THE BREEDS OF HORSES 77 



The principal foundation to which the Thoroughbred traces 

 consists of the Barb or Royal mares, imported by Charles Second 

 (1660 to 1685), and the Darley Arabian, a pure Anazah, im- 

 ported in 1706; the Byerly Turk, imported in 1689, and Godol- 

 phin Barb, brought from Paris in 1724. The latter had been 

 Avorking' in a water cart, a discard, no doubt, from the stable of 

 some mend)er of the nobility to Avhoni he had been presented, as 

 was commonly the custom. 



There are prominent families in the Thoroughbred and 

 derived breeds wliich can be traced direct to each of these sires. 

 Eclipse, tlie most conspicuous individual in the history of the 

 English turf; Blaze, the foundation Hackney sire, and Messen- 

 ger, tlie progenitor of the American Standardbred, were respec- 

 tively four, three and six generations removed from the Darley 

 Arabian. King Ito <-)d, a great race horse, Avas a line descendant 

 of the ByerlAT'urlvpTnuU^tiltclieni, a noted race horse and sire, 

 was a grandson of Godolphin Ba?b: — it has been stated that the 

 American bred Thoroughbreds are, as a rule, closer to their 

 Oriental ancestry than the English Thoroughbreds and that they 

 follow their type more closely. 



Early Racing. — While the real era of Thoroughbred breed- 

 ing is usually considered to have begun with the importation by 

 Charles Second, horse racing of a primitive character was re- 

 ported in the latter half of the twelfth century. The first real 

 race Avas run in 1377, between Bichard Second and the Earl of 

 Arundel. Heni-y the Eighth Avas the first king to maintain a 

 racing stable of his OAvn, and the English sovereigns since that 

 time have been enthusiastic patrons of the turf. 



Through these centuries of breeding the uiost ligid selection 

 has been practised, turf performance alone being the standard. 

 Customs of conducting races and the types of horses that could 

 Avin have undergone considerable modification Avithin recent 

 generations, hoAvever. Prior to 1880 it was customary to run 

 four mile heats and carry top AA^eight, A\'hile the present system 

 is to sprint short distances under close handicaps, starting as 

 two-year-olds and campaigning for entire seasons. 



Thoroughhreds were introduced into this countiy by the 

 English colonists in Old Dominion, and the Thoroughbred sen- 



