Captain Cuttle of the Godolphin Arabian sire line. Apart from Captain Cuttle, Hurry On sired the winners of seven Classics including the Derby winners Coronach and Call Boy. His most influential son was the Ascot Gold Cup winner Precipitation, who sired four classic winners. Captain Cuttle was named after the character in Dickens' novel "Dombey and Son". Like his sire, Captain Cuttle was trained throughout his career by Fred Darling at Beckhampton in Wiltshire, and was ridden in his most important races by the leading British jockey of the era Steve Donoghue. The colt was particularly devoted to his trainer, following him
Captain Cuttle "like a pet dog." Captain Cuttle was a slow-maturing colt and was not highly tried at two. He made only one appearance on the racecourse, finishing second in a minor race at Doncaster. Captain Cuttle's heavy physique and immaturity put a strain on his forelegs, leading Darling to treat him very carefully, riding the colt himself in most of his exercise work. Captain Cuttle began his three-year-old season in the Wood Ditton Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse, which he won by six lengths. He became ill after the race and had not fully recovered by the time he ran in the