Thoroughbred Horses
March 27th, 2010 | by admin |Origins of the Thoroughbred horse:
This form of horse was first bred in England due to the English horsemens want to have a quick race horse. There are three that founded this breed which are: Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian and Godolphin Arabian, all named after their respective owners, Thomas Darley, Lord Godolphin and Captain Robert Byerley. Every one of these stallions were brought to England from the Mediterranean Middle Eastduring 1670 and 1710. The conclusion was an animal that could carry weight with consistent speeds over comprehensive distances. Somewhere in the region of ninety percent of modern thoroughbreds have come from Eclipse whose grandsire was Darley Arabian, who was never beaten in eighteen races. This prompted a very selective breeding procedure which has continued for all but 250 years, breeding the best race horses, giving them superiority and distinction on the race track.
About the turn of the 1700’s, breeding reports for Thoroughbred horses were sparse and usually imperfect, and on any occasions, they would not name a horse before the juvenile horse had proven themself creditable. A gentleman called James Weatherby, through his own investigation and hard work, and by the consolidation of his personal privately held pedigree accounts published the earliest volume of the General Stud Book. He did this in 1791. The principal book listed 387 mares, every one of which could trace back to Eclipse. The General Studbook is still available in England by Weatherby and Sons. Several years later, as thoroughbred racing increased in popularity in North America the need for a pedigree registry for American Bred Thoroughbreds, similar to the General Stud Book became obvious.
In 1873, the earliest American Stud Book was available by Colonel Sanders D. Bruce. This man used up practically a lifetime researching the pedigrees of American Thoroughbreds. He followed the example of the General Stud Book creating six volumes of the register up until 1896 when the project was furthered by The Jockey Club. The integrity of the American Stud Book is the flagstone on which all Thoroughbred racing in North America is based. The foremost edition of the American Stud Book by The Jockey Club had a foal number of close to 3,000. In 1986 in had developed to an incredible 51,000. Nowadays The Jockey Club runs a sophisticated new digital system to meet the registration challenges posed by the gigantic number of yearly registrations. The Jockey Club is responsible for and runs one of the most sophisticated computer operations in the world today, with its database holding over 1.8 million horses on a main pedigree record, with names that can be tracked back to the 1800’s. As well as bloodlines, this computer system also deals with daily racing outcomes of every Thoroughbred race in North America, as well as the ability to handle digitally submitted pedigree and racing figures from England, Ireland, France and other principal Thoroughbred districts. An additional offspring of Darley Arabian is Diomed; who won the earliest running of the Kentucky Derby in 1780. At just 21 years old he was brought to the United States where he created the male line through his son, Sir Archie.
Thoroughbred horses are the preferred option for track racing. Most thoroughbreds are born somewhere between January and April, although their official birthday is January 1 of the present year. Throughout their first year of growth, they are increasing bulk and strength with the youth starting his training as a yearling. The horse learns to take a bridle and a saddle and shortly after a rider on his back to break the horse ready for the starting gate and the run around the track.
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