him." Racing career Caractacus was not a promising two-year-old, and did not win any of his starts in 1861. As a three-year-old, he only showed promise near the end of the season. He started nine times in his racing career, winning the Epsom Derby and the Somersetshire Stakes in 1862, and was second in two races and third in one race. He was entered in the 1862 St. Leger Stakes, but injured both his front legs before the running and was subsequently retired from racing. 1861: two-year-old season Caractacus debuted in a four and a half furlong race for two-year-olds at Harpenden with J. Adams as his jockey. He did not finish in the top four, and the race was ultimately won by Mr. Fisher's colt Lord Burleigh. His next engagement was on 28 August in three quarters of a mile Stratton Audley Nursery Handicap in Oxford. He finished fifth out of a field of eight horses behind Turn of Luck while carrying 110 pounds, and he was jockeyed by a teenage stable boy named John Parsons. Parsons again rode Caractacus in the Skeffington Nursery Handicap where, carrying 107 pounds, he was third behind Captain Christie's My Partner. 1862: three-year-old season Caractacus' first start as a three-year-old was in the Great Metropolitan Handicap at the Epsom spring meeting. He was ridden by J. Grimshaw and carried 75 pounds in the two and a quarter mile race. Caractacus was beaten by a head by Elcho who carried 112 pounds. After the Great Metropolitan, Caractacus was moved from Harpenden to a stable in Ilsley. Caractacus secured another second-place finish in the Newmarket Biennial Stakes, losing by two lengths to Joseph Hawley's Sir Rollo. He did not place in his next start for the Chester Cup, which was won by Tim Whiffler. He was third in the two mile Great Northern Handicap, losing to Ivanhoff and The Wizard. He beat Fitz-Avon by two lengths to win the Somersetshire Stakes held in Bath. 1862 Epsom Derby The 1862 Epsom Derby occurred on 4 June with 34 horses lining up for the start, the largest field ever recorded at the Derby. Caractacus was supposed to have been ridden by James "Jim" Goater, but he refused to ride Caractacus in favor of Goater's brother's horse The Sprite. Consequently, Snewing's stable boy John Parsons, thought to be around 16 years old at the time, rode Caractacus as