Brakespear was an attractive son of Spearmint, bred in 1911 by King George V of England. He was raced by the King and won the Newmarket Chesterfield Stakes and the Goodwood Prince of Wales Stakes at two. He was later to run second in the Newmarket Stakes and the Prince of Wales Stakes as a 3yo. Brakespear was well fancied in the Derby but was to run sixth although he made the headlines for another reason. Brakespear was the subject of a plot by Suffragettes to shoot the King’s horse before the race, but it was foiled by police who stood guard at not only his stable, but that of favourite Kennymore on the night before and day of the race. He was imported into NSW by Messrs J and A Brown on behalf of Mr Henry Hunter White. White was a grazier at Mudgee and was to establish the Havilah Stud in that area. White had been long time member of the Western District Racing Association executive before purchasing a property in Double Bay in Sydney. Here he became a member of the Australian Jockey Club from 1900. White was elected to the committee of the Club in December 1910, until he resigned in 1940.
Brakespear was described in the Referee newspaper as “a beautiful horse in the truest sense of the word, with that wonderful quality that only the very highest class English thoroughbreds possess, and I certainly have never seen a better loined or more truly shaped horse.” He was to sadly pass away in 1918 shortly
