Sydney Paget

Who was Sydney Paget?

Sydney Augustus Paget was an English aristocrat who owned and raced Thoroughbred racehorses in the United States and who managed the racing operations for prominent owners, William C. Whitney and James Ben Ali Haggin.

He was the fifth son and twelfth child of Cecilia Wyndham and her husband, Lord Alfred Paget. Sydney Paget served with the British Army in the Second Boer War, achieving the rank of Lieutenant with the machine gun section of the XIIth Yeomanry.

His brother, Almeric, married Pauline Payne Whitney, daughter of the enormously wealthy William C. Whitney who hired Sydney Paget to manage his New York Thoroughbred racing stable. Paget ran a ranch at Big Horn, Wyoming for William Whitney where he raised Thoroughbreds on the open range.

Among the other top horses Paget was involved with was the filly Hamburg Belle who won the prestigious Belmont Futurity Stakes in 1903. Hamburg Belle was owned by James Ben Ali Haggin but raced in Paget's name.