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Antipodes: British Stallions sent to Australia
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See the Sailing Route from England to Australia | |
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By Keith R. Binney for Thoroughbred Heritage. ©Keith R. Binney, 2009. Keith Binney is author of Horsemen of the First Frontier (1788-1900) & The Serpents Legacy (Volcanic Productions, 2005) and a contributor to Thoroughbred Heritage.
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The Influence of British Stallions in Australia
In the period 1788 - 1882, almost 400 stallions were imported to the colony of New South Wales, forerunner of the nation of Australia. Yet despite the commercial and practical advantages available to Cape of Good Hope and Indian exporters, arising from their much shorter shipping distances -- plus a general recognition by early Australian horse breeders of the worth of Arab bloodlines -- more than 90% of these imports were English or Irish-bred thoroughbreds.
Colonial Sons of British Sires
From the earliest times, Australian breeders interested in "breeding up" from their mares of eastern origin, preferred to use the few English thoroughbred sires available, as even Colonial-bred stallions from English sires were naturally of mixed blood. Reputedly, the Honourable Thomas Icely's Chancellor (c1826, by Steeltrap (GB) 1815, out of Manto (GB) 1817) was the first colonial-born, pure thoroughbred stallion, but as he died at just six years of age, Chancellor did little as a sire. However, beginning in the early 1840s, pure-bred colonial sires, such as the famous Sir Hercules (1843, by Cap-a-pie (GB), out of Paraguay (GB) by Sir Hercules (GB)), stamped their mark on the Australasian racehorse. Sir Hercules' acceptance continued through his sons, particularly Cossack (1846, out of Flora McIvor) and Yattendon (1861, out of Cassandra). However, perhaps his most famous racehorse son, The Barb (1863, by Sir Hercules (AUS) and out of Fair Ellen), was somewhat disappointing as a sire.
Other Colonial pure-bred sires of the early period, such as Waverley (1845, by St. George (GB), out of Splendora (GB)), Lawson's Tros (c1844, by Tros (GB), out of Persiani (GB)), and Whalebone (1844, by Speculation (GB), out of Paraguay (GB)), were also successful and reasonably well patronised. They were followed by Touchstone (1853, by Touchit (GB), out of Thetis), Chevalier (1854, by Lawson's Tros, out of Flora McIvor), and William Tell (c1855, by William Tell (GB), out of Maid of the Oaks), a full brother to dual Melbourne Cup winner Archer (1856).
By 1882, there were a large number of well-bred, Colonial-born, thoroughbred sires available. Some of these thoroughbred horses were put to use over station mares to upgrade the "Australian Stock Horse," which was to become famous as the "Waler" in military circles during the Indian and Boer Wars, as well as the 1st World War in the Middle East. Major Australian thoroughbred breeders of the time showed a strong bias against using locally-bred stallions, in favour of imported English sires. This preference -- or perhaps prejudice -- extended well past the interruptions to English imports due to the two World Wars.
Today this bias no longer exists, as confirmed by the fact that Australia's current leading sires are both Australian-breds, albeit with large doses of international blood: Redoute's Choice (AUS, 1996) by Danehill (USA) (a son of Danzig (USA)), out of Shantha's Choice (AUS), and Encosta de Lago (AUS, 1993) by Fairy King (USA) (a son of Northern Dancer (CAN)), out of Shoal Creek (AUS). Both Danehill and Fairy King were purchased as yearlings in the USA, and were raced and retired to stud in England and Ireland.
With the modern "shuttle stallion" system, Danehill and Fairy King and other superior stallions were and currently other superior stallions are flown by airplane to the southern hemisphere, after covering mares on northern hemisphere time. Travel time for shuttle stallions is 24 to 48 hours, depending on lay-overs, origin and destination -- a blink of the eye compared to the journeys faced by their predecessors.
Some Imported British Stallions
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