Charlotte West (horse)

Charlotte West was a chestnut mare bred by her owner George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey. She was sired by the Yorkshire-bred stallion Tramp, a successful racehorse and sire whose other progeny included The Derby winners St. Giles and Dangerous as well as the filly Tarantella, the winner of the 1000 Guineas in 1833.^[1]

Charlotte West came from an extremely successful female family which traced back to the Duke of Grafton's outstanding and influential broodmare Prunella. Charlotte West's dam Filagree also produced the 2000 Guineas winner Riddlesworth and the filly Cobweb who won the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks before producing three classic winners including Bay Middleton. Filagree was a daughter of Web, the Foundation mare of Thoroughbred family 1-s, and a sister of the Derby winner Middleton and the leading broodmare Trampoline.^[2]

Charlotte West began her racing career on 15 April 1830 at the Newmarket Craven meeting. Ridden by James "Jem" Robinson she ran a match race against a colt named Coventry over the Ditch Mile. The colt was favoured in the betting, but the filly won to win a prize of £200.^[3] Two weeks later, Lord Jersey's filly was one of seven fillies to contest the 1000 Guineas Stakes over the same course and distance and started at odds of 5/1 behind the 3/1 joint-favourites Brambilla and Zillah. Partnered again by Robinson, Charlotte West won the classic by a length^[4] from Zillah, with Brambilla in third place.^[5] According to the Sporting Calendar she won "rather decidedly" after a "business-like" race.^[6]

A month after her win at Newmarket, Charlotte West was moved up in distance for the Oaks Stakes over one and a half miles at Epsom. In a field of eighteen runners, she was made 3/1 favourite but finished unplaced behind Mr Scott Stonehewer's filly Variation, a 28/1 outsider.^[7] Charlotte West returned to the one mile distance at Ascot in June for the Royal Stakes. She started at odds of 1/4 and won by two lengths^[8] from her only opponent, a filly named Schumla.^[9] The runner-up lost any chance of creating an upset when she ran wide on the turn into the straight after being distracted by the presence her trainer, mounted on his hack on the outside of the course.^[10]

Charlotte West was off the course for almost five months before returning on 6 November, the last day of racing at Newmarket in 1830. She was assigned top weight of 126 pounds in a five furlong handicap race in which she was matched against colts and older horses. She was ridden by George Edwards, and started the 5/2 favourite, whilst her main rival, Mr Rush's unnamed colt by Tiresias out of Rhoda was ridden by Jem Robinson.^[11] Charlotte West won by a head from the Rhoda colt, with Edwards reportedly riding a particularly fine race.^[12]

Charlotte West was kept in training as a four-year-old but failed to reproduce her earlier success. At the First Spring meeting at Newmarket on 18 April she started 6/5 favourite for a five furlong handicap, but finished third of the four runners behind Mr Cooke's colt Harold. At the next Newmarket meeting in May she ran a £50 match against Zillah in which she attempted to concede five pounds to the 1000 Guineas runner-up. Charlotte West was favoured in the betting but beaten in the race and did not compete again.^[13]

After her retirement, Charlotte West became a broodmare and produced fourteen live foals between 1833 and 1850 during which time she changed hands several times. Although she was covered by stallions including the classic winners Cotherstone, Touchstone, The Colonel and Elis she produced no top-class winners. After 1850 her owner abandoned attempts to use the mare for breeding Thoroughbreds and she was "put to cart-horses".^[14]