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Delicate and small, Irish-bred Seaman had won both the Liverpool Hunt Steeplechase and the Conyngham Cup, but was plagued by illness and was considered unfit for the 1882 National, which was held in heavy snow. Breaking down before the final hurdle, he rallied to win by a head, on three legs and heart. Owned and ridden by his amateur-owner rider, Lord John Manners, who retired him after this race. His unraced sire, Xenophon, was bred in Ireland by Lord Mayo, and was related in female descent, Irish for generations, to 1867 National winner Cortolvin. Xenophon also got the second-place winner in Seaman's Grand National, Cyrus, and the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris 1888 winner, Irish-bred Parasang. Seaman's dam line was the same female family as Wavelet's Pride, a flat racer who led the steeplechase sire list in the teens and early '20s. |
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