Coordinates: 50°48′03″N 1°23′47″W / 50.8008°N 1.3965°W
Exbury is a village in Hampshire, England. It lies just in the New Forest, near the Beaulieu River and about a mile from the Solent coast. It is best known as the location of Exbury House, built by the Rothschild family, and the famous Exbury Gardens. The Rothschild family still have significant land ownings in the area.
The village was originally in the southwest corner of the parish, but moved inland in the early 19th century. The present village was built to provide homes for workers on the Exbury Estate and still does provide homes for a few workers but is now mainly private housing. A prominent feature of the village is a water tower which provided the water to the gardens that was used to water the plants. The parish church was built in 1827, replacing an earlier chapel near Lower Exbury Farm. Until 1863 Exbury was a chapelry in the parish of Fawley.
The village forms part of the civil parish of Exbury and Lepe, which in turn is part of the New Forest district of the county of Hampshire. The parish, district and county councils are responsible for different aspects of local administration.
Exbury (1959–1979) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse named for the famous Exbury Gardens Estate in Hampshire, England belonging to owner Guy de Rothschild's cousin, Edmund de Rothschild.
Bred at the Rothschild's Haras de Meautry in Touques, Calvados, through his sire's line Exbury is a descendant of Haras de Meautry's great champion Brantôme and on his mare's side, the extremely important Italian sire, Nearco. Trained at Chantilly by the Englishman, Geoffroy Watson, a son of trainer John Watson who for forty years was the private trainer for the successful racing stable of Leopold de Rothschild.
At age two, Exbury started four times, winning once and finishing second three times. As a three-year-old, in a year where Val de Loir and Match II were prominent, Exbury began to show some of his ability, winning two conditions races and finishing second to Match II in the important Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.
At age four Exbury came into his own, winning all five of his 1963 starts, beating many of the best in France and in England. The National Horseracing Museum called Exbury "the best middle distance horse in Europe in 1963." That year, Exbury won the Prix Boïard, then beat Val de Loir by four lengths in winning the Prix Ganay. In England he won the Coronation Cup by six lengths then back in France beat Val de Loir again in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and capped off the year with a victory in France's most prestigious horse race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Including Exbury, horses owned by Guy de Rothschild won the Prix Boiard at Hippodrome de Saint-Cloud six times. In 1969, France Galop renamed the race in Exbury's honor.