Volume 2 | Issue 2 Article 1 1940 The American Thoroughbred George C. Lightcap Iowa State College Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/iowastate_veterinarian Part of the Large or Food Animal and Equine Medicine Commons Recommended Citation Lightcap, George C. (1940) "The American Thoroughbred," Iowa State University Veterinarian: Vol. 2 : Iss. 2 , Article 1. Available at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/iowastate_veterinarian/vol2/iss2/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Iowa State University Veterinarian by an authorized editor of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Alnerican Thoroughbred GEORGE C. LIGHTCAP Class of 1941 N ATTEMPTING to compile this brief of the Thoroughbred horse in the United I dissertation on the history and develop­ States. Later Kentucky became and still ment of the Thoroughbred horse in continues to b,e the great center of America, I found myself confronted with Thoroughbred production in this coun­ an immense task. The every detail in try. the development and improvement of our In 1798 Colonel James Hoomes of Vir­ modern racer would be impossible to in­ ginia purchased the great sire Diomed, corporate in an article as brief as this, and imported him to this country. It and would require a knowledge and skill has been reported that the price paid by much beyond my humble capability. Colonel Hoomes was $5,000. Diomed Therefore, I have attempted to enumer­ was sired by Florize, one of the best sons ate but a few of the more pertinent of Herod, the great English stallion. steps concerning the development of the Diomed has often been referred to as American Thoroughbred horse. I have "the most impressive stallion ever landed cited several of the most outstanding on American shores." He founded a great men of the turf and sporting world of family of descendants, many of which both the past and present generation. I have been great horses in this country, have endeavored to present as accurately and his blood is present in most Ameri­ as possible, and to the best of my know­ can Thoroughbreds of the present day. In ledge the facts behind this truly great 1805 his most noted son was foaled, a bay American enterprise. colt which was named Sir Archy. Sir The United States was the first country Archy later sired Sir Henry, a noted outside of England to begin breeding racer of his time, which was defeated by horses for the turf and for their general Eclipse on Long Island in the historic improvement. Horse racing was con­ race between the North and the South. ducted in Virginia a hundred years before Sir Archy was also the grandsire of Bos­ the Revolutionary War and many years ton who in turn sired Lexington. Lex­ before the Thoroughbred had been in­ ington has been termed by many the troduced into this country. greatest sire of all Thoroughbred stallions The first race course in America was bred in America. His get numbered 600 "Newmarket," which was established in and earned a total of $1,159,321. None of 1665 at Hempstead Plains, Long Island. his get were quite his equal, but three of Here race meetings were held annually his sons: Kentucky, Norfolk, and Asteroid for many years. Regular race meetings were all outstanding performers of their were held in Maryland and Long Island, time. and beginning in 1815 these meetings Imp. Glencoe were conducted systematically. At a later date a few other outstand­ Bulle Rock ing sires were imported to this country The first Thoroughbred horse import­ all of which have made great contribu­ ed to America was the stallion Bulle tions to the development of our present Rock. He was foaled in England in stock of Thoroughbreds. The Imp. Glen­ 1718 and imported to Virginia in 1730. coe, was foaled in England in 1831, and Virginia was then the leading supporter imported to Alabama in 1836. Many of 44 The Veterinary Student his daughters were mated with Lexing­ modern breeder has greatly profited by ton, and the infusion of Glencoe blood them. vastly improved the strength, speed and As stated previously the two most im­ stamina of the American racers. Before portant theories that have helped modern Glencoe was imported to this country breeders the most have been the Bruce he sired many notable performers in Lowe System of Figures, and the Mendel­ England. Probably the two most out­ ism Theory. standing sires of his get were Rataplan and King Tom. He also sired Pocahontas, Lowe's System dam of the great Stockwell. In Bruce Lowe's System racehorses Imp. Leamington, was foaled in 1853, are divided into families, each family be­ and was a great-grandson of Whalebone. ing numbered, and arranged into "run­ He was imported to America in 1865. ning" or female lines, and sire lines. In Here he sired the noted American sire, this system it is considered that the vi­ Longfellow, and the great Iroquois that tality or nervous element of the animal was taken to England where he won the comes from the grafting of certain lines Epsom Derby and many other noted upon others. Vitality is passed on in the races. female line in some cases, and in the male Imp. Bonnie Scotland, foaled in 1853 line in others, and the entire system of was next brought to this country. He breeding to figures consists of the ming­ sired many noted winners including Luke ling of sires of the sire lines with mares Blackburn who in 1880 set a record of springing from the running lines. Thus, 2:34 for one and one-half miles. each sire line and each female line has been given a number and by the process Imp. Glenelg, foaled in 1866, sired by of careful selection it has been determ­ Citadel, by Stockwell, was the leading sire of race winners in the United States ined which lines are mated to produce the from 1884 to 1888. best offspring. This system has been of benefit to To these truly great imported sires breeders as it has served to determine goes the major share of the credit for the degree to which any particular race­ producing the blood lines of our most horse is inbred, and therefore, how close­ noted American sires. ly he can stand being bred to the running Systems of Breeding or sire lines. If a number occurs more than once close to the top of the pedigree, The breeding of Thoroughbreds in this the system will show the lines can be country has closely followed along two followed up to their point of convergence systems of breeding with a few breeders in a common ancestor. The point is evi­ tending to follow a combination of both dent that racing characteristics can be systems. transmitted in the female line as well as Breeding has often been described as a the male, and it also points out which "Lottery," and to many it is often a hor­ families reproduce their like by male or rible mystery. From the earliest days female. it has been accepted that like begets like; Mendelism similarly that two unlikes are prone to produce differing types in proportion to Now let us turn to the theory of breed­ the dominance or recessive qualities of ing based on Mendelism. Mendelism deals the respective sire and dam. Very early with the inheritance of definite differing breeders had accepted modern principles characteristics by variations of the same to a certain degree without realizing it. breed. This theory teaches that an ani­ They crossed and recrossed the produce mal is the combination of a number of of sires and dams because they (the sires units each of which has been inherited and dams) were successful. The early from an ancestor. breeders made a lucky hit or two, and the Parents of similar character and which vVinter-I 94° 45 are likely to produce offspring of through his son Hastings, grands ire of their own character are known as homo­ Man 0' War. zygous. Parents which are not of similar Domino was the best horse on the character are known as heterozygous, and American turf in 1893. He was unbeaten their offspring may resemble either par­ as a two-year-old and was retired to the ent; it depends upon the dominance or stud at the close of his four-year-old cam­ recessiveness of the sire or dam. The re­ paign with his earnings amounting to sult of heterozygous mating is that the $193,550 from nineteen victories in offspring may be entirely pure domi­ twenty-five starts. Domino is credited by nants, may be pure recessives, or may be many with making the most important impure dominants or recessives. Domin­ contribution toward the development of ance is a great force in the Mendelian the Thoroughbred in America. theory, and the problem of breeding in With these great sire lines as a back­ the Mendelian lines is to find which are ground some of the most famous Ameri­ homozygous parents and to breed from can sires were bred. These include the them. This can, unfortunately, be achiev­ following, each of which has contributed ed by experiment only. It has been prov­ to our present crop of Thoroughbreds. ed that mental characteristics such as Hindoo, foaled in 1878, by Virgil out of staying power, gameness, and fondness a mare by Lexington who traces back to for racing, are almost invariably inherited the imported Diomed.