The 20th winner of the St Leger, held on Tuesday 22nd September 1795 over the 2 miles of Town Moor, was Hambletonian, a bay colt by King Fergus out of Grey Highflyer, owned by Sir Charles Turner. A field of 5 runners contested the race, although there were 12 subscriptions of 25 guineas each, which was worth 300 Guineas. (Equivalent to £38,800 in 2017)
HAMBLETONIAN SR 2232
This token, known as Wyon’s Penny, is one of a number produced to commemorate a match which was staged at Newmarket, over their 4 mile straight Beacon course, on Monday 25 March 1799. The famous Beacon course starts 5 miles from Newmarket and continues in a straight line to the winning post which is a mile from Newmarket town centre. This match, still common even in the late 18th century, was between Durham landowner Sir Harry Vane-Tempest's Hambletonian (1792-1818), ridden by Frank Buckle (purple jacket with yellow cap and sleeves), and the horse-breeder Joseph Cookson's Diamond (1792-1819), ridden by Dennis Fitzpatrick (lilac jacket with straw coloured cap). The match, for 3,000 guineas a side, half of which was forfeit, saw the 5-4 on favourite Hambletonian, win by 'half a neck' in 7 ¼ minutes, although the coin wrongly states it took eight and a half minutes. Betting at the Coffee Houses in the morning favoured Hambletonian at 5/6, but on course during the race Evens was offered against each horse.
