Spread Eagle was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1795 Epsom Derby

Epsom Derby

The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...

 and was later imported into the United States to factor into the pedigrees of early American racehorses.

Pedigree and racing career

Spread Eagle was sired by Volunteer out of an unnamed mare by Highflyer in 1792. Full brothers include Eagle (also later imported to He was named after an inn at Epsom that was frequented by racing officials during the week of the Derby. First raced at age three, Spread Eagle won 100 guinea race at Newmarket in 1795, followed by wins in the Prince's Stakes (second class) and the Epsom Derby. Illness in the later part of 1795 prevented him racing until 1796. In 1796 he won one race, a 100-guinea stakes race at York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

 and won the King's Plate as a six-year-old in 1798. He was retired to stud in 1798 and stood briefly in Newmarket for a fee of per mare before being exported.

Exportation and stud career

Spread Eagle was exported in August 1798 to the United States by James Hoomes and was used as a breeding stallion in Virginia. Spread Eagle died in 1805 at the age of thirteen years in Kentucky. His most notable offspring was Maid of the Oaks, a chestnut mare foaled in Virginia in 1801, that is the ancestress of the female line of Commando

Commando (horse)

Commando was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred at Castleton Stud by owner James R. Keene, Commando raced at age two, winning five of his six starts and finishing second in the other as a result of jockey error. At age three, Commando raced only three times, winning the...

and subsequently is present in the pedigrees of some modern racehorses.