Though he was sound, durable and game, Polymelus was a cut below the best colts of his year on the racetrack. At stud it was another story. As the fortunes of the St. Simon sire line began to fade, Polymelus took full advantage and became the dominant English sire of the World War I era and the years immediately following the war. He contributed to classic bloodlines around the world, but his greatest claim to fame is as the sire of Phalaris, a two-time champion sire in England and the male-line ancestor of a heavy majority of today's Thoroughbreds.
Race record
31 starts, 11 wins, 7 seconds, 2 thirds, £16,803
1904:
1905:
1906:
1907:
Assessments
Polymelus' assigned weight of 112 pounds for the 1906 Cambridgeshire Stakes suggests that the Jockey Club handicapper assessed him as being about 14 pounds below the top level. The fact that Polymelus picked up a 10-pound penalty and still won suggests that either the handicapper underestimated him or that his form in the fall and at Newmarket was much better than at the time the weights were assigned.
As an individual
Polymelus was a handsome, well-built bay horse with a long, level topline and flat croup, an exceptionally long forearm and short cannons. Photographs suggest that he was sickle-hocked. He was generally at his best in the fall and also had a strong preference for Newmarket's straight courses, which suited his extremely long stride. He suffered a severe pelvic injury in a fall during his first year at stud and required help in mounting his mares thereafter.
As a stallion
Polymelus led the English/Irish general sire list in 1914-1916 and 1920-1921 and was runner-up in 1917 and 1918; he was third in 1919 and sixth in 1924. He ranked among the leading English/Irish broodmare sires seven times, peaking at second in 1929. He sired at least 50 stakes winners and was a better sire of colts than of fillies.
Notable progeny
Benevente (GB), Black Jester (GB), Cannobie (GB), Cinna (GB), Corcyra (GB), Fifinella (GB), Humorist (GB), Invershin (GB), Parth (GB), Phalaris (GB), Polymelian (GB), Polyphontes (GB), Polystome (GB), Pommern (GB), Traum (GB), War Cloud (GB)
Connections
Polymelus was bred and owned by Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe. He was trained by John Porter through his 3-year-old season. At the end of that year, Polymelus was sold to David Faber for £3,000 and moved to the stable of a Mr. Baker. Failing to win while in Baker's care, Polymelus was sent to the 1906 Newmarket October sale and was purchased by Solomon "Solly" Joel for £4,200. He stood his entire stud career in England at Joel's Maiden Erlegh Stud, where he was humanely destroyed due to the effects of rheumatoid arthritis on March 24, 1924.
Pedigree notes
Polymelus is inbred 5x4 to 1851 St. Leger Stakes winner and two-time English champion sire Newminster. He is a full brother to Lady Cynosure, third dam of 1940 Derby Stakes winner Pont l'Eveque. He is a half brother to English stakes winner Ercildoune (by Kendal) and to Grafton (by Galopin), who never raced but was champion sire in Australia four times. Polymelus is also a half brother to Marian Hood (by Martagon), whose daughter Sunbonnet is generally considered the American champion 3-year-old filly of 1917.
Maid Marian, the dam of Polymelus, is a half sister to Memoir and La Fleche, both daughters of St. Simon and both winners of the Oaks Stakes and St. Leger Stakes. For good measure, La Fleche threw in victories in the One Thousand Guineas and the Ascot Gold Cup before producing stakes winners Baroness La Fleche (by Ladas), dam of One Thousand Guineas winner and influential producer Cinna (by Polymelus), and John o' Gaunt (by Isinglass), sire of 1910 St. Leger Stakes winner and 1923 English leading sire Swynford. Maid Marian's dam Quiver (by Toxophilite) also produced juvenile stakes winner Satchel (by Galopin), dam of the good juvenile The Prize (by Bend Or) and second dam of Sain, a sire of some significance in the United States.
Books and media
Fun facts
Race record
31 starts, 11 wins, 7 seconds, 2 thirds, £16,803
1904:
- Won Richmond Stakes (ENG, 6FT, Goodwood)
- Won Rous Memorial Stakes (ENG, 5FT, Newmarket)
- Won Criterion Stakes (ENG, 6FT, Newmarket)
- 2nd Triennial Stakes (ENG, Ascot)
- 2nd Convivial Stakes (ENG, York)
1905:
- Won Triennial Stakes (ENG, Ascot)
- Won Durham Produce Plate (ENG, 10FT, Stockton)
- Won Duke of York Stakes (ENG, 10FT, Kempton)
- Won Gratwicke Stakes (ENG, 12FT, York)
- 2nd St. James' Palace Stakes (ENG, 8FT, Ascot)
- 2nd St. Leger Stakes (ENG, about 14.5FT, Doncaster)
- 2nd Jockey Club Stakes (ENG, 14FT, Newmarket)
- 3rd Stewards' Cup (ENG, 6FT, Goodwood)
1906:
- Won Duke of York Stakes (ENG, Kempton)
- Won Cambridgeshire Stakes (ENG, 9FT, Newmarket)
- Won Champion Stakes (ENG, 10FT, Newmarket)
- 2nd Triennial Stakes (ENG, 16FT, Ascot)
- 2nd Prince of Wales Handicap (ENG)
1907:
- Won Princess of Wales' Stakes (ENG, 12FT, Newmarket)
- 3rd Coronation Cup (ENG, 12FT, Epsom)
Assessments
Polymelus' assigned weight of 112 pounds for the 1906 Cambridgeshire Stakes suggests that the Jockey Club handicapper assessed him as being about 14 pounds below the top level. The fact that Polymelus picked up a 10-pound penalty and still won suggests that either the handicapper underestimated him or that his form in the fall and at Newmarket was much better than at the time the weights were assigned.
As an individual
Polymelus was a handsome, well-built bay horse with a long, level topline and flat croup, an exceptionally long forearm and short cannons. Photographs suggest that he was sickle-hocked. He was generally at his best in the fall and also had a strong preference for Newmarket's straight courses, which suited his extremely long stride. He suffered a severe pelvic injury in a fall during his first year at stud and required help in mounting his mares thereafter.
As a stallion
Polymelus led the English/Irish general sire list in 1914-1916 and 1920-1921 and was runner-up in 1917 and 1918; he was third in 1919 and sixth in 1924. He ranked among the leading English/Irish broodmare sires seven times, peaking at second in 1929. He sired at least 50 stakes winners and was a better sire of colts than of fillies.
Notable progeny
Benevente (GB), Black Jester (GB), Cannobie (GB), Cinna (GB), Corcyra (GB), Fifinella (GB), Humorist (GB), Invershin (GB), Parth (GB), Phalaris (GB), Polymelian (GB), Polyphontes (GB), Polystome (GB), Pommern (GB), Traum (GB), War Cloud (GB)
Connections
Polymelus was bred and owned by Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe. He was trained by John Porter through his 3-year-old season. At the end of that year, Polymelus was sold to David Faber for £3,000 and moved to the stable of a Mr. Baker. Failing to win while in Baker's care, Polymelus was sent to the 1906 Newmarket October sale and was purchased by Solomon "Solly" Joel for £4,200. He stood his entire stud career in England at Joel's Maiden Erlegh Stud, where he was humanely destroyed due to the effects of rheumatoid arthritis on March 24, 1924.
Pedigree notes
Polymelus is inbred 5x4 to 1851 St. Leger Stakes winner and two-time English champion sire Newminster. He is a full brother to Lady Cynosure, third dam of 1940 Derby Stakes winner Pont l'Eveque. He is a half brother to English stakes winner Ercildoune (by Kendal) and to Grafton (by Galopin), who never raced but was champion sire in Australia four times. Polymelus is also a half brother to Marian Hood (by Martagon), whose daughter Sunbonnet is generally considered the American champion 3-year-old filly of 1917.
Maid Marian, the dam of Polymelus, is a half sister to Memoir and La Fleche, both daughters of St. Simon and both winners of the Oaks Stakes and St. Leger Stakes. For good measure, La Fleche threw in victories in the One Thousand Guineas and the Ascot Gold Cup before producing stakes winners Baroness La Fleche (by Ladas), dam of One Thousand Guineas winner and influential producer Cinna (by Polymelus), and John o' Gaunt (by Isinglass), sire of 1910 St. Leger Stakes winner and 1923 English leading sire Swynford. Maid Marian's dam Quiver (by Toxophilite) also produced juvenile stakes winner Satchel (by Galopin), dam of the good juvenile The Prize (by Bend Or) and second dam of Sain, a sire of some significance in the United States.
Books and media
- Polymelus is profiled in Chapter 16 of Abram Hewitt's Sire Lines (1977, The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders of America; later updated and re-released in 2006 by Eclipse Press).
- Polymelus is one of 205 stallions whose accomplishments at stud are profiled in Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (2006, The Australian Bloodhorse Review), a massive reference work written by Jennifer Churchill, Andrew Reichard and Byron Rogers.
Fun facts
- Polymelus was named for a Trojan warrior from Homer's epic work, the Iliad. According to Homer, the human Polymelus was slain by the Greek hero Patroclus during the Trojan War.
- Polymelus' earnings are as shown in Sire Lines (Hewitt). British authority Sir Charles Leicester gives the figure as £16,725.
- Polymelus was the last winner saddled by the great English trainer John Porter, who retired at the end of the 1905 racing season.
- Solly Joel's main reason for buying Polymelus was as a betting prospect for the 1906 Cambridgeshire Stakes, which the horse duly won.
- Solly Joel considered selling Polymelus when the horse finished his racing career, but American breeder Henry Oxnard—who had been advised to buy Polymelus by no less an authority than the senior Arthur Hancock of Claiborne Farm—chose to buy another stallion prospect and Joel ended up retaining Polymelus.