Sledmere is one of the great houses of Yorkshire, built in the East Riding village of that name by Sir Richard Sykes in 1751. It replaced a medieval manor house. The family had made its wealth initially from cloth, and by this time prospering via shipping, finance and iron. A later Sykes, Sir Christopher, the 2nd Baron, expanded the Sledmere estate to 30,000 acres. The village was moved to accommodate his wishes. The house’s interior was gutted by fire in 1911, when according to local stories the eccentric 5th Baron, Sir Tatton Sykes (1826-1913), was intent on finishing his milk pudding rather than evacuating the building or rescuing any of its artefacts. Fortunately the house was restored later.
Tatton was a family name. The 4th Baron, Sir Tatton Sykes (1772-1863) was a major breeder of racehorses, but he also owned some and was for 40 years a Master of Fox Hounds. He attended 74 St Legers. He rode, hunted, boxed, and loved walking; 30 miles was nothing to him. He once journeyed on horseback from Sledmere to Aberdeen to ride in a race there.
Sir Tatton Sykes was also the name of a racehorse in the 4th Baron’s lifetime. Originally called Tibthorpe, he nearly won the Triple Crown in 1846. His debut was in the 2,000 Guineas, which he won. He was second in the Derby, ridden by Bill Scott, a fine jockey, but one with a drink problem. He was drunk on this occasion. Nevertheless Scott, who’d bought the horse for £10 in its younger days, owned and trained it, allowed himself to keep the ride and won the St Leger.
The Zetlands and Fitzwilliams families had plenty of races named after them but this hasn’t been the case with Sykes.
YORK
In June 1913 it was announced that a new early closing race, the Sledmere Stakes for three-year-olds, would be introduced at York’s May 1915 meeting and had attracted 129 entries. The war put paid to that. A Sledmere Handicap for older horses was run in 1919 and 1920 but in May 1921 the conditions race initially envisaged took place for the first time, with entries having been made up to 18 months in advance. The last Sledmere Stakes was at the 1995 Dante meeting.