"Gladiateur" (1865) (Triple Crown Winner)

Anonymous engraver after a picture by John Miller.
Size 24 x 29 inches (approx 61 x 74 cms.)

Gladiateur (1862-1876) was a French Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse who won the English Triple Crown in 1865. Gladiateur is called a legend by France Galop and "One of the best horses ever to grace the turf in any century" by the National Sporting Library of Middleburg, Virginia. Gladiateur was not very successful as a sire but his performance on the track remains one of the most impressive in Thoroughbred horse racing history

Gladiateur's owner sent him to England to be trained by Tom Jennings, Sr. at Newmarket Racecourse. Developing the colt slowly, he did not begin racing until the fall of 1864 and won only one of the three races he entered. At age three, things were very different as Gladiateur was the most dominant horse in European racing while becoming the first foreign horse to win the English Triple Crown. After winning the 1865 2,000 Guineas then the most prestigious race in England, the Epsom Derby, Gladiateur was sent to race in Paris. In front of happy fans who dubbed him "The Avenger of Waterloo", he easily won the Grand Prix de Paris.

Owner: Count Frederic de Lagrange
Trainer: Tom Jennings Snr
Jockey: Harry Grimshaw

Major wins
2,000 Guineas (1865)
Epsom Derby (1865)
St. Leger Stakes (1865)
Grand Prix de Paris (1865)
Grand Prix du Prince Impérial (1865)
Newmarket Derby (1865)
Derby Trial Stakes (1866)
Claret Stakes (1866)
Grand Prix de l'Impératrice (1866)
Ascot Gold Cup (1866)
La Coupe (1866)
Grand Prix de l'Empereur (1866)
Awards
2nd U.K. Triple Crown Champion (1865)
Honours
French Horse Racing Hall of Fame
Life-sized statue at Longchamp Racecourse
Prix Gladiateur at Longchamp Racecourse