Henry of Navarre (USA)
1891 – 1917
Knight of Ellerslie (USA) x Moss Rose (USA), by The Ill-Used (GB)
Family 20
1891 – 1917
Knight of Ellerslie (USA) x Moss Rose (USA), by The Ill-Used (GB)
Family 20
A contemporary of the brilliant Domino, Henry of Navarre was as dominant over intermediate and staying distances as Domino was over sprints and had a fine turn of speed to boot, a combination of traits that made him the best American racehorse of any age or sex in 1894 and 1895. Unfortunately, he proved unable to transmit his sterling qualities with any consistency as a sire and ended up as an Army Remount sire. Nearly a century after the conclusion of his racing career, he received the final honors due him with induction into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame.
Race record
42 starts, 29 wins, 8 seconds, 3 thirds, US$68,985
1893:
1894:
1895:
1896:
Honors
As an individual
A bay horse standing 15.1-3/4 hands, Henry of Navarre was powerful but smoothly made with a well-sloped shoulder, excellent legs, powerful hindquarters, and good bone. He could be faulted for hind legs that were a little too straight and short pasterns. He was said to weigh 1,100 pounds in racing condition. By late summer of his 4-year-old season, Henry was experiencing significant soundness problems and had developed a habit of boring in when in a drive. He was able to make only two starts as a 5-year-old before leaving the track for good.
As a stallion
According to Clio Hogan’s Index to Stakes Winners 1865-1967, Henry of Navarre sired five stakes winners, but none remotely approached his own class.
Notable progeny of daughters
Eyelid (USA), Ganelon (GER), Graf Ferry (GER)
Connections
Henry of Navarre was bred by Lucien Appleby at his Silver Brook Stud in New Jersey. He was purchased as a yearling for US$3,000 by owner-trainer Byron McClelland. McClelland, in turn, sold the horse to August Belmont II in August 1895 for US$25,000 but stayed on as trainer while the horse ran in the colors of Blemton Stable. Henry of Navarre was riddem to his Belmont Stakes win by Willie Simms. The horse entered stud at Belmont’s Nursery Stud in 1897. In 1909, he was sent to England and stood at Joseph Cannon’s Lordship Farm. From there he went to France for the 1910 season to Belmont’s Normandy farm, Haras de Villers, where he was made available for the breeding of cavalry mounts. He returned to the United States in March 1911 and was donated to the U.S. Army Remount Service to stand in Virginia at the Front Royal Army Remount Station. He died in 1917.
Pedigree notes
Sired by 1884 Preakness Stakes winner Knight of Ellerslie, Henry of Navarre is inbred 5x4 to 16-time American champion sire Lexington. He is a full brother to The Huguenot, whose wins included the 1898 Withers Stakes, Carlton Stakes, and Brooklyn Derby. He is also a full brother to Catharine of Navarre, whose daughter Lady Navarre (by Pirate of Penzance) won the 1906 Tennessee Derby and Tennessee Oaks and was second in both the Kentucky Derby (in which she suffered interference on the final turn) and the Kentucky Oaks.
Moss Rose was produced from Scarlet, a daughter of Lexington’s excellent son Kentucky and a half sister to 1865 Sequel Stakes winner Baltimore (by Revenue) and 1868 Westchester Cup winner Local (by Lightning). The next dam in Henry of Navarre’s tail-female line, Maroon, was sired by eight-time American champion sire Glencoe out of an unnamed daughter of Wagner and the Sumpter mare Cherry Elliott.
