Waxy (1790 – 18 April 1818) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1793 Epsom Derby and was an influential sire in the late eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth century. Waxy was bred by Sir Ferdinando Poole and was foaled at Lewes in 1790. He was sired by Pot-8-Os, a son of the foundation stallion Eclipse, whose genetic lineage traced to the Darley Arabian. Waxy's dam, Maria, was sired by the influential stallion Herod and produced one full-brother to Waxy, who was named Worthy. Waxy derived his name from a variety of potato, a choice that was inspired by his sire's name. Trained by Robert Robson, Waxy won nine races out of 15 starts during his four-year racing career, retiring from racing at the age of seven in 1797 after sustaining an injury during his last start.
Beginning in 1798, Waxy stood at stud at Sir Poole's estate in Lewes and remained there until Poole's death in 1804. After Poole's death, Waxy was acquired by the 3rd Duke of Grafton and stood at his Euston Hall stud. Waxy remained at Euston Hall for the remainder of his life and was used as a breeding stallion until his death on 18 April 1818. His most notable offspring were produced under the ownership of the 3rd Duke of Grafton and his son. Waxy produced 190 winners of races during his stud career, siring four Epsom Derby and three Epsom Oaks winners, becoming a leading sire in 1810. His most notable sons that achieved success in the stud were Whalebone and Whisker. Through the produce of these two sons, Waxy became the paternal ancestor of most of the world's male Thoroughbreds by the mid-twentieth century.
Background
Waxy was bred by Sir Ferdinando Poole, a baronet whose family seat was in Poole, Cheshire. Sir Ferdinando leased an extensive estate in Lewes that was built on land once owned by the Grey Friars and was called "The Friary." Waxy was foaled in 1790 at Poole's stable at The Friary.
The colt was named "Waxy" to distinguish him from Poole's other colt sired by Pot-8-Os out of the mare Macaria, which was subsequently named "Mealy." Waxy and mealy were two types of potatoes available at the time and are a play on the name of the colts' sire Pot-8-Os, which is itself a pun on the name "Potatoes." A variant spelling, "Waxey," is mentioned in some publications.
Ancestry
Waxy's sire, Pot-8-Os, was a successful sire of racehorses that had won 34 races during his seven-year racing career. In addition to Waxy, Pot-8-Os produced the mare Parasol (the dam of Partisan) and the colt Lottery. Waxy was Pot-8-Os most successful son in the breeding shed, with Waxy's sons carrying on the direct-male line well into the 20th century.
Waxy's dam, Maria, was bred by Lord Bolingbroke and was sired by the Thoroughbred foundation sire Herod. She produced ten foals between 1784 and 1797, with Waxy being her sixth foal and one of two by Pot-8-Os. Waxy's full-brother, Worthy (foaled in 1795), was a moderately successful racer and was later a breeding stallion for the East India Company. Maria died in 1797, about two weeks after foaling the filly Wowski, later the dam of Derby winner Smolensko, Sir Charles and Thunderbolt.
Description
In the words of jockey Sam Chifney, Waxy was a "handsome, rich bay, with a white stocking on the off-hind [right] leg, good length, and especially beautiful quarters." In the words of his exercise rider (who wrote an anonymous letter to The Sporting Magazine in 1828), Waxy was "one of the finest formed horses, perfect in symmetry, beautiful in colour, admirable in all his paces, and of the finest temper when in work." However, when Waxy was confined to a stall during the winter months, his temperament became unruly and unpredictable leading the anonymous writer to remark that, "Oft has he kicked the lappets of my coat over my head." One of the few, possibly only, surviving portraits of Waxy was painted by Francis Sartorius in 1794 or 1795, and the depiction was praised in commentary for Sporting Magazine for its "neatness" and for "the truth of representation it so evidently display[ed]." While most breeding stallions and racehorses of the era had stable companions, Waxy reportedly was fond of rabbits in his later years and "was never happy without a rabbit in his paddock" with one female rabbit making her nest in the middle of his stall and raising generations of rabbits at the site that were never harmed by Waxy.
