Will Chifney

Will Chifney was born at Newmarket in 1784, the elder of two sons of the famous jockey Sam Chifney, Sr., and his wife, a daughter of the Newmarket horse trainer Frank Smallman. Deemed too big to ride at five feet, seven inches (two inches taller than his father), Will was trained from childhood in the arts of stable-keeping and horse-training. His astute judgment of horses and severe methods of training brought extraordinary success, and canny betting generated enormous profits. Chifney spent money lavishly, however, and with the encouragement of his wife, Mary Clarke (daughter of the professional backer Vauxhall Clarke), he built a grand house to outstrip that of his brother, the jockey Sam Chifney, Jr.. The two brothers established a stable of racehorses that included Priam, whose victory in the Derby Stakes of 1830 brought them winnings of approximately £18,000. Heavy losses on the Duke of Cleveland's horse Shilelagh in 1834 exacerbated Will's mounting financial difficulties and he was obliged to sell his fine house and stables and move to London in reduced circumstances. He died at Pancras Square, aged seventy-eight, on October 14, 1862. He appears in this portrait holding the reins of the racehorse Shoveller, a bay filly foaled in 1816 by Scud, out of Gooseander. Bred and owned by Thomas Thornhill (1780-1844) of Riddlesworth Hall, Norfolk, Shoveller ran her first important race on April 16, 1819, winning a 200 guinea prize at Newmarket. Victorious in the Oaks Stakes at Epsom on May 28, 1819, she gained His Majesty's Plate of 100 guineas at Newmarket on April 10, 1820, and came in second in the Gold Cup race at Newmarket on May 3, 1820. She failed to place on several other occasions, however, and after taking second in a minor race at Newmarket on May 8, 1821, she was retired.