ORIGINS OF THE BLOODED HORSE

Queen Anne Helps Establish the Thoroughbred, 1702 - 1714

Few monarchs could rival the enthusiasm for horsemanship of England's Queen Anne. During her reign from 1702 to 1714, she frequently hunted from horseback and gained the title of "the mightiest huntress of her age." When ill health prevented her from riding her horses any longer, she followed her hounds through Windsor Forest in a carriage, dashing down drives cut through the forest at her command. Queen Anne kept the Royal Foxhounds at Ascot, and in 1711 she also ordered that a race track be laid out there, Ascot remains to this day one of the most prestigious tracks in the world. She personally kept a stable of racehorses and instituted races for trophies. Queen Anne's encouragement of racing undoubtedly acted as an incentive for better breeding; and during her reign the Darley Arabian was imported to England. In fact, in 1704, Sheik Mirza II allegedly sent Queen Anne a letter complaining that British sailors had "foully stolen" the sheik's prize horse. (Actually, Mr. Darley had paid for the horse and the sheik was reluctant to hand over the animal.) With Queen Anne's interest match races began to be supplanted by races with several horses at various tracks. With the rapid expansion of the sport came the need for a central governing authority. In 1750 racing's elite met at Newmarket to form the Jockey Club, which to this day exercises complete control over English racing.

The Jockey Club wrote complete rules of racing and sanctioned racecourses to conduct meetings under those rules. Standards defining the quality of races soon led to the designation of certain races as the ultimate tests of excellence.

The Thoroughbred Foundation Stallions

The Byerly Turk

At the siege of Buda, Captain Byerley captured a horse from the Turks which would carry his name into history. The horse became known as the Byerley Turk and was the first of the three foundation stallions to come to Britain. Reputedly ridden at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 by Captain Byerley, this horse distinguished himself as a sire although he was not bred to many mares. In spite of his name, he was probably an Arab. The Byerley Turk founded a line of Thoroughbreds, the most distinguished of which was Herod, who was foaled in 1758, and proved to be a very successful sire himself.

The Darley Arabian

The second of the three foundation stallions to be imported to England was the Darley Arabian. He was foaled in 1700 and bought by Thomas Darley in Aleppo (Syria) in 1704. The horse was shipped to Yorkshire, England where he was bred to numerous mares. The most successful matings were with Betty Leeds, which resulted in two very important colts: Flying Childers and Bartlet's Childers. Through the Childers line, the Darley Arabian was the great-great-grandsire of Eclipse who gained the description "Eclipse first, the rest nowhere." The Darley Arabian is the most important of the three foundation stallions in terms on his influence of the Thoroughbred breed.

The Godolphin Arabian

The last of the foundation stallions to come to England was a horse foaled in Yemen. After being shipped to Syria and then to Tunis, he was given to the King of France as a gift. One story tells of the horse pulling a lowly water cart in Paris. He was imported from France in 1729 by Mr.Edward Coke. The second Earl of Godolphin acquired the horse and bred him to several distinguished mares. Mated to Roxana, he sired Lath, the greatest racehorse in England after Flying Childers: and another mating of these two produced Cade, the sire of the great Matchem who carried on the line of the Godolphin Arabian. Lath was outstanding, but the Godolphin Arabian sired an even better one in Lord Chedworth's Regulus (b.c. 1739) In 1850 it was remarked that "the blood of the Godolphin Arabian is in every stable in England."

The Godolphin Arabian's beloved companion was the cat, Grimalkin, and said cat was duly painted into a portrait by D. Morier, the only pictureof the Godolphin Arabian that was actually drawn from life. In that picture the cat is portrayed as black, crouching by the openstable door, but in subsequent portraits was turned into a tabby. The picture of the Godolphin Arabian above was painted by Stubbs after the Godolphin Arabian had died, but from the setting and image of the horse, was clearly derived from the Morier painting.

Alcock's Arabian

The Alcock’s Arabian was a grey horse imported to England in 1704 from Constantinople along with a handful of other Arabians by Sir Robert Sutton. This one stallion is responsible for the continuous line of greys found in the Thoroughbred breed today. Although there was another horse noted to be grey (the Brownlow Turk), the studies of Lady Wentworth proved this horse and the Alcock’s Arabian to be the same horse. (When the horse had changed hands, the new owner had simply given the horse a different name.)

The Off-spring of the Foundation Stallions

Keeping in mind the fact that the foundation stallions were Oriental horses, it should be noted that the descendants of these sires were the first actual Thoroughbreds. They were the progenitors of the breed as we know it today. The foundation sires stand at the beginning of the Thoroughbred bloodline, but a number of generations were required to create horses which could consistently pass on the distinguishing characteristics of the Thoroughbred horse. Out of some 200 Oriental horses imported to England between 1660 and 1750, only the direct descendants of these three foundation stallions contributed to the breed's greatness.

Herod

The offspring which fixed the influence of the Byerley Turk as a foundation sire was named Herod who was foaled in 1758. He was owned by the Duke of Cumberland, the third son of King George II, who was an important breeder of horses at Newmarket and in Hanover. Although Herod was not an outstanding racehorse, he did prove to be a superlative sire. His descendants were extremely important in the development of the Thoroughbred throughout Europe and America. Among the most notable descendants of Herod were Diomed (winner of the first Epsom Derby in 1780), Sir Archie, the Flying Dutchman, and Epinard.

