Young Traveller facts for kids

Young Traveller (who was later called Lauderdale) was a famous British Thoroughbred racehorse born in 1788. He is best known for winning the important classic St Leger Stakes in 1791. Young Traveller started his racing life in Yorkshire. He won two of his three races in 1791 when he was three years old, even before he had a proper name! The day after winning the St Leger, he also won the Doncaster Cup, beating some very strong older horses. This made him the first St Leger winner to also win the Doncaster Cup. The next year, he was sold and renamed Lauderdale. He raced mostly in Scotland, winning five more races, including three easy "walkovers" where no other horses showed up to race against him. Young Traveller didn't become a breeding stallion after his racing career.

Young Traveller's Beginnings

Young Traveller was a beautiful chestnut horse. His father was a horse named King Fergus, and his mother was a daughter of another horse called Young Trunnion. He was born, owned, and trained by a man named John Hutchinson from Shipton, North Yorkshire.

John Hutchinson started his career working with horses in the stables. He then became a jockey, riding horses in races. He earned enough money from his short but successful time as a jockey to become a horse trainer. Later, he became one of the top owners and breeders of horses in the north of England. He was connected to many winning horses, like Hambletonian and Beningbrough.

The name Traveller had been used before for other famous racehorses. There was a leading racehorse and breeding stallion in the mid-1700s called Traveller. Also, John Hutchinson had bred another successful horse named Traveller in 1785, which was later sold to the Prince of Wales. It's very likely that our St Leger winner was named Young Traveller to honor that earlier horse.

Young Traveller's Racing Adventures

His First Races (1791)

Back in 1791, racehorses in Britain didn't always have official names right away. So, the horse who later became Young Traveller (and Lauderdale) raced as Mr. Hutchinson's ch. c. by King Fergus. This just meant he was Mr. Hutchinson's chestnut male horse, whose father was King Fergus.

This unnamed colt started his racing career on June 1 at York Racecourse. He finished third in a race that was about one and a half miles long. Still without a name, Hutchinson's colt then competed in the St Leger race at Doncaster Racecourse. This race was two miles long, and eight three-year-old horses took part. Ridden by jockey John Jackson, he won the classic race, beating the favorite horse named Huby. We don't know what the betting odds were for his win.

The very next day, the colt raced against older, more experienced horses in the Gold Cup. There were eight horses in this race, and four of them had already won the St Leger! These included the colt himself, Ambidexter (who won in 1790), Pewett (1789), and Spadille (1787), who was the favorite. The unnamed colt won the Gold Cup, beating Spadille. Ambidexter finished fourth, and Pewett was seventh.

Even though he never raced under the name, Hutchinson's colt became known as Young Traveller by the end of that year.

Racing as Lauderdale (1792)

Before the 1792 racing season began, Young Traveller was sold to H. Hamilton Esq. and moved to Scotland to race there. On his way north, he stopped at Newcastle Racecourse in June. He won two races there without even trying! These were called "walkovers" because no other horses showed up to race against him. A week later, he arrived at Lamberton in the Scottish Borders. Here, he had another walkover race, and this time he raced under his new name, Lauderdale.

Lauderdale had his first real competitive races of the year at Edinburgh Racecourse in July. First, he ran in a King's Plate race. This race was made up of a series of four-mile heats, and the horse that won two heats first would win the prize. Lauderdale quickly won the first two heats against his only opponent, a mare named Laura. The very next afternoon, he won both heats of a 50 guinea race, beating another horse named Ratler. Lauderdale's last recorded race was a 50 guinea event at Kelso Racecourse in September. In this race, he competed against a mare named Louisa. Lauderdale finished second in the first heat, won the second, but was beaten by Louisa in the final deciding heat.

Life After Racing

After his racing career, Lauderdale, also known as Young Traveller, did not become a breeding stallion. His name never appeared on lists of stallions advertised for breeding. Also, he doesn't have any offspring listed in the General Stud Book, which is a record of thoroughbred horses and their families. This means he likely did not have any foals after he stopped racing.