page_title: Isonomy (horse)
section_title: 1879: four-year-old season
hierarchical_section_title: Isonomy (horse) / Racing career / 1879: four-year-old season
caption_attribution_description: Men of the Day No.340: Caricature of Tom Cannon. (Thomas Cannon, 1846-1917, jockey)[1] Caption reads: "Tom Cannon"
context_page_description: Isonomy was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from 1877 to 1880 he ran fourteen times and won ten races. As a three-year-old he deliberately bypassed the Classics in order that his owner could land a massive betting coup in the Cambridgeshire Handicap at Newmarket. In the following two seasons he was the dominant stayer in Britain, producing a series of performances which led many contemporary observers to regard him as one of the greatest racehorses of the 19th century. He was then retired to stud, where he became a successful stallion.
context_section_description: On his four-year-old debut, Isonomy carried 124 pounds in the Newmarket Handicap on 15 April and started 2/1 favourite. Among his opponents was the American horse Parole, who was not regarded as a serious threat by the British racegoers and started 100/15 fourth choice in the betting despite receiving eight pounds. Parole took the lead at half way and drew clear. Although Isonomy made steady progress he was unable to catch the leader and finished second, beaten one and a half lengths. Gretton then challenged Parole's owners to a £10,000 weight-for-age match race between the horses, but his offer was declined.
  In June, Isonomy was sent to Royal Ascot where, on the first day of the meeting, he defeated the 1877 Epsom Derby winner Silvio (the 4/9 favourite) in the Gold Vase over two miles. Two days later, he competed in the Gold Cup, at that time regarded as the most important and prestigious weight-for-age race of the year. The field included two of the previous season's leading Classic performers: the French-trained Insulaire, who had won the Prix du Jockey Club and finished second in both The Derby and the Grand Prix; and Jannette, who had won The Oaks and defeated the colts, including Insulaire, in the St Leger. Isonomy was held up in the early stages before moving up to contest the lead as the field entered the straight. As Isonomy accelerated only Insulaire attempted to match him, and the two pulled well clear of the rest. In the closing stages Isonomy drew away to beat the French colt easily by two lengths "in a canter".
  On 29 July, Isonomy ran in the Goodwood Cup, in which he was asked to concede thirteen pounds to Parole. An outsider named The Bear set off in front and at one stage opened up a lead of two hundred yards. Isonomy finally caught up with the front-runner in the straight and pulled away in the closing stages to win easily by three lengths, with Parole third A few days later on 6 August he was sent to Brighton Racecourse for the two-mile Brighton Cup, in which he carried 136 pounds and started at odds of 1/10 against three opponents. After settling in third place he moved into the lead in the straight and went three lengths clear, before being eased down in the closing stages to record a three-quarter-length win over Paul's Cray. Isonomy was then sent north for the Ebor Handicap at York on 27 August, for which he was made 8/11 favourite. Despite the very difficult conditions ("mud and water flying in all directions"), and conceding at least thirty pounds to his opponents, he won impressively by eight lengths.
  In September he attempted to become the first horse to complete the stayers' Triple Crown in the Doncaster Cup, although there was some disappointment that the undefeated Hungarian mare Kincsem was ruled out of the race by injury. In a rough race he defeated the filly Jannette, despite being badly cut by the spurs of the runner-up's jockey, Fred Archer when he moved up to challenge for the lead along the rails. The Duke of Portland said of Isonomy's performance marked him as "one of the best and gamest horses that ever ran". The Gold Cup-Goodwood Cup-Doncaster Cup treble was not completed again until Alycidon did so in 1949.
  On his final start of the year he carried top weight in the Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket on 7 October. In this race, however, he was not expected to win, and seems to have been entered mainly to provide assistance to his owner's other runner Westbourne. He was not even included in the betting for the race. The plan failed, as Westbourne finished second to Chippendale, with Isonomy in fourth.
caption: Tom Cannon, Isonomy's regular jockey
exif: {}