| Today most thoroughbreds from all
countries belong to English families whose foundation or taproot mares
are recorded in the General Stud Book of the United Kingdom.
However, there are families that can be traced only as far as existing
records permit. For example, in America, records were lost during the
American Revolutiony War (1775-1783) and the Civil War
(1861-1865) leaving the history of some families
incomplete and without connection to the General Stud Book, and
these families are now classified as American families. English families were of
sufficient size to require further subdivision and these are shown as
Family 1-a, 1-b, etc. Well populated families will have divisions as
recent as the twentieth century, such as that of Family 14-c, headed by
Pretty Polly who was foaled in 1901 and La Troienne who was foaled in
1926.
Early family tables incorporate
recent research and the corrections are discussed at the bottom of such
pages. While none of the tables is meant to be comprehensive, we are
adding classics winners.
|
| |
|
English Families |
|
|
English
Families lists the traditional taproot mares from 1 to 74, plus some
families we've recently numbered. (You can also click on the button). You can
go directly to the table for a specific family using the numbers below.
The Summary of Corrections lists
some of the known errors that have been corrected by later researchers.
The letters "q" and "v" were not used by Bobinski and Zamoyski
in their Family Tables of Racehorses. The
taproot mare of Family 15-c, Selima,
was later assigned to Family 21. The taproot mare of Family 50, Miss
Euston, was re-assigned to Family 13. |
1
1a 1b 1c
1d 1e 1f
1g 1h 1i
1j 1k 1l
1m 1n 1o
1p 1q 1r 1s
1t 1u 1v 1w
2 2a 2b
2c 2d 2e
2f 2g 2h
2i 2j 2k
2l 2m 2n
2o 2p 2q 2r
2s 2t 2u
2v 2w 3 3a
3b 3c 3d
3e 3f 3g
3h 3i 3j
3k 3l 3m
3n 3o 4
4a 4b 4c
4d 4e 4f
4g 4h 4i
4j 4k 4l
4m 4n 4o
4p 4q 4r 5
5a 5b 5c
5d 5e 5f
5g 5h 5i
5j 6 6a
6b 6c 6d
6e 6f
6x 7
7a 7b 7c
7d 7e 7f
8 8a 8b
8c 8d 8e
8f 8g 8h
8i 8j 8k
9 9a 9b
9c 9d 9e
9f 9g 9h
10
10a 10b 10c
10d 10e 11
11a 11b 11c
11d 11e 11f
11g
12 12a 12b
12c 12d 12e
12f 12g 13
13a 13b 13c
13d 13e 14
14a 14b 14c
14d 14e 14f
15 15a 15b
15c 15d 16
16a 16b 16c
16d 16e 16f
16g 16h 17
17a 17b 17c
17d 18 18a
19
19a 19b 19c
20 20a 20b
20c 20d 21
21a 22
22a 22b 22c
22d 23 23a
23b 24 25
26 27 27a
28
29 30 31
32 33 34
35 36 37
38 39 40
41 42 43
44 45 46
47 48 49
50 51 52 53
54 55 56
57 58 59
60 61 62
63 64 65
66 67 68
69 70 71
72 73 74
Family 1-x, belonging to La Troienne*, was numbered by Janeen Oliver
on her Mare Maps,
copyrighted in 2000 and displayed in 2002 at the TIEC trade show in
Lexington, and implemented by the
Pedigree Online Thoroughbred
Database (formerly Del Mar Pedigree Query) in 2003. You are welcome to use the number if you wish. 1x
Family 6-x is a temporary
classification for the descendants of Milbanke's Bald Peg.
6x
Selima was traditionally assigned to Family 15-c, however, C M Prior
discovered her true pedigree which indicated that she belonged to Family
21. Her offspring are sufficiently numerous that we have given her a
page of her own, although she remains part of Family 21. Selima*
The following families were initially assigned to traditional families,
however, there is some doubt about the authenticity of their pedigrees,
hence they have been alloted their own pages.
Jenny Cameron*, Kitty
Fisher*, Mary Grey*
The following families have been numbered by us for research
purposes. You are welcome to use the numbers if you wish. The tables are
presently under construction.
100 101
102 103 104 |
|
|
|
Other Families |
 |
Other
Families - lists the
taproot mares of Argentina, Poland and Uruguay. (You can also click on
the button). You can go directly to a specific family by clicking on the
number below. An Uraguayan family was identified by Gustavo Mèndez and Tom Viebke
in 2001. |
|
|
Ar1 Ar2
P1 P2
Ur1 |
| |
| History of Family
Numbers and Tables |
Toward the end of the
19th century Bruce Lowe and others made attempts to classify the
foundation, or taproot, mares according to the success, on the
racecourse or at stud, of their direct, or tail-female, descendents. At
that time Bruce Lowe identified approximately fifty mares, whose
tail-female lines were alive, to which he assigned family numbers, much
like a numerical surname. The mare with most Classics winners was given
the family number 1, the mare with the second most Classics winners was
given the family number 2, and so on. These family numbers are still in
use today, and in many parts of the world are considered much more
significant than in North America. At the very least they draw attention
to the fact that there is more to a horse than simply the sire line. For
a more detailed history of Bruce Lowe and his contemporaries, and an
explanation of his figure system visit The
Bruce Lowe Home Page.Later, Captain
Kaziemierz Bobinski and Lt-Colonel Stefan Count Zamoyski collaborated
to produce Family Tables of Racehorses. In order to
accomodate more horses Bruce Lowe's numbering system was expanded
as follows:
Families 1-74 trace
directly to a mare in the General Stud Book
Families 1-49 are numbered according to Lowe and Goos
Family 50 has been restored to Family 13
Family 51 is comprised of the descendants of the King William IV Arabian
Mare (as in Keylock)
Families 52-74 remain unclassified or without a number designation
Families Ar1-Ar2 are Argentine families
Families P1-P2 are Polish families
Families A1-A37 descend from American Stud Book mares who cannot be
traced to the GSB but which are accepted as foundation mares
Families C1-C16 are described in the Australian Stud Book as approved
Colonial Families
Families C17-C33 descend from Australian and New Zealand mares who
cannot be traced to the GSB
Families B1-B26 trace directly to Prior's Half-Bred Studbook
Having issued some 6 or 7 updates,
Bobinski took all the updates, added a year or two to them and reissued
the Family Tables as Vol II in the 1963. After Bobinski's death, Toru
Shirai of the Japanese Bloodstock Agency purchased the copyright and in
1988 he issued Vol III of the Family Tables, bringing the Tables up to
1987. In 2004 the Japanese Bloodhorse Breeders' Association issued
Volume IV of Family Tables of Racehorses.
|
| |
| Jersey Act (1913-1949) |
| |
From its roots in England the thoroughbred racehorse spread over
the earth, sometimes returning to be measured against the best.
Although he wasn't the first, none did so with more success than Gladiateur (b c 1862
Monarque), or with more shock to the English turf, as he had and
his parents had been bred in France. Gladiateur won the English
triple crown, the French St Leger and the Grand Prix De Paris in
1865 and won the Ascot Gold Cup in 1866. The French press called
him the "Avenger of Waterloo," but hyperbole aside, he was indeed a portent. Kincsem (ch f 1874
Cambuscan) came from Austria-Hungary in 1878 to win the Goodwood
Cup. Iroquois (br c 1878 Leamington) came from America to win
the Derby, St Leger, St James's Palace Stakes and Prince Of
Wales's Stakes in 1881. Foxhall (b c 1878 King Alfonso) also
came from America to win the 1881 Cesarewitch, the
Cambridgeshire and the Grand Prix De Paris and to win the Ascot
Gold Cup the following year. Merman (ch c 1892 Grand Flaneur)
came from Australia to win the Cesarewitch in 1897, the Jockey
Club Cup in 1898, the Goodwood Cup in 1899 and the Ascot Gold
Cup in 1900.
Around the turn of the 20th century, the
keepers of the General Stud Book became
increasingly concerned with the importation of foreign horses
into England. In Volume 18 (1897) they noted they were content
to refer to the stud books of origin, but uncomfortable with the
notion that in all cases an unbroken connection to the GSB was
not maintained. After referring to the Stewards of the Jockey
Club they stated in Volume 19 (1901) that "any animal claiming
admission should be able to prove satisfactorily some eight or
nine crosses of pure blood, to trace back for at least a
century, and to shew such performances of its immediate family
on the Turf as to warrant the belief in the purity of its blood.
Therefore all the imported horses and mares, which are included
in this Volume, have been submitted to this test".
One
victim of this ruling was the Australian-bred Newhaven (ch c
1893 Newminster) who did not have the requisite 8 crosses and
descended from a mare named Dinah (Family C5) whose pedigree had
been lost. Newhaven had been a splendid racehorse in Australia and
after his importation in 1897 won the City and Suburban Handicap in England. He retired to the Warren Stud at Newmarket
but despite his superior racing ability, after having been
virtually labelled a Half-Bred, could attract no patronage
so was sent back to Australia a few years later.
In
America horse-racing was itself in great distress. Anti-gambling
legislation had crippled the bloodstock industry. Racecourses
had closed. Many things American came to Britain along with more
horses, including American jockeys, lighter racing plates,
differing styles of horse management, diet and doping. Not all
things were bad, not all things were good, but to the ordinary
English breeder it was frightening to behold the flooding of
their market with both. They couldn't prevent the influx of
trade, but they could control its pedigree.
In Volume 21
(1909) the General Stud Book rescinded the notice of Volume 19 and instead
required that "no horse or mare can be admitted unless it can be
traced to a strain already accepted in earlier volumes of the
Book". In Volume 22 (1913) a suggestion initiated by Lord
Villiers, later the Earl Of Jersey, was incorporated, that "no
horse or mare can, after this date, be considered as eligible
for admission unless it can be traced without flaw on both
sire's and dam's side of its pedigree to horses and mares
themselves already accepted in the earlier volumes of the book".
This became known as the "Jersey Act". Although not aimed
exclusively at America, much of the dissatisfaction with the
ruling came from there, as the pedigree of Lexington (b c 1850
Boston) was considered unauthenticated.
The
speedy Americus (b c 1892) arrived in 1895 and was therefore
eligible. He had two crosses of Lexington in his pedigree and he
sired the 2° dam of Mumtaz Mahal (gr f 1921 The Tetrarch).
Nearco (br c 1935) had as his 3° dam the American-bred Sibola (b
f 1896), imported in 1898 and winner of the 1000 Guineas in
1899. Sibola's 3° dam was Maiden (b f 1862 Lexington), but
Nearco was eligible because of Sibola's import date.
However, conflicts arose, most of them based on the pedigree of
Lexington. Orby (ch c 1904 Orme) won both the Derby and the
Irish Derby in 1907. His dam Rhoda B., (br f 1895 Hanover)
imported as a yearling in 1896 before the restrictions, was
unaffected. However, the French-bred Durbar II, (b c 1911
Rabelais - Armenia) who won the Derby in 1914, was. His 2° dam
Urania (ch f 1892 Hanover) of Family A4 had Lexington twice in
her pedigree. The inconsistency was highlighted when the Goodwood Stakes winner Diapason (b c 1921)
was considered ineligible: Hanover appeared twice in his
pedigree, legitmately through Orby and illegitimately through
his damsire Sir Martin (ch c 1906) who came in 1908.
In
1913 the French Stud Book addressed the matter with a ruling of
its own, but less onerous than the English version in requiring
only 7 generations free of unauthenticated blood and tracing to
those already in either the French or English stud books. As
Armenia was imported in 1908, not surprisingly her son Durbar II
was then eligible in France, but still not in England. His
daughter Durban (b f 1918) became the dam of the leading sire in
France in 1940, 1942 and 1945, Tourbillon (b c 1928 Ksar).
Tourbillon's son Djebel (b c 1937) won the 2000 Guineas in 1940
and after the war came the Ascot Gold Cup winners Caracalla II
(b c 1942 Tourbillon) and Arbar (b c 1944 Djebel), the 2000
Guineas winner My Babu (b c 1945 Djebel) and the American-bred
St Leger winner Black Tarquin (br c 1945), who was ineligible
due to Man O'War, the sire of his 2° dam. Man O'War was
ineligible due to his great grandsire Spendthrift (ch 1876)
whose dam was by Lexington.
By this time it was apparent
that control of pedigree was in fact also a control on the
quality of horses available to the English bloodstock industry.
In Volume 31 (1949) the ruling of Volume 22 (1913), the
so-called "Jersey Act," was rescinded and replaced by the ruling
of Volume 19 (1901) to apply for Volume 32 (1953). These were
the same conditions that allowed a Half-Bred to pursue Stud Book
status, as did Lavant (b f 1955 Princely Gift) who appeared in
Volume 36 and subsequently many others. In Volume 36 (1969) the
keepers attempted to clarify the language and introduced a
refined requirement for
admission for eligibilty in the General Stud Book. It
stated that any horse must be able:
|
| |
|
1 To be traced at all points
of its pedigree to strains already appearing in pedigrees in
earlier volumes of the General Stud Book, these strains to be
designated "thoroughbred", or,
2 To provide
satisfactorily eight "thoroughbred" crosses consecutively
including the cross of which it is the progeny and to show such
performances on the Turf in all sections of its pedigree as to
warrant its assimilation with "thoroughbreds".
|
| |
| This was later adopted by the
International Stud Book Committee. This has the further
advantage that it ensures that a pedigree accepted by one stud
book will be recognised by all stud books. |
| |
 |
| |
| |
|
