Fenian (USA)
1866 – ?
Mickey Free (IRE) x Spiletta (GB), by Stockwell (GB)
Family 1-a
1866 – ?
Mickey Free (IRE) x Spiletta (GB), by Stockwell (GB)
Family 1-a
An unsound horse, Fenian had some ability but gained his one major triumph, the 1869 Belmont Stakes, at the expense of a much superior stablemate (Glenelg) who was held up to allow Fenian to win. Sold for a pittance as a 4-year-old after he failed to fulfill any of his engagements that year, he was gelded and faded into obscurity after being retrained as a jumps racer and sent to England. His sole legacy is a strange one indeed: he served as the model for the horse atop the Belmont Stakes perpetual trophy.
Race record
Complete record not known
1868:
1869:
1870:
As an individual
Described by contemporaries as a colt “of size and finish,” he was also a bad-legged horse in common with the other produce of his dam, Spiletta.
Connections
Foaled in New York, Fenian was bred and owned by August Belmont, who apparently initially partnered with Leonard Jerome in the colt and later assumed full ownership. (The colt was originally named “Leonardo” in honor of Jerome.) Fenian was trained by Jacob Pincus. At a sale at Jerome Park on October 14, 1870, Fenian was sold for US$70 to Dr. D. Kirwin of Canada. He was reported to have been gelded and continued racing in North America until 1872. He was afterward put to jumps racing and sent to England.
Pedigree notes
Fenian is inbred 2x4 to Birdcatcher, who led the combined English/Irish general sire list in 1852 and 1856 and led the Irish sire standings eight times. He was produced from the English-bred Spiletta, who was imported to the United States by A. Keene Richards in 1858. She in turn was sired by the “Emperor of Stallions,” seven-time English sire champion Stockwell (winner of the 1852 Two Thousand Guineas and St. Leger Stakes out of Olivia Augusta, whose sire Cowl was a stakes-winning son of undefeated 1836 Two Thousand Guineas and Derby Stakes winner Bay Middleton (a two-time English/Irish champion sire). The dam of Olivia Augusta, the Belshazzar mare Maria, is a half sister to the good racehorse Melbourne (by Humphrey Clinker), also a two-time English/Irish champion sire and a notable sire of broodmares.
Fun facts
Last updated: September 5, 2025
Race record
Complete record not known
1868:
- Won a match against Inveruglass by forfeit (USA, 6FD, Jerome Park)
- Won a 2-year-old handicap sweepstakes (USA, 8FD, Jerome Park)
- 2nd in a 2-year-old sweepstakes (USA, 4FD, Jerome Park)
- 2nd in a 2-year-old stakes (USA, 5FD, Jerome Park)
- 3rd Hopeful Stakes. (USA, 5FD, Jerome Park)
1869:
- Won Belmont Stakes (USA, 13FD, Jerome Park)
1870:
- Engaged for a match against Athlone at Jerome Park's summer meeting but paid forfeit due to injury.
As an individual
Described by contemporaries as a colt “of size and finish,” he was also a bad-legged horse in common with the other produce of his dam, Spiletta.
Connections
Foaled in New York, Fenian was bred and owned by August Belmont, who apparently initially partnered with Leonard Jerome in the colt and later assumed full ownership. (The colt was originally named “Leonardo” in honor of Jerome.) Fenian was trained by Jacob Pincus. At a sale at Jerome Park on October 14, 1870, Fenian was sold for US$70 to Dr. D. Kirwin of Canada. He was reported to have been gelded and continued racing in North America until 1872. He was afterward put to jumps racing and sent to England.
Pedigree notes
Fenian is inbred 2x4 to Birdcatcher, who led the combined English/Irish general sire list in 1852 and 1856 and led the Irish sire standings eight times. He was produced from the English-bred Spiletta, who was imported to the United States by A. Keene Richards in 1858. She in turn was sired by the “Emperor of Stallions,” seven-time English sire champion Stockwell (winner of the 1852 Two Thousand Guineas and St. Leger Stakes out of Olivia Augusta, whose sire Cowl was a stakes-winning son of undefeated 1836 Two Thousand Guineas and Derby Stakes winner Bay Middleton (a two-time English/Irish champion sire). The dam of Olivia Augusta, the Belshazzar mare Maria, is a half sister to the good racehorse Melbourne (by Humphrey Clinker), also a two-time English/Irish champion sire and a notable sire of broodmares.
Fun facts
- The Fenian Brotherhood was an Irish nationalist group established in the United States in 1858. Working together with the Irish-based Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Fenian Brotherhood shared responsibility for a failed Irish revolt against British rule in 1867. The Fenian Brotherhood also conducted raids on targets in Canada in 1866-71 to attempt to pressure the British government into withdrawing from Ireland. The name for Belmont’s colt was derived from that of the colt’s sire, Mickey Free, as “Mick” and “Mickey” were both common Irish nicknames for “Michael.”
- According to the Daily Racing Form of May 29, 1926, the trophy donated by Mrs. Eleanor Belmont (widow of August Belmont II) to the Westchester Racing Association as the perpetual trophy for the Belmont Stakes was the cup won by Fenian in 1869. However, other sources indicate that this trophy (now known as the August Belmont Memorial Cup) was actually created by Paudling Farnham on behalf of Tiffany & Co. in 1896-7 and was commissioned by August Belmont II in memory of his father. The three horses upholding its bowl represent the Thoroughbred foundation sires Eclipse, Matchem, and Herod, while the horse on top was modeled after Fenian in honor of his having been the first horse bred and owned by August Belmont to have won his namesake race. The senior August Belmont bred no more winners of the race, but August Belmont II bred five (Masterman, Friar Rock, Hourless, Man o’ War, and Chance Shot) and was the owner of the first three named.
- August Belmont elected to win the 1869 Belmont Stakes with Fenian rather than Glenelg because Fenian was a homebred; Glenelg had been bred by Roderick W. Cameron at his Clifton Stud and was purchased by Belmont as a yearling.
Last updated: September 5, 2025