The term Thoroughbred describes a breed of horse whose ancestry traces back to three foundation sires

• the Darley Arabian

• the Godolphin Arabian

• the Byerley Turk

 Named after their respective owners -- Thomas Darley, Lord Godolphin and Captain Robert Byerley -- these three stallions were brought to England from the Mediterranean Middle East around the turn of the 17th century and bred to the stronger, but less precocious, native horse. The result was an animal that could carry weight with sustained speed over extended distances, qualities which brought a new dimension to the burgeoning, aristocratically supported, sport of horse racing.

So began a selective breeding process which has been going on for more than 300 years, breeding the best stallions to the best mares, with the proof of superiority and excellence being established on the race track. Key to this selective breeding process is the integrity of the breed's records. In early days, Thoroughbred breeding records were sparse and frequently incomplete, it being the custom, among other things, not to name a horse until it had proved outstanding ability. It was left to James Weatherby, through his own research and by consolidation of a number of privately kept pedigree records, to publish the first volume of the General Stud Book.

The Thoroughbred Foundation Stallions

The Thoroughbred originated in Great Britain and its genetic origin is Arabian. The "foundation" stallions of the breed were: the Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Arabian. They were bred to native sprinting mares -- very probably Scottish Galloways -- and the resultant foals were the first Thoroughbreds per se.

The Byerley 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. The carthorse was admired and bought by an Englishman named Edward Coke, who brought him to England. 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. In 1850 it was remarked that "the blood of the Godolphin Arabian is in every stable in England."

Offspring 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.

Eclipse       
1764 was the year of a great eclipse and this astronomical event became the name of the horse that 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.

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. The owner's son, Edward Fenwick, who immigrated to South Carolina in 1755, brought ten of Matchem's descendants to America. Brutus, one of Matchem's sons, dominated racing in South Carolina for some time.

Breed Characteristics

The Thoroughbred stands a little over 16 hands on average and its appearance reveals its Arabian ancestry. A refined head with widely-spaced, intelligent eyes sits on a neck which is somewhat longer and lighter than in other breeds. The withers are high and well defined, leading to an evenly curved back. The shoulder is deep, well-muscled and extremely sloped while the heart girth is deep and relatively narrow. The legs are clean and long with pronounced tendons and move smoothly in unison through one plane. The bone structure of the upper hind leg makes room for long, strong muscling. The thighbone is long and the angle it makes with the hipbone is wide. The powerful muscling of the hip and thigh continues to the gaskin that is set low. Coat colors in Thoroughbreds may be bay, dark bay, chestnut, black or gray; roans are seen only rarely. White markings are frequently seen on both the face and legs.

Significant American Thoroughbreds

Bulle Rock       
An event of central importance in the history of American horse racing was the importation of Bulle Rock to Virginia in 1730 by Samuel Gist. A son of the Darley Arabian, Bulle Rock is remembered as the first Thoroughbred to reach American shores. He was 21 years old when he arrived, and had been a successful racehorse in Britain in his youth. By 1800, Bulle Rock was followed by a succession of 338 other imported equine Thoroughbred

Monkey, Janus and Fearnought       
Of the 63 identifiable Thoroughbred imports before the Revolution, the most important were Monkey, Janus and Fearnought. Monkey was imported in 1747 at the age of 22 and sired some 300 colts in Virginia. Janus was imported as a ten-year-old by Mordecai Booth in 1756 and had a profound influence on the Quarter Horse. John Baylor imported Fearnought in 1764 as a nine-year-old. Fearnought had a stud fee that was five times the amount charged for other good sires, and he was the most important Thoroughbred sire in America until Diomed was imported after the Revolution.

Diomed        
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. An American, Colonel John Hoomes bought him, in 1798. Diomed had a reputation in England as "a bad foal-getter. " But Mount Airy's John Tayloe, II 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. Diomed sired Haynie's Marie,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 that extended to Timolean, Boston and Lexington.

Sir Archie      
Described as the equine "hero of heroes," one of the great native Thoroughbreds of America was Sir Archie. The horse was originally named Robert Burns, but John Tayloe, III changed his name to Sir Archie in honor of his friend who owned a half interest in the colt, Captain Archibald Randolph. William Ransom Johnson, "the Napoleon of the Turf," once owned Sir Archie and described him as "the best horse I ever saw." After no more challengers could be found, Sir Archie's racing career ended and he went to stud. In 23 years at stud, from 1810 to 1833, he sired such magnificent horses as Timolean, Sir Charles, Henry, and Lady Lightfoot. Sir Archie was also the great grandsire of Lexington. One authority claimed that Sir Archie "filled the hemisphere with his blood."

Messenger         
In May of 1788, another Thoroughbred was imported from England who put his stamp on the future of American racing. This horse was Messenger, who first stood at stud in Philadelphia. After having been sold to Henry Astor of New York and later to Cornelius Van Ranst, he sired a number of superior racehorses. His greatest descendant was his great-grandson, known as Rysdyk's Hambeltonian who became the foundation sire of the Standardbreds.

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