Description
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Engraved by G.E. after a picture by Adrian Jones.
Size 20 x 23 inches (approx 51 x 58 cms.)
Bred and raced by HRH the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), Diamond Jubilee was named in honour of the sixtieth year of the reign of Queen Victoria. He was a full brother to the Derby and St. Leger winner Persimmon (b c 1893) and the Goodwood Cup winner Florizel (br c 1891). A handsome horse of medium size his highly-strung and difficult temperment caused considerable concern throughout most of his racing career.
His two year old season was at least partially compromised by his unruly behaviour. He won only one of his races, finishing fourth in the Coventry Stakes, last in the July Stakes, and with a new jockey, Mornington Cannon, managed a second placing in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and a win in the Boscawen Stakes. Cannon was unavailable for his next race and with Jack Watts back in the saddle he finished second in the Middle Park Stakes. He lost his final race of the year, the Dewhurst Plate, to Democrat who had also beaten him in the previous race.
His trainer, Richard Marsh, is given all credit for his patience and tact in bringing the colt along. In the spring of 1900 Marsh requested permission to employ Herbert Jones as jockey for Diamond Jubilee. Jones, his exercise rider, had demonstrated an affinity with the colt and with him won the Two Thousand Guineas Stakes, the Newmarket Stakes, and the Derby Stakes. In his next engagement, the Princess of Wales’s Stakes, Diamond Jubilee finished second to Merry Gal (b f 1897 Galopin), Oaks runner-up and later the dam of White Eagle (ch c 1905 Gallinule), whilst conceding her nineteen pounds. He went on to win the Eclipse Stakes and, despite the resurgence of his unreliable temperment, the St. Leger Stakes. In his last race as a three year old he was defeated by the American-bred Disguise (b c 1897 Domino) in the Jockey Club Stakes.