Fun facts
Last updated: July 5, 2024
Race record
42 starts, 29 wins, 8 seconds, 3 thirds, US$68,985
1893:
- Won Breeders' Stakes (USA, 5FD, Lexington Association)
- Won Dash Stakes (USA, 5FD, Sheepshead Bay)
- Won Golden Rod Stakes (USA, 7FT, Sheepshead Bay)
- Won Algeria Handicap (USA, 6FD, Gravesend)
- 2nd Sapling Stakes (USA,5.5FD, Monmouth; dead heat with Hyderabad)
- 2nd Select Stakes (USA, 6FD, Monmouth)
- 3rd Junior Champion Stakes (USA, 6FD, Monmouth)
- Also set a new track record of 0:58-3/4 for 5FD at Monmouth
1894:
- Won Belmont Stakes (USA, 9FD, Morris Park)
- Won Travers Stakes (USA, 10FD, Saratoga)
- Won Spindrift Stakes (USA, 9FD, Sheepshead Bay)
- Won Dolphin Stakes (USA, 9FD, Sheepshead Bay)
- Won Third Special (USA, 9FD, Gravesend; DH in what was actually a match race with Domino)
- Won Iroquois Stakes (USA, 8FD, Saratoga)
- Won Foxhall Stakes (USA, 9FD, Saratoga)
- Won Bay Stakes (USA, 9.5FD, Sheepshead Bay)
- Won Morris Park Special (3-way match with Clifford and Domino), 9FD, Morris Park)
- 2nd Withers Stakes (USA, 8FD, Morris Park)
- 2nd Brooklyn Handicap (USA, 10FD, Gravesend)
- 2nd Standard Stakes. (USA, 9FD, Gravesend)
- 2nd Fort Hamilton Handicap (USSA, 9FD, Gravesend)
- 2nd Second Special (USA, 9FD, Gravesend)
- 3rd Metropolitan Handicap (USA, 8FD, Morris Park)
1895:
- Won Merchants' Stakes (USA, 9FD, Latonia)
- Won Country Club Stakes (USA, 9FD, Oakley)
- Won First Special (USA, 10FD, Gravesend)
- Won Coney Island Special (USA, 8.5FD, Sheepshead Bay)
- Won Brooklyn Special (USA, 10FD, Gravesend)
- Won Special Sweepstakes (USA, 9FD, Sheepshead Bay)
- Won Manhattan Handicap (USA, 10FD, Morris Park)
- Won Municipal Handicap (USA, 14FD, Morris Park)
- 2nd Twin City Handicap (USA, 10FD, Sheepshead Bay)
- 3rd Oriental Handicap (USA, 10FD, Gravesend)
1896:
- Won Suburban Handicap (USA, 10FD, Sheepshead Bay)
Honors
- National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1985)
- American Horse of the Year (1894, 1895)
- American co-champion 3-year-old male (1894)
- American champion handicap male (1895, 1986)
As an individual
A bay horse standing 15.1-3/4 hands, Henry of Navarre was powerful but smoothly made with a well-sloped shoulder, excellent legs, powerful hindquarters, and good bone. He could be faulted for hind legs that were a little too straight and short pasterns. He was said to weigh 1,100 pounds in racing condition. By late summer of his 4-year-old season, Henry was experiencing significant soundness problems and had developed a habit of boring in when in a drive. He was able to make only two starts as a 5-year-old before leaving the track for good.
As a stallion
According to Clio Hogan’s Index to Stakes Winners 1865-1967, Henry of Navarre sired five stakes winners, but none remotely approached his own class.
Notable progeny of daughters
Eyelid (USA), Ganelon (GER), Graf Ferry (GER)
Connections
Henry of Navarre was bred by Lucien Appleby at his Silver Brook Stud in New Jersey. He was purchased as a yearling for US$3,000 by owner-trainer Byron McClelland. McClelland, in turn, sold the horse to August Belmont II in August 1895 for US$25,000 but stayed on as trainer while the horse ran in the colors of Blemton Stable. Henry of Navarre was riddem to his Belmont Stakes win by Willie Simms. The horse entered stud at Belmont’s Nursery Stud in 1897. In 1909, he was sent to England and stood at Joseph Cannon’s Lordship Farm. From there he went to France for the 1910 season to Belmont’s Normandy farm, Haras de Villers, where he was made available for the breeding of cavalry mounts. He returned to the United States in March 1911 and was donated to the U.S. Army Remount Service to stand in Virginia at the Front Royal Army Remount Station. He died in 1917.
Pedigree notes
Sired by 1884 Preakness Stakes winner Knight of Ellerslie, Henry of Navarre is inbred 5x4 to 16-time American champion sire Lexington. He is a full brother to The Huguenot, whose wins included the 1898 Withers Stakes, Carlton Stakes, and Brooklyn Derby. He is also a full brother to Catharine of Navarre, whose daughter Lady Navarre (by Pirate of Penzance) won the 1906 Tennessee Derby and Tennessee Oaks and was second in both the Kentucky Derby (in which she suffered interference on the final turn) and the Kentucky Oaks.
Moss Rose was produced from Scarlet, a daughter of Lexington’s excellent son Kentucky and a half sister to 1865 Sequel Stakes winner Baltimore (by Revenue) and 1868 Westchester Cup winner Local (by Lightning). The next dam in Henry of Navarre’s tail-female line, Maroon, was sired by eight-time American champion sire Glencoe out of an unnamed daughter of Wagner and the Sumpter mare Cherry Elliott.
Fun facts
- In history, Henry of Navarre was crowned king of Navarre in 1572 and ascended to the throne of France as Henry IV in 1589. Known for his pragmatic policies (which improved French trade, education, infrastructure, and general living conditions) and his balancing of Catholic and Protestant political interests, he was assassinated by a Catholic zealot in 1610.
- While the majority of New York newspapers reported that August Belmont II paid US$25,000 for Henry of Navarre (a price probably impacted by the colt’s increasing problems with soundness), estimates of the purchase price ranged from US$10,000 to US$85,000.
- Henry of Navarre’s son Fume was tiny by Thoroughbred standards, standing 14.2 hands. Useless for racing, he became an outstanding sire of polo ponies and was also a blue ribbon winner in horse show classes for stallions suitable for breeding polo ponies.
Last updated: July 5, 2024