page_title: Persimmon (horse)
section_title: Popular culture
hierarchical_section_title: Persimmon (horse) / Popular culture
caption_attribution_description: English: Statue of race horse "Persimmon" at Sandringham A bronze statue of the race horse Persimmon outside the royal stables at Sandringham. Owned by The Prince Of Wales he won the Epsom Derby in 1896 and several other classic races.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persimmon_(horse)
context_page_description: Persimmon was a British Thoroughbred race horse and sire. In a racing career that lasted from June 1895 to July 1897 he ran nine times and won seven races. His victories included the 1896 Epsom Derby, one of the first horse races ever filmed, by Robert W. Paul. His other important victories included the St. Leger, the Ascot Gold Cup and the Eclipse Stakes. He was also notable for his rivalry with another English colt St. Frusquin, who inflicted his only two defeats.
context_section_description: The 1895 Derby had been filmed by Birt Acres, but the film was lost for many years, leading the film of Persimmon's win by Robert Paul being long regarded as the earliest film of a horse race and one of the first examples of Newsreel coverage. The Derby was recorded on a film described by the press as "2000 impressions on one long negative" which was later projected by "kinematograph". The film of the race, described in the press as an "animated picture" was a popular attraction at London's Alhambra Music Hall in the summer of 1896. By the end of the year, the film was being exhibited to appreciative audiences in Australia, and by early 1897 it was being shown in New Zealand by Carl Hertz. The race was also the subject of a "stirring" popular ballad entitled "The Prince's Derby", by Campbell Rae-Brown. In 1925 the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) began a tradition of naming locomotives after winning racehorses; LNER Class A1 locomotive no. 2549 (later nos. 518 and 50, BR no. 60050) was named Persimmon after this horse, and remained in service until June 1963.
caption: Statue of Persimmon at Sandringham
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