THREE CENTURIES OF LEADING SIRES Michael Church 1987

THREE CENTURIES OF LEADING SIRES

1721 - 1987

By Michael Church

Bound in red leather, with gilt lettering to front and spine, all edges gilt, 108 pages. Portrait 21 x 14cm.

Book No. 35 of 500 A Numbered Edition - SIGNED BY MICHAEL CHURCH

Published by RACING POST LTD. 1987.

The Thoroughbred Horse, fashioned by the crossing of native English mares with stallions imported from the Middle East, has been regarded for almost three centuries as one of man's finest creations.

And throughout that time, in art and literature, man has never ceased to celebrate that facet of living history, horseracing, for which his creation was developed.

Formal accounts of racing date from 1709, with more extensive compilations appearing after 1750.  In 1773 came the first publication of James Weatherby's Racing Calendar, which eventually became recognised as the official and authentic record of races run.

Twenty years later Weatherby initiated the calendar's sister publication, the General Stud Book, which gave Thoroughbreds their identities, setting out their pedigrees and breeding records.

The same year also brought the first issue of the Sporting Magazine, the first wide-circulation periodical to deal extensively with horseracing and breeding. That publication was also instrumental in popularising the works of sporting artists - most notably of course George Stubbs - who were captivated by the symmetry and nobility of the Thoroughbred and by the power and grace he expressed in competition.

The successors to those worthy innovators have been inspired to maintain traditions and celebrate the Thoroughbred in all his activities.  Between them thos artists and chroniclers have provided us with what comes close to a uniquely complete record of a living species since its origination.

The archive has been explored and expounded upon to such a degree that few gaps remain to be filled in the literature of horseracing as it has existed up to the present day.

One of those gaps has now vanished, thanks to Michael Church, whose painstaking and meticulous research on Three Centuries of Leading Sires has provided us with a new perspective on the entire history of Thoroughbred racing and breeding in the British Isles.

The crucial factor responsible for man's ceaseless fascination with the deeds of the Thoroughbred has been continuity.

Although there have been countless and far-reaching changes over the centuries, essentially the sport we enjoy today serves the same purpose and provides the same pleasure which our forefathers recognised 300 years ago.

Just as significant, the horses who excite us today are the descendants of thos who founded the breed, and here the links in the chain of that all-important continuity are presented - the celebration of the creation and development of the Thoroughbred in an original form.

Tony Morris

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND PICTURE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

LEADING SIRES' EARNINGS TABLE

THE RELATIVE VALUE OF THE POUND THROUGH THREE CENTURIES

ILLUSTRATIONS OF LEADING SIRES

STATISTICAL EXTRACTS OF LEADING SIRES AND CLASSIC WINNERS

CLASSIC WINNING FILLIES WHO HAVE BRED CLASSIC WINNERS

TOTAL RACES WON BY PROGENY OF LEADING SIRES

LEADING SIRES LISTED IN THE PEDIGREE SECTION

EARLY SIRES FROM 1606

LEADING SIRES; PEDIGREES AND PERFORMANCES

INDEX OF LEADING SIRES, THEIR PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS AND MAJOR PROGENY, TOGETHER WITH FOALING DATES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

LEADING SIRES CHART 1721-1987 (Centrepiece) 

EXCELLENT CONDITION - WILL BE POSTED FIRST CLASS RECORDED