Variation (horse)

She was ridden by George Edwards and started a 28/1 outsider in a field of eighteen fillies with the 1000 Guineas winner Charlotte West being made the 3/1 favourite.

[9] On the same day, Variation collected a prize of 100 guineas without having to race, when her scheduled opponent, a filly named Carmine, failed to appear for a match over ten furlongs.

Ridden by James Robinson, she carried three pounds more than her opponent and won the match by half a length[11] to win a prize of 200 guineas.

[12] Three days later at the same meeting, the filly carried top weight of 113 pounds in a class of the Oatlands Stakes which was run over the two mile Ditch In course.

[14] At the next Newmarket meeting she started the 4/6 favourite for a sweepstakes over ten furlongs but finished last of the three runners behind Sir Mark Wood's Captain Arthur.

[17] At the Newmarket Houghton meeting on 3 November, Variation ended her season by beating Lord Wilton's Rough Robin in a 200 guinea match over ten furlongs.

She began her five-year-old season on 7 May when she finished second, attempting to concede fourteen pounds to General Grosvenor's colt Sarpedon in a sweepstakes over the Ditch In course.

[22] On 30 October at the Houghton meeting, the mare carried top weight in a two-mile handicap and won from Isaac Day's five-year-old Mazeppa.

An unnamed daughter of Variation was the direct female ancestor of Phaeton, a colt who was exported to Kentucky where he sired King Alfonso, who became a successful breeding stallion.