Fenian (horse)

Fenian (born 1866) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1869 Belmont Stakes.

Fenian was bred in 1866 by August Belmont and was a chestnut stallion. His sire was Mickey Free. His dam was the imported mare Spiletta by Stockwell, and his second dam was Olivia Augusta by Cowl. Fenian was Spiletta's only stakes winning foal. Mickey Free was an imported stallion, sired by Irish Birdcatcher and out of the mare Annie by Wanderer. Fenian was his only stakes winning foal.

Fenian raced as a two-year-old, and was held to be a good racehorse then.

He won the third running of the Belmont Stakes in 1869 for his owner August Belmont. His trainer was Jacob Pincus and he won the race in a time of 3 minutes and 4.25 seconds. The track was rated as heavy, and the race was at a distance of  1 ⁵⁄₈ miles (i.e. 13 furlongs (2,600 metres)) on June 5. The race was worth $3500 to the winner, who was ridden by Charlie Miller. Although there is no official record of the margin of victory, contemporary accounts noted that Fenian won the race easily, and finished the race while being pulled up. The race was run at Jerome Park. His stablemate, Glenelg, was also entered in the race, and there is some indication that Glenelg was held back to allow Fenian to win. Glenelg, also owned by Belmont, came in second in the race. Fenian, however, had been bred by Belmont, and Glenelg, who was imported to the United States in his mother's womb, had not, so Belmont preferred for a horse he had bred to win. There were 6 other horses in the race, but none of them came close to beating either Fenian or Glenelg.

He reportedly never raced again, due to bad legs. This was a fault of all of his dam's foals. However, Belmont sold Fenian in October 1870 to Dr. D. Kerwin for $70. He later raced under Kerwin's name as a gelding until 1872 when he was sent to England.

Fenian won no other stakes races, and sired no stakes winners.