A horse breed is a selectively bred population of domesticated horses, often with pedigrees recorded in a breed registry. However, the term is sometimes used in a broader sense to define landrace animals of a common phenotype located within a limited geographic region, or even feral "breeds" that are naturally selected. Depending on definition, hundreds of "breeds" exist today, developed for many different uses. Horse breeds are loosely divided into three categories based on general temperament: spirited "hot bloods" with speed and endurance; "cold bloods," such as draft horses and some ponies, suitable for slow, heavy work; and "warmbloods," developed from crosses between hot bloods and cold bloods, often focusing on creating breeds for specific riding purposes, particularly in Europe.
Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic premise – to identify which of two or more horses is the fastest over a set course or distance – has been mostly unchanged since at least classical antiquity.
Eclipse was an undefeated 18th-century British Thoroughbred racehorse who won 18 races, including 11 King's Plates. He raced before the introduction of the British Classic Races, at a time when four-mile heat racing was the norm. He was considered the greatest racehorse of his time and the expression, "Eclipse first, the rest nowhere" entered the English vernacular as an expression of dominance.
Potoooooooo or variations of Pot-8-Os was an 18th-century thoroughbred racehorse who won over 25 races and placed higher than some of the most prominent racehorses of his time. He went on to be an important sire, whose leading runners included Epsom Derby winners Waxy, Champion, and Tyrant. He is best known for the unusual spelling of his name, pronounced Potatoes.
The Weatherbys Group is a UK conglomerate involved in a wide range of activities largely within banking and horse racing. The original business was founded by James Weatherby in 1770.
The American Stud Book is the stud book for the Thoroughbred horse in the United States. It was founded by Sanders Bruce, with assistance from his brother B. G. Bruce in 1868. In 1896, the Jockey Club bought out Bruce and assumed publication of the book, which it has continued to the present.
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed developed for horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are considered "hot-blooded" horses that are known for agility, speed, and spirit.
Dutch Oven (1879–1894) was a British Thoroughbred mare that won the 1882 St. Leger Stakes. Raced extensively as a two-year-old, she won nine races and £9429, but her form faltered in her late three and four-year-old seasons. Retired in 1884, Dutch Oven was not considered to be a success in the stud, but her offspring exported to Australia and Argentina did produce successful racehorses.
The Jersey Act was a regulation introduced to prevent the registration of most American-bred Thoroughbred horses in the British General Stud Book. It had its roots in the desire of British horse breeders to halt the influx of American-bred racehorses of possibly impure bloodlines during the early 20th century. Many American-bred horses were exported to Europe to race and retire to a breeding career after a number of U.S. states banned gambling, which depressed Thoroughbred racing—and thus breeding—in the United States. The loss of breeding records during the American Civil War and the late beginning of the registration of American Thoroughbreds led many in the British racing establishment to doubt that the American-bred horses were purebred.
Thoroughbred valuation is the art of determining the value or potential value of a Thoroughbred horse, particularly of race horses.
Tarrare was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He is known for winning the 1826 Doncaster St. Leger.
Waxy was a British Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1793 Epsom Derby and was an influential sire in the late eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth century. Waxy was bred by Sir Ferdinando Poole and was foaled at Lewes in 1790. He was sired by Pot-8-Os, a son of the foundation stallion Eclipse, whose genetic lineage traced to the Darley Arabian. Waxy's dam, Maria, was sired by the influential stallion Herod and produced one full-brother to Waxy, who was named Worthy. Waxy derived his name from a variety of potato, a choice that was inspired by his sire's name. Trained by Robert Robson, Waxy won nine races out of 15 starts during his four-year racing career, retiring from racing at the age of seven in 1797 after sustaining an injury during his last start.
Hannibal was a Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1804 Epsom Derby. Hannibal raced until he was four-years-old, winning only one race over his two-year racing career. His breeder, Lord Egremont, won the Derby five times and Hannibal's victory was his third time winning the event. Hannibal retired from racing in 1806 and had a limited stud career, covering few mares and standing for only the 1806 breeding season at Lord Egremont's stud in Petworth.
Eager was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. In a career that lasted from April 1791 to July 1795 he ran twenty-two times and won ten races. In 1791 he proved himself one of the best British colts of his generation, by winning The Derby and four other races. Eager won a further four races in 1792, but the level of his form declined thereafter and he won only one race in his last three seasons. Towards the end of his racing career he was gelded.
The Colt by Fidget is a name used to refer to an otherwise nameless British Thoroughbred racehorse. In a career that lasted from June 1797 to April 1798 he ran at least twice and won once. On his racecourse debut in the summer of 1797 he won The Derby. He was unplaced on his only other confirmed race.
Bourbon was a British Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1777 running of a race that would later be called the St. Leger Stakes.
Ambrosio was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for winning the classic St Leger Stakes in 1796. In a racing career which lasted from May 1796 until September 1799 he won fifteen of his twenty-three races. As a three-year-old he was based in Yorkshire, where he won his first three races before justifying his position as odds-on favourite for the St Leger, beating six opponents. In the next two years he competed mainly at Newmarket, where his victories three divisions of the Oatlands Stakes and the Jockey Club Plate. He returned to Yorkshire as a six-year-old to win a division of the Great Subscription Purse at York before being retired to stud. Ambrosio stood as a breeding stallion in Great Britain and Ireland, but had little success as a sire of winners.
Young Traveller was a British Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the classic St Leger Stakes in 1791. Bred and originally campaigned in Yorkshire he won two of his three races as an unnamed three-year-old in 1791. On the day after his classic victory he defeated an unusually strong field of older horse to become the first St Leger winner to also win the Doncaster Cup. In the following year he was sold, renamed and raced mainly in Scotland, winning a further five races before the end of his racing career. Young Traveller does not appear to have been used as a breeding stallion.
Pewett was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare best known for winning the classic St Leger Stakes in 1789. Her name was spelled in various ways including Pewet, Pewit and Pewitt and would appear to be a reference to the northern lapwing. In a racing career which lasted from May 1789 and May 1792 she won four of her thirteen races. In the St Leger she finished second to a colt named Zanga, but was awarded the race when the winner was disqualified for causing interference. After her retirement from racing she became a successful broodmare whose descendants won many important races throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Racing Calendar is the official horseracing publication of the Jockey Club.
