentmore and Crafton Studs. Between 1861 and 1877 King Tom was one of the United Kingdom's top ten sires 14 times and the Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland in 1870 and 1871. He sired the 1866 and 1867 Epsom Oaks winners, Tormentor and Hippia. He also sired 1864 One Thousand Guineas winner Tomato plus another oustanding filly Hannah who in 1871 won the Epsom Oaks, One Thousand Guineas and St. Leger Stakes. One of his most important foals was his daughter, St. Angela, dam of St. Simon and granddam of Orme.

King Tom is the damsire of Favonius, winner of the 1871 Epsom Derby and the grandsire of the Irish Derby winner Umpire plus the grandsire of United States Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Ten Broeck.

King Tom died at age twenty-seven in January of 1878. He was buried in the grounds of Mentmore Towers beneath a life sized bronze statue by Sir Joseph Boehm. The statue is now at Dalmeny House in Scotland.

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