Australian (1858 – 15 October 1879) was a British-bred
Thoroughbred racehorse and
sire
Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French.
The words "sire" a ...
. He was exported to the United States where he had modest success as a racehorse but became a very successful and influential breeding stallion.
Background
Australian was a
chestnut
The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.
The unrelat ...
horse with no white
markings, standing 15.3
hands high
A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "han ...
in maturity bred in England by W. E. Duncombe.
William Ernest Duncombe, later to become
1st Earl of Feversham was a member of a family which owned a long-established
stud at
Helmsley in Yorkshire.
As a foal, he was acquired by Alexander Keene Richards of
Scott County, Kentucky and was exported to the United States. The colt was initially given the name Millington.
He was from the third crop of foals sired by
West Australian who won the
2000 Guineas
The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year at ...
,
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...
,
St Leger and the
Ascot Gold Cup
The Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 2 miles 3 furlongs and 210 yards (4,014 ...
in 1853 and has been retrospectively recognised as the first
Triple Crown winner. West Australian was regarded by contemporary experts as one of the best British horses of the nineteenth century.
[.] After his retirement from racing he had some success as a sire of winners in England and France and, through his son
Solon was largely responsible for the survival of the
Godolphin Arabian
The Godolphin Arabian (–1753), also known as the Godolphin Barb, was an Arabian horse who was one of three stallions that founded the modern Thoroughbred (the others were the Darley Arabian and the Byerley Turk). He was named after his best-kno ...
sire-line in Europe.
[Craig, Dennis, ''Breeding Racehorses from Cluster Mares'', J A Allen, London, 1964] Australian's dam Emilia, who was imported to the United States along with her son, became the female-line ancestor of many other major winners including
Tanya,
Ben Ali,
Rhine Maiden
The Rhinemaidens are the three water-nymphs (''Rheintöchter'' or "Rhine daughters") who appear in Richard Wagner's opera cycle '' Der Ring des Nibelungen''. Their individual names are Woglinde, Wellgunde and Flosshilde (Floßhilde), although th ...
and
Broomspun. Her line continues to have an impact as her direct descendants include the influential broodmares
Gaily,
Hasili and
Mariah's Storm
Mariah's Storm (born April 1, 1991, in Kentucky) is an American thoroughbred racehorse, bred by Donald T. Johnson's Crescent Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. She suffered a serious injury while racing but later made a full recovery and continued her c ...
.
Racing career
1861: three-year-old season
In April 1861 at
New Orleans, racing under his original name, Millington, Australian made a successful racecourse debut when he defeated Regret, Tom Ready, Uncle True and Ninette to win the Doswell Stakes. In May and June he contested four races at Louisville Racecourse starting with a fifth place finish behind the Lillie Ward in the Asscociation Stakes and then coming home third behind the same
filly
A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use:
*In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old.
*In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...
in the Galt House Stakes. He subsequently ran second to Lillie Ward in another Association Stakes before finishing second to Kansas in the Citizen's Stakes. After a three month break Millington returned at
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...
on 23 September for the Produce Stakes which, like many races at the time, was scheduled for a series of heats, with the prize going to the first horse to win twice. He won one of the first three heats, but in the final run-off he ran third behind John Morgan and Myrtle. Four days later at the same track he defeated John Morgan and Myrtle to win another Produce Stakes.
1862: four-year-old season
Following the outbreak of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...
Richards, who supported the
Confederacy
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between ...
, moved to Louisiana and sold off many of his Kentucky-based stock including Millington who was bought by Robert A. Alexander of
Woodford County and renamed Australian.
In his only race for his new owner he contested an event in heats in which he finished fourth and fifth in the first two heats before running third behind John Morgan and Ella D. in the decider.
Stud career
At the end of racing career Australian was retired to become a breeding stallion and spent most of his stud career at Alexander's
Woodburn Stud
Woodburn Stud was an American horse breeding farm located in Woodford County, Kentucky about ten miles (16 km) from the city of Lexington. It was established in the 18th century as an original land grant property of General Hugh Mercer to ...
. He sired the winners of 410 races and was runner-up to
Lexington for the title of
Leading sire in North America The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the year. It is restricted to stallions which are based in N ...
on six occasions between 1871 and 1877.
His offspring included:
*Maudina, foaled 1864, dam of
Cloverbrook
Cloverbrook was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1877 Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, races that would become the second and third legs of the U.S. Triple Crown series.
Cloverbrook was the first horse to win the Preakness S ...
.
*Abd El Kader, foaled 1865. Sire of
Algerine
Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...
.
*Maggie B B, foaled 1867, dam of
Iroquois,
Harold and
Panique (
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...
) and the female-line ancestor of numerous major winners.
*
Joe Daniels, foaled 1869, Belmont Stakes,
Travers Stakes,
Saratoga Cup
*
Springbok, foaled 1870, Belmont Stakes, Saratoga Cup
*Attila, foaled 1871, Travers Stakes. Sire of
Tecumseh
Tecumseh ( ; October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and ...
.
*Letty, foaled 1873, dam of
Refund.
*
Baden-Baden, foaled 1874,
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...
,
Jersey Derby, Travers Stakes
*Adele, foaled 1875, dam of
Belmar.
*
Spendthrift, foaled 1876, Belmont Stakes, Jersey Derby. His descendants have been instrumental in preserving the
Godolphin Arabian
The Godolphin Arabian (–1753), also known as the Godolphin Barb, was an Arabian horse who was one of three stallions that founded the modern Thoroughbred (the others were the Darley Arabian and the Byerley Turk). He was named after his best-kno ...
sire line in modern times.
*Spirit, foaled 1876, dam of
Paul Kauvar
Paul Kauvar was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He won the 1897 Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course ...
.
Australian died at the Woodburn Stud on October 15, 1879.
Pedigree
References
{{reflist
1858 racehorse births
1879 racehorse deaths
Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom
Racehorses trained in the United States
Godolphin