Thoroughbred Horses

Origins of the Thoroughbred:
This breed of horse was first bred in England due to the English horsemens want to have a quick horse. There are three that founded this bloodline which are: Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian and Godolphin Arabian, all named after their respective owners, Thomas Darley, Lord Godolphin and Captain Robert Byerley. All of these stallions were shipped to the United Kingdom from the Mediterranean Middle East between 1670 and 1710. The result was a breed that could hold weight with sustained pace over extensive distances. Approximately 9/10 of new thoroughbreds have come from Eclipse whose grandsire was Darley Arabian, who never lost in eighteen races. This prompted a very refined breeding process which has been going on for nearly 250 years, producing the greatest race horses, giving them superiority and brilliance on the race track.

Throughout the turn of the 1700's, breeding accounts for Thoroughbred horses were meager and regularly partial, and on any occasions, they would not refer to a horse before the young horse had proven themself worthy. A man called James Weatherby, through his own inquiries and hard work, and by the consolidation of his personal privately held pedigree reports published the initial volume of the General Stud Book. He achieved this in 1791. The foremost book listed 387 mares, all of which could trace back to Eclipse. The General Studbook is still published in England by Weatherby and Sons. Several years afterward, 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 evident.

In 1873, the first American Stud Book was available by Colonel Sanders D. Bruce. This man spent almost a lifetime researching the pedigrees of American Thoroughbreds. He followed the pattern of the General Stud Book producing six volumes of the register up until 1896 when the project was taken over by The Jockey Club. The integrity of the American Stud Book is the flagstone on which all Thoroughbred horse racing in North America relies. The initial edition of the American Stud Book by The Jockey Club had a foal amount of around 3,000. In 1986 in had grown to an amazing 51,000. Today The Jockey Club owns a sophisticated new computer system to counter the registration issues presented by the gigantic quantity of yearly registrations. The Jockey Club is responsible for and maintains one of the most complicated computer systems in the world at the moment, with its database holding over 1.8 million thoroughbred horses on a master pedigree store, with names that trace back to the 1800's. As well as bloodlines, this computer also handles daily racing outcomes of all Thoroughbred race in North America, as well as the capability to process electronically sent pedigree and racing information from the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and other principal Thoroughbred countries. Another offspring of Darley Arabian is Diomed; who won the earliest running of the Kentucky Derby in 1780. When he was twenty one years old he was brought to the US where he began the male line through his son, Sir Archie.

Thoroughbreds are the first choice for track racing. Most thoroughbred horsesare born somewhere between January and April, although their certified birthday is January 1 of the current year. Throughout their initial year of development, they are increasing size and power with the youth starting his training as a yearling. Throughbred horses learn to take a bridle and a saddle and soon after a rider on his back to break in the horse ready for the starting gate and the race around the track.

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