Pewett facts for kids

Pewett (born in 1786) was a famous British Thoroughbred racehorse and a mother horse (called a broodmare). She is best known for winning the important classic St Leger Stakes race in 1789. Her name was sometimes spelled Pewet or Pewit, like the bird called a northern lapwing. Pewett raced 13 times between May 1789 and May 1792, winning four races. In the St Leger, she came in second but was given the win because the first-place horse was disqualified for causing a problem during the race. After she stopped racing, Pewett became a very successful broodmare. Her children and grandchildren won many big races for a long time.

Pewett's Early Life and Family

Pewett was a bay mare, which means she had a reddish-brown body with a black mane and tail. Her owner, William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam, was also her breeder. This means he was the one who helped her be born and grow up.

Pewett was the third of eleven foals (baby horses) born to her mother, Termagant. Her father, Tandem, couldn't race because of an injury. However, he became a good father horse (stallion) at Richard Tattersall's horse farm. Tandem's most famous child, besides Pewett, was a horse called The Yellow Filly. She won the Oaks Stakes race in 1786.

Pewett's Racing Career

Pewett had an exciting racing career, winning some big races and showing her speed.

Pewett's First Races (1789)

Pewett started her racing career on May 5 at Malton. She was the favorite to win a race over one and a half miles. She won, beating two male horses named Bolus and Telescope.

Her next race was on September 22, the famous St Leger Stakes at Doncaster Racecourse. She was one of six three-year-old horses in the two-mile race. Pewett, ridden by William Wilson, finished second. The horse that finished first was a black male horse owned by the Duke of Hamilton. However, the judges decided that the first horse's jockey had "jostled" (pushed) other horses. Because of this, the first horse was disqualified, and Pewett was given the victory!

In her last race of the year, on October 13, she returned to Malton. She finished second to another male horse.

Pewett's Four-Year-Old Season (1790)

In 1790, Pewett started her racing year again at Malton in May. She was the favorite and won a four-mile race against five other horses. Six days later, at York, she finished second in a two-mile race.

At the next York race meeting in August, she raced the same male horse she had lost to before. This time, in a four-mile race, she again finished second. In September, Pewett raced at Lincoln Racecourse in a special King's Plate race for female horses. This race had several two-mile heats, and the first horse to win two heats would win the prize. Pewett finished third in the first heat and second in the next two.

Later that month, she went back to Doncaster, where she had won the St Leger. She raced against a horse named Bywell in a special "match race" over two miles. Even though people thought Bywell might win, Pewett won the match and a prize of 200 guineas (an old type of money).

Pewett's Five-Year-Old Season (1791)

Pewett won one of her four races in 1791. She didn't race until September 7, when she was beaten in a race at Richmond. A week later, at Wakefield racecourse, she ran in a £50 race over four miles. She finished fourth in the first part of the race but then won the next two parts to get her final victory! At Doncaster at the end of the month, she finished sixth in one race and last in another.

Pewett's Last Race (1792)

Pewett raced only once as a six-year-old. She finished last in a two-mile race at York on May 21.

Pewett's Life as a Mother Horse (Stud Career)

After her racing days, Pewett became a "broodmare" for Lord Fitzwilliam. This means she was used to have baby horses (foals) that would hopefully become great racehorses too. She had nine foals:

• 1794: A bay female horse by a father horse named Phoenomenon.
• 1796: A bay female horse by King Fergus.
• 1797: Lapwing, a bay female horse by Overton.
• 1798: A bay female horse by Standard.
• 1799: Woodpecker, a bay male horse by Buzzard.
• 1802: Sir Paul, a bay male horse by Sir Peter Teazle. He finished third in the 1805 St Leger.
• 1803: A brown female horse by Stamford.
• 1804: Paulina, a bay female horse by Sir Peter Teazle. She won the 1807 St Leger!
• 1812: Clinkerina, a brown female horse by Clinker.

Paulina was Pewett's most successful child on the racetrack. She also became a very important broodmare herself. Her children and grandchildren included famous racehorses like Andover and Sir Tatton Sykes.

Pewett's last foal, Clinkerina, also became a successful and important mother horse. Her son, Humphrey Clinker, had a son named Rockingham who won the St Leger. Humphrey Clinker also had a son named Melbourne, who was the father of West Australian, a horse that won the Triple Crown (three very important races). Pewett's family line continued to produce many champions for a very long time.