The 1948 Royal Hunt Cup won by Herbert Blagrave's Master Vote, in the form of a silver-gilt trophy c...
The 1948 Royal Hunt Cup won by Herbert Blagrave's Master Vote, in the form of a silver-gilt trophy cup & cover hallmarked London 1908, maker's mark W & Ss. Ld., the body inscribed THE ROYAL HUNT CUP, ASCOT, 1948, WON BY MASTER VOTE (ATOUT MAITRE - PLEBISCITE), WINNERS H.G. & G. BLAGRAVE, JOCKEY RAE JOHNSTONE, the reverse engraved with the Royal Coat of Arms, on an ebonised plinth, height 29cm., 11 1/2in., weight 1,952gr., 62oz. 15dwt. Herbert Blagrave was an all round sportsman who was a good cricketer in his youth, the chairman of Southampton FC for many years as well as being an owner-trainer-breeder at his privately run stables at Beckhampton Grange in Wiltshire. He was also Governing Director of the Harwood Stud, Newbury, and of the Mount Prospect Stud, Co Kildare. Ascot was always his lucky racecourse and he won the Royal Hunt Cup (three times), the Gold Vase, the King Edward VII Stakes, the Coronation Stakes, the Ribblesdale Stakes and the Granville Stakes. In 1948 Master Vote was winning the Royal Hunt Cup for the second year in succession, the first time this had been achieved since the race was inaugurated in 1843. The trophy was presented to the winning owner by HM King George VI.