Gimcrack's greatest legacy

Despite his small size, this game little horse made a huge impression on the racing scene, inspiring the formation of one of the oldest clubs in the world

- Adrian Dangar

IN THE SPRING of 1760 an iron-grey grandson of the famous Godolphin Arabian was foaled at Murrell Green in Hampshire. He grew to be no higher than 14½ hands but during the course of a long and glittering career captured the imagination of a nation and left as his legacy one of the most prestigious contests in the racing calendar and one of the oldest clubs in the world.

As was customary at the time, Gimcrack - ironically, the seldom-used noun means a showy object of little use or value began racing as a four-year-old and won all seven starts he contested that first season. During a demanding career that followed the diminutive entire was to have eight different owners, including Lord Bolingbroke (who paid the princely sum of 1,500 guineas), Sir Charles Bunbury and the 1st Earl Grosvenor. Lady Sarah Lennox, who was briefly married to Sir Charles, famously described Gimcrack as 'the sweetest little horse that ever was' after watching him race at Newmarket.