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The Thoroughbred of Today
All today's thoroughbred horses, in American or English thoroughbred racing, are descended from three famous stallions that lived in England in the early 1700s. These three, named Eclipse, Herod, and Matchem, represent the thoroughbred bloodlines begun a century earlier, encouraged by King James I when he decided to import some Arabians to improve English bloodstock. The racing horses of the time were considerably weightier animals, especially when compared to the small, light Arabian horse. Owners wished to breed some horses with more speed, which meant they needed a lighter horse, but still a very strong one. Ideally they wanted a horse over 15 hands high, well-muscled, but who was also lean and light. The much-touted Arabian horse James I bought for 154 pounds, the "Markham Arabian," was unfortunately a disaster, losing every single race it entered. A prejudice against "Eastern blood" arose among some of the aristocracy, and they were not won over until the success of Flying Childers, who was foaled in 1715.
Flying Childers was the son of the "Darley Arabian," which was a horse imported in 1704 for breeding stock only and never raced. Flying Childers redeemed the Arabian name by doing the reverse of the Markham Arabian -- he won all the races he ran in, which numbered 6. His great-great-grandson Eclipse did three times better. Eclipse won all the 18 races he ran between 1769-1770. Since it is not only his performance at stud, but his championship on the racecourse that was important, Eclipse rather than his forebears is considered the progenitor of the thoroughbreds.
Speed is the most successfully transmitted quality a horse can pass along to its progeny. This is why the breeding goes along such strict lines: it means almost everything. If you wish to breed more champion thoroughbreds, you want for their sire the best current champion himself, and not merely his brother. It is also noteworthy that, traced back through the female descent, all of today's thoroughbreds come from a group of only about 40 mares. The apples never got the chance to fall far from the tree.
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