The Flying Dutchman, bred at Kirkleatham in Yorkshire, was a dark bay or "brown" horse standing 15.3 hands high.

[3] The Flying Dutchman was by Bay Middleton, who won every race in his two seasons on the turf until he was retired due to a problem with one of his forelegs.

[1] Ridden by Charles Marlow he led after half a mile but was overtaken in the straight by the outsider Hotspur, who was travelling strongly in the havey, muddy ground.

[8] King William III of the Netherlands who was a great admirer of The Flying Dutchman, presented Fobert with a "magnificent breast-pin" in the shape of a horseshoe to commemorate the victory.

The Flying Dutchman was held up in the early stages before making steady progress to turn into the straight in second place behind Vatican.

At four, The Flying Dutchman first won the two and a half mile Emperor of Russia's Plate by eight lengths at Royal Ascot in June.

It wasn't until the Doncaster Cup that he was defeated in a two-horse race, by the 1850 Derby winner Voltigeur who had won St. Leger two days before.

It is possible that The Flying Dutchman's defeat was due to the fact that the horse was not properly conditioned, since his trainer had thought that Voltigeur would forfeit.

Another factor was the behaviour of jockey, Marlow, who had been drinking and ignored instructions to wait on the colt, instead crying "Ill show you what I've got under me today!

His stamina, however, was being used up and although he held the lead into the straight Voltigeur, receiving nineteen pounds, wore him down to win by half a length.

[10] It was decided to scrap the original plan of retiring The Flying Dutchman after the Doncaster, and instead run him in a match race against Voltigeur to try to regain his reputation.

The weights for the match were set by Henry John Rous, who decided that The Flying Dutchman should carry 120½ pounds to Voltigeur's 112.

The race between the two Yorkshire horses generated enormous public interest, drawing an estimated 100,000 spectators, the largest crowd to the Knavesmire since the execution of Eugene Aram in 1759.

In France, he sired Dollar, and many other top race horses, making his time there much more successful than his breeding career in England.