| Hermit | |
|---|---|
Hermit as painted by Harry Hall (1870s). |
|
| Sire | Newminster |
| Grandsire | Touchstone |
| Dam | Seclusion |
| Damsire | Tadmor |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1864 |
| Country | Great Britain |
| Colour | Chestnut |
| Breeder | The Middle Park Stud |
| Owner | Henry Chaplin |
| Record | 23: 8-9-0 |
| Earnings | £41,261 |
| Major wins | |
|
St. James's Palace Stakes (1867) Epsom Derby (1867) |
|
| Honours | |
| Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland (1880–1886) Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland (5 times) |
|
| Horse (Equus ferus caballus) | |
| Last updated on 14 February 2011 | |
Hermit (1864–1890) was a 19th-century British Thoroughbred racehorse that was a direct descendant of Eclipse. He won the 1867 Epsom Derby, despite running in a snowstorm at 1000:15 odds with 10 false starts.[1]
Hermit was a chestnut stallion that stood approximately 15.2½ hands high with a white blaze. He was by the St. Leger winner and good sire, Newminster, his dam was the race winner, Seclusion by Tadmor. Hermit's sire and dam were both bleeders and passed the condition on to Hermit. By contemporary accounts, Hermit was a good-natured horse with a gentle disposition.[1]
He won the Epsom Derby and also won the St. James's Palace Stakes as a three-year-old. The filly, Achievement defeated him in the St. Leger Stakes and three other races. He often bled excessively through his nostril after racing, but, despite his condition, he finished either first or second in 20 of his starts.
Hermit was an exceptional sire, with 846 English stakes winners, and was the leading English sire for seven years (1880–86).[2] He sired Tristan (1878), winner of the Ascot Gold Cup, and Friar's Balsam (1885), brilliant as a two-year old but plagued by mouth abscesses during and after the 2000 Guineas. Hermit's son, Ascetic, was the leading sire of Irish steeple chasers for almost 20 years. His son, St. Blaise, won the Epsom Derby in 1883 and was shipped to Belmont Stud in the United States where he became the leading U.S. sire of 1890, siring Potomac.
He was the Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland five times and his most notable female offspring were the classic-winning fillies:
Other notable daughters included Cinderella (dam of the American racehorse, Peter Pan I), Moorhen and Bella-Donna (dam of the American racemare, Beldame).[3]
Hermit died on 29 April 1890 at the age of 25 at the Blankney Stud in England.[4]
Hermit's tail-male line is extinct, with the last descendant, 1922 Kentucky Derby winner Morvich dying in 1946.[5]
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