Origins of the Thoroughbred:
This breed of horse was originally bred in England as a result of the English horsemens want to have a fast horse. There are three that founded this bloodline which are: Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian and Godolphin Arabian, named after their owners, Thomas Darley, Lord Godolphin and Captain Robert Byerley. Each and every one of these stallions were imported to England from the Mediterranean Middle East between 1670 and 1710. The conclusion was a breed that could carry weight with consistent speeds over extended distances. Approximately 9/10 of present thoroughbreds have derived from Eclipse the grandsire of whom was Darley Arabian, who was never beaten in eighteen races. This started a very refined breeding practice which has been going on for all but 250 years, producing the greatest race horses, giving them authorityand brilliance on the race track.

About the turn of the 1700′s, breeding reports for Thoroughbreds were meager and regularly incomplete, and on any occasions, they would not refer to a horse until the young horse had proven themself commendable. A gentleman called James Weatherby, through his own inquiries and hard work, and by the consolidation of his personal privately owned pedigree accounts published the earliest volume of the General Stud Book. He achieved this in 1791. The initial book listed 387 mares, every one of which could be traced back to Eclipse. The General Studbook is still published in the UK by Weatherby and Sons. Many years afterward, as thoroughbred racing became popular in North America the requirement for a pedigree registry for American Bred Thoroughbreds, comparable to the General Stud Book became clear.

In 1873, the first American Stud Book was published by Colonel Sanders D. Bruce. This man used up almost a lifetime studying the pedigrees of American Throughbred horses. He continued the example of the General Stud Book producing six volumes of the register up until 1896 when the project was carried on by The Jockey Club. The integrity of the American Stud Book is the foundation on which all Thoroughbred racing in North America depends. The first edition of the American Stud Book released by The Jockey Club had a foal amount of approximately 3,000. In 1986 in had grown to an astonishing 51,000. Nowadays The Jockey Club uses a complicated new computer system to counter the registration issues presented by the massive quantity of annual registrations. The Jockey Club owns and operates one of the most complicated computer operations in the world at the moment, with its record holding in excess of 1.8 million thouroughbreds on a main pedigree store, with names that can be tracked back to the 1800′s. Including bloodlines, this computer database also deals with daily racing results of all Thoroughbred race in North America, not forgetting the ability to handle digitally sent pedigree and racing data from the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and other principal Thoroughbred countries. An additional progeny of Darley Arabian is Diomed; who won the principal running of the Kentucky Derby in 1780. At just 21 years old he was brought to the United States where he started the male line through his son, Sir Archie.

Thoroughbred horses are the first choice for track racing. Most thoroughbreds are born somewhere between January and April, however their certified date of birth is January 1 of the present year. In their first year of growth, they are developing bulk and muscle with the youngster commencing his training as a yearling. The horse learns to accept a bridle and a saddle and a short while after a rider on its back to break in the horse and prepare him for the starting gate and the run around the track.

For more information and horses for sale, please visit the Horse and Pony Directory.