Thais
FromKing Edward VII as a sportsman (Alfred Edward Thomas Watson, 1911)
Sire	St Serf
Grandsire	St Simon
Dam	Poetry
Damsire	Petrarch
Sex	Mare
Foaled	1893[1]
Country	United Kingdom
Colour	Brown
Breeder	Prince of Wales
Owner	Prince of Wales
Trainer	Richard Marsh
Record	7: 2-2-2
Major wins
1000 Guineas (1896)

Thais (1893–1898) was a BritishThoroughbred racehorse andbroodmare. She showed very promising form as a juvenile in 1895 when she was placed in theNew Stakes and theJuly Stakes before winning the Crabbet Plate atGatwick. In the following year she won the1000 Guineas and finished second in both theEpsom Oaks and theCoronation Stakes before being retired at the end of the season. She had no chance to prove her worth as a broodmare, dying at the age of five without producing a foal.

Thais was a bay mare bred by her owner thePrince of Wales. She was sent into training withRichard Marsh at Egerton House inNewmarket, Suffolk. She was described as a "delicate and highly-strung" filly.^[2]

She was sired by St Serf who won theRous Memorial Stakes and went on to sire several other good horses included theSt Leger winnerChallacombe. Her dam Poetry, a half-sister to theSt Leger winnerOssian,^[3] was bred by theDuke of Devonshire and bought by the Prince of Wales for 430guineas.^[4]

AtRoyal Ascot on 20 June Thais started at odds of11/4 for theNew Stakes over5+1⁄2furlongs. Ridden by T J Calder she finished third, beaten a head and twolengths by Roquebrune and Shaddock.^[5] In theJuly Stakes atNewmarket Racecourse she was made 2/1 favourite but finished a close third to the colts Galeazzo and Labrador.^[6] On 24 July, with Calder in the saddle, the filly recorded her first success when she won the £1000 Crabbet Plate over five furlongs atGatwick Racecourse.^[7]

On 1 May Thais was one of 19 fillies to contest the 83rd running of the 1000 Guineas over the Rowley Mile at Newmarket and was made the 5/1 second favourite behind Omladina, a filly who had dividedSt Frusquin andPersimmon when running second in theMiddle Park Plate. The best-fancied of the others wereLord Zetland's Jolly Boat, Douglas Baird's Santa Maura and the unnamed "sister to Ella Tweed". Ridden byJohn Watts, Thais took the lead a furlong out and won an "exciting race"^[8] by a neck from Santa Maura, with Jolly Boat three quarters of a length away in third place.^[9] As Thais and Santa Maura were racing on opposite sides of the wide course the finish was difficult to judge and many observers believed that the latter had won. The Royal victory was reportedly greeted by "cheers of the heartiest sort".^[4]

At Epsom Racecourse on 5 June Thais started 13/8 favourite against ten opponents for theOaks Stakes over1+1⁄2 miles. With Watts again in the saddle she looked the likely winner in the straight but was overtaken in the last quarter mile and was beaten two lengths into second place byLord Derby'sCanterbury Pilgrim.^[10] Richard Marsh explained his trainee's defeat by stating that the filly had refused to eat since leaving Newmarket and was "quite off-colour".^[11] In theCoronation Stakes over one mile at Royal Ascot later that month Thais finished in front of Canterbury Pilgrim but was beaten into second place by theDuke of Westminster's Helm, to whom she was conceding seven pounds.^[12]

On 28 October, carrying a weight of 112 pounds, Thais finished unplaced behind Winkfield's Pride in theCambridgeshire Handicap at Newmarket.^[13]

At the end of the 1896 season Thais was retired to become a broodmare at the Royal stud atSandringham.^[14] She was barren when mated to Isinglass in 1897 and died in November 1898 ofinflammation of the bowels^[15] before producing any offspring.^[16]

• 1893 racehorse births
• 1898 racehorse deaths
• Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom
• Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom
• Thoroughbred family 23-a
• 1000 Guineas winners

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata