page_title: Blair Athol (horse)
section_title: Stud career
hierarchical_section_title: Blair Athol (horse) / Stud career
caption_attribution_description: English: Painting of 1864 Epsom Derby winner. Unknown contemporary artist.
context_page_description: Blair Athol was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted little more than three months in the summer and autumn of 1864, he ran seven times and won five races including one walk-over. His wins included The Derby and the St Leger. Despite the brevity of his racing career, he was regarded by contemporary experts as one of the best British racehorses of his era and arguably the greatest horse ever trained in the North of England. He went on to become a highly successful stallion, siring the winners of many races.
context_section_description: Blair Athol began his stud career at the farm of John Jackson, the York bookmaker who had attempted to buy him as a two-year-old. Jackson paid £7,500 for Blair Athol, reported as the largest sum ever paid for a racehorse up to that time. When Jackson became ill in 1868 he sold off all his horses and Blair Athol was bought for £5,000 and moved to the Middle Park stud at Newmarket. In 1871, he was sold again, this time for £12,500 to the Cobham Stud Company.
  Blair Athol was a highly successful stallion, being Champion sire four times between 1872 and 1877. His Classic winners included Silvio, Prince Charlie, Craig Millar, Cecilia and Scottish Queen. In 1878, his stud fee was raised to 200 guineas, leading to him being boycotted by most breeders who felt that the fee was excessive. In 1879, Blair Athol was sold for the final time, to the Pound Stud, also based at Cobham. He remained an impressive sight even in old age, and could regularly be seen exercising on the country lanes around Cobham. Blair Athol died in his stable in 1882.
caption: Blair Athol in retirement, by an unknown artist
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