Regulus

Sired by the Godolphin Arabian, Lord Chedworth's Regulus (b.c. 1739) out of Grey Robinson by Bald Galloway, was undefeated in his racing career, including seven King's Plates won as a six-year-old. Regulus was an important sire, his progeny included Fearnought, sent to America and one of the earliest leading sires of runners in the colonies. Other sons included South, Prophet, Brutus, Chesnut Ranger, and Jalap (considered a foundation sire of the Cleveland Bay breed). Without a doubt, Regulus' most important daughter was Spiletta, dam of Eclipse.

Eclipse

1764 was the year of a great eclipse and this astronomical event became the name of the horse who was a star in the history of the Thoroughbred. Eclipse, as we know him, was by Marske out of Spiletta and was bred for the Duke of Cumberland. He began racing in 1769 at age five, when he ran away from his competition in his first race at Epsom. It was at this race that the famous Denis O'Kelly remarked, "Eclipse first, the rest nowhere." Eclipse won 18 races in his career-and he was never whipped or spurred. He went on to a distinguished career at stud, siring Pot-8-O's who passed on his influence to such descendants as American Eclipse, Hyperion, Kelso, and Sea Bird. The list of Eclipse's distinguished descendants is virtually endless, and he is the reason for the predominance of the Darley Arabian line over the lines of the other two foundation stallions.

This painting is by Stubbs, in1770

Matchem

Most racehorses are noted for their speed, but the speed often comes at the price of an excitable temperament, and even viciousness. The horse Matchem foaled in 1748 was the grandson of the Godolphin Arabian. Besides speed, he supplied an excellent disposition to his descendants. The horse Snap was compared to the gentle Matchem: "Snap for speed and Matchem for truth and daylight." (Snap was a grandson of the Darley Arabian.) When we consider Matchem's blood heirs, we find many even-tempered yet fast horses. Matchem's influence was not as widespread as his famous peers, but his offspring had a particular influence on American horses. Ten of Matchem's descendants were brought to America by the owner's son, Edward Fenwick, who emigrated to South Carolina in 1755. Brutus, one of Matchem's sons, dominated racing in South Carolina for some time.

1798 - Diomed, The Horse Nobody Wanted

The pedigrees of American Thoroughbreds rarely can be traced before the Revolutionary War. The War haphazardly scattered horses throughout the country and their pedigrees were lost. The future of Thoroughbred blood in America was largely based upon imported stock. Among the most important horses imported after the Revolution was Diomed, foaled in 1777. He was the winner of the first Epson Derby in England in 1780. A great winner in his youth, Diomed's career later floundered. He was bought by an American, Colonel John Hoomes, in 1798. Diomed had a reputation in England as "a bad foal-getter. " But Tayloe put a number of his mares to Diomed, and he liked the results. Diomed sired some of the most famous horses in American turf history. Among them were Haynie's Maria, who beat every horse until she lost one race as a nine-year-old. Andrew Jackson declared that Haynie's Maria "can beat any thing in God's whole creation."... Diomed also sired the undefeated Ball's Florizel, Potomac, Duroc, and greatest of all, Sir Archie, who became a singularly important influence in American Thoroughbred history. He sired the line which extended to Timolean, Boston, and Lexington. When Diomed died at the age of 31, one historian reports, "...there was as much mourning over his demise as there was at the death of George Washington."

Whistlejacket

Newmarket was the scene of Whistlejacket's best performance. This was a match against Jason for the Spring King's Plate, which he won in two four-mile-long heats. His victory was unexpected , and perhaps undeserved, because Jason had broken Whistlejacket's record as an unbeaten horse in a race at Newmarket six months earlier, and was his first top class opponent.

Whistlejacket's most famous race, however, was his last - a victory over Brutus at York in 1759, in an unprecedented match over four miles for 2000 guineas. His owner, the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, immediately retired him to stud, and commissioned Stubbs to paint him.

Gimcrack

Gimcrack -(Cripple-Miss Elliott) was bred by Mr. Gideon Elliot of Murrell Green in Hampshire. Gimcrack was born in 1760. He made his first start at Epsom in 1764 and won all seven of his races that year. He was beaten only ten times in eight years through nearly 40 races. He retired to stud in 1771.

An honest and thoroughly game little horse, standing only 14.2 hands, he is described by Longrigg as "perhaps the first horse to carve himself a place in turf history by virtue of his charm." Painting above by Stubbs in 1765.

Cub by Fidget, --Duke of Bedford's won the Houghton meeting in 1794

Tyrant -- Duke of Grafton's won Derby at 7-1 against in 1802. He raced third against Mr Wilsons young Eclipse and Sir Charles Bunbury's Orlando and passed as they wore themselves out to become "the weakest horse to ever win a Derby." Thanks to the astute jockeying of Francis Buckle

Scotia, Mr Wastell's won Oaks 1802.

Green Mantle, Lord Exeter's won at 2nd Oct. in 1828

Hambletonian, Henry Vane Tempest's -painted by Stubbs in 1800 match race in 1799 against Diamond.

Other important or well known horses

• Fleur-de-lis -Mare owned by Prince Regent. Placed first for the Prince of Wales at Goodwood, followed by two more of his horses at 2^nd and 3^rd, in a single race.
• Zinganee -owned by Prince Regent
• Colonel -owned by Prince Regent

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