kimerajamm
Joined: 28 Nov 2010
Posts: 785
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 Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 10:21 am Post subject: Arabian, to maintain |
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Early racing
Flat racing existed in England by at least 1174, when four-mile races took place at Smithfield, in London. Racing continued at fairs and markets throughout the Middle Ages and into the reign of King James I of England. It was then that handicapping, a system of adding weight to attempt to equalize a horse's chances of winning as well as improved training procedures, began to be used. During the reigns of Charles II, Queen Anne of Great Britain, King William III, and King George I the foundation of the Thoroughbred was laid. Under James' grandson, Charles II, a keen racegoer and owner, and James' great-granddaughter Queen Anne, royal support was given to racing and the breeding of race horses. With royal support, horse racing became popular with the public, and by 1727, a newspaper devoted to racing, the Racing Calendar, was founded. Devoted exclusively to the sport, it recorded race results and advertised upcoming meets.[16]
[edit] Foundation stallions
All modern Thoroughbreds trace back to three stallions imported into England from the Middle East in the late 17th and early 18th centuries: the Byerley Turk (1680s), the Darley Arabian (1704), and the Godolphin Arabian (1729).[17][18] Other stallions of oriental breeding were less influential, but still made noteworthy contributions to the breed. These included the Alcock Arabian,[19] D'Arcy's White Turk, Leedes Arabian, and Curwen's Bay Barb.[20][21][notes 1] Another was the Brownlow Turk, who, among other attributes, is thought to be largely responsible for the gray coat color in Thoroughbreds.[19] The addition of Arabian bloodlines to the native English mares ultimately led to the creation of the General Stud Book (GSB) in 1791 and the practice of official registration of horses.[12]
Painting of a standing next to two men, one of whom is holding the horse's bridle, the other is pouring water into a watertrough.
Matchem, a grandson of the Godolphin Arabian, from a painting by George Stubbs
Each of the three major foundation sires was, coincidentally, the ancestor of a grandson or great-great-grandson who was the only male descendant to perpetuate each respective horse's male line: Matchem was the only descendant of his grandsire, the Godolphin Arabian, to maintain a male line to the present;[22] the Byerly Turk's male line was preserved by Herod (or King Herod), a great-great-grandson;[23] and the male line of the Darley Arabian owes its existence to great-great-grandson Eclipse, who was the dominant racehorse of his day and never defeated.[20][24] One genetic study indicates that 95% of all male Thoroughbreds trace their direct male line (via the Y chromosome) to the Darley Arabian.[25] However, in modern Thoroughbred pedigrees, most horses have more crosses to the Godolphin Arabian (13.8%) than to the Darley Arabian (6.5%) when all lines of descent (maternal and paternal) are considered. Further, as a percentage of contributions to current Thoroughbred bloodlines, Curwen's Bay Barb (4.2%) appears more often than the Byerly Turk (3.3%). The majority of modern Thoroughbreds alive today trace to a total of only 27 or 28 stallions from the 18th and 19th centuriesPop up displays
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