1831: two-year-old season St. Giles was unnamed and ran as "Mr. Ridsdale's
ch.
c. by Tramp out of Arcot Lass" when he made his debut in the Two-Year-Old Plate at
Newmarket in October 1831. He started favourite at odds of
5/2 but finished unplaced behind the
filly Miss Mary Anne. At the end of the month he returned to Newmarket for the Nursery Stakes, a
handicap race over one mile in which he carried 104
pounds. Running for the first time as "St. Giles" he finished fourth of the six runners behind a colt named Gratis.
1832: three-year-old season Spring St. Giles showed much improved form in the spring of 1832. In April he defeated the year older filly Lioness by a head in a £100 match race over the Rowley Mile at Newmarket. He carried 112 pounds to the filly's 130, giving him advantage of approximately eight pounds in modern,
weight-for-age terms. Three days later he appeared in a handicap race in which he carried top weight of 115 pounds and won "cleverly" from an unnamed grey filly by
Middleton. In these races was described as being a "two-year-old", as racehorses at this time had their official "birthdays" on 1 May. From this point on St. Giles began to appear in the betting lists for the Derby. Shortly afterwards Gully purchased one of the Derby favourites
Margrave for 2,500
guineas, and St. Giles became the subject of sustained support in the betting, After several false starts, the race got under way with Trustee setting a very strong pace and St. Giles, ridden by
Bill Scott, settled in third. By half way, many of the runners were struggling but St. Giles was still going well and turned into the straight in second place. Just over two
furlongs from the finish, Scott sent St. Giles past Trustee and into the lead. Although Perion moved strongly into second place, St. Giles was never seriously challenged and won comfortably by two
lengths. Trustee held on for third and Gully's Margrave finished fourth. Although the winner was trained at Newmarket, his owner and rider were
Yorkshiremen and the race was seen as a victory for the North. Ridsdale, Gully and the
bookmaker William Crockford were reported to have taken a combined total of almost £100,000
Controversies The victory of St. Giles was controversial in several ways. His stable companion, Margrave did not appear to have been given a hard race, It was also widely believed that many of the runners had been "made safe", meaning that their jockeys or trainers had been bribed to ensure they did not win. Ridsdale, despite his massive gambling wins, became insolvent and was forced to sell all his property in 1836.
1834: five-year-old season St. Giles, by now trained by
John Barham Day at
Danebury, finally reappeared in the Goodwood Cup of 1834 for which he started at odds of 12/1. He finished fourth of the ten runners in a strong field behind
Glencoe. On his only other start of the year, St Giles ran in a race at Plymouth, which was to be decided in the old-fashioned way, with the winner being the first to win two heats. St. Giles sustained a bruised foot in the first heat and was withdrawn.
1835: six-year-old season In either 1834 or early 1835, St. Giles was sold to Thomas Kirkby of York and moved to the stable of
John Scott at
Malton, North Yorkshire. On April 22, 1835, St. Giles recorded his first win for almost three years by beating seven opponents in the eleven furlong Craven Stakes at
Catterick. A month later at
York Racecourse he started at odds of 1/3 and claimed the one and three quarter mile Stand Purse by winning the first two heats. In his final race, St. Giles ran in his third Goodwood Cup. On this occasion he started at 5/1 and was among the leaders throughout the race before finishing third to
Rockingham and Glaucus. ==Stud career==