Aimwell

Aimwell (1782 – after 1786) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. In a career that lasted from autumn 1784 to spring 1786, he ran eight times and won five races. In 1785, he won the sixth running of the Epsom Derby as well as three races at Newmarket. He was beaten in his only race in 1786, and did not appear in any subsequent records. Background Aimwell, named after a character in The Beaux' Stratagem, was a brown horse bred by William Fortescue, 1st Earl of Clermont, who owned him during his racing career. Unlike all modern Thoroughbreds, which descend in the male line from either the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian, or the Byerley Turk, Aimwell was descended from a grey stallion usually known as Alcock's Arabian. Although the Alcock Arabian's sireline became extinct, his influence survives as the probable source of the grey colour in the modern Thoroughbred. Aimwell's sire, Mark Anthony, a half-brother to Highflyer, won twenty races at Newmarket for his owner, the Duke of Ancaster, in the early 1770s. Aimwell was the second of ten foals produced by a mare by Herod, known as the sister to Postmaster, who was bred by Mr Carteret and later sold to Lord Clermont.