The Darley Arabian stallion painting by John Wootton
Sex
Stallion
Foaled
1700; 324 years ago (1700)
Colour
Bay
Owner
Thomas Darley
Awards
Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland (1722)
The Darley Arabian (c. 1700–1730) was one of three dominant foundation sires of modern Thoroughbred horse racing bloodstock. The other two founders were the Godolphin Arabian and the Byerley Turk. This bay Arabian horse was bought in Aleppo, Syria, by Thomas Darley in 1704 and shipped to Aldby Park in England, as a present for his brother.[1]
One author in 1840 described Darley Arabian's arrival in England during the reign of Queen Anne as the event which "forms the great epoch from which the history of the Turf [as in "turf racing"] should be dated".[2]
There he stood at stud, usually private but sometimes open to outside mares. He was the leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland in 1722. By all accounts, the Darley Arabian stood about 15 hands high and was of substantial beauty and refinement.[3]
The Darley Arabian sired the undefeated Flying Childers. He also sired Bartlett's Childers, an unraced brother of Flying Childers, who was the great-grandsire of the extremely influential Eclipse. The Darley Arabian was to become the most important sire in the history of the English Thoroughbred.[3] His son Bulle Rock was the first Thoroughbred to be exported to America, in 1730.[4]
Most Thoroughbreds can be traced back to Darley Arabian. In 95% of modern Thoroughbred racehorses, the Y chromosome can be traced back to this single stallion.[5][6] This is mainly through his descendant, Eclipse, who is the direct male ancestor of 95% of all thoroughbreds and in the pedigree of many of the rest.[7]
^Whyte 1840, p. 79.
^Whyte 1840, p. 71.
^ abAhnert, Rainer L. (editor in chief), "Thoroughbred Breeding of the World", Pozdun Publishing, Germany, 1970
^Barrett, Norman, ed. (1995). The Daily Telegraph Chronicle of Horse Racing. Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Publishing.
^Cunningham, E. P.; Dooley, J. J.; Splan, R. K.; Bradley, D. G. (2001). "Microsatellite diversity, pedigree relatedness and the contributions of founder lineages to thoroughbred horses". Animal Genetics. 32 (6): 360–364. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2052.2001.00785.x. PMID 11736806.
^"95% of thoroughbreds linked to one superstud". New Scientist. 6 September 2005.
^"Who's the daddy of them all?". The Guardian. 4 March 2007.
founders were the Godolphin Arabian and the Byerley Turk. This bay Arabian horse was bought in Aleppo, Syria, by Thomas Darley in 1704 and shipped to Aldby...
the DarleyArabian and the Byerley Turk). He was named after his best-known owner, Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin. The Godolphin Arabian was...
famous for having bought an Arabian colt that became an important part of the history of the Thoroughbred breed. Darley was born in Aldby Park, Yorkshire...
foundational sires, with Godolphin Arabian the ancestor of 7 winners, Byerley Turk the ancestor of 11 winners, and DarleyArabian the ancestor of 132 winners...
Arabian or Arab horse (Arabic: الحصان العربي [alħisˤaːn alʕarabijj], DMG al-ḥiṣān al-ʿarabī) is a breed of horse with historic roots on the Arabian Peninsula...
early 18th centuries: the Byerley Turk (1680s), the DarleyArabian (1704), and the Godolphin Arabian (1729). Other imported stallions were less influential...
Anglican bishop Julian Darley Thomas Darley who kept the DarleyArabian at stud Ward Darley Lise Darly Matthias Darly Darley George Boucicault, apparently...
Thoroughbred horse racing bloodstock (the other two are the Godolphin Arabian and the DarleyArabian). The biographical details of the stallion are the subject of...
father's first business venture (Mystik Tape). He is a descendent of DarleyArabian. Mystik Dan's dam Ma'am was bought by trainer Kenneth McPeek for the...
home of the Darley family. This family's best known member is Thomas Darley, brother of Jane Darley, who owned the celebrated DarleyArabian horse which...
catch the public imagination. Flying Childers was sired by the great DarleyArabian, one of the three foundation stallions of the thoroughbred breed. His...
racehorses of Thoroughbreds: Eclipse, Herod, and Matchem DarleyArabian, Godolphin Arabian and Byerly Turk, stallions from whom all Thoroughbreds are...
Donegal, Northern Ireland. Bulle Rock was reportedly a bay son of the DarleyArabian, and said to be out of a mare by the Byerley Turk, though his maternal...
alone in speed, but in symmetry of shape and power.' His imprint on the DarleyArabian line was to become so indelible that even today silver flecks in the...
calls and many charts still use fifths. A † designates a filly. the DarleyArabian (1700c) sire line (all branched through the Eclipse (1764) line) produced...
the male line: the DarleyArabian, the Godolphin Arabian, and the Byerley Turk, named after their respective owners Thomas Darley, Lord Godolphin, and...
undefeated racehorse, Flying Childers who was a grandson of the great DarleyArabian (one of the three foundation stallions of the Thoroughbred breed). Original...
was a son of the great racehorse Flying Childers (a descendant of the DarleyArabian, one of the three foundation sires of the Thoroughbred). The Norfolk...
foaled in 1866, tracing his ancestry through the Hackney breed to the DarleyArabian. The Welsh crosses well with many other breeds, and has influenced the...
Cob bloodlines were brought into the breed, which traced back to the DarleyArabian, and most ponies today have pedigrees which can trace back directly...
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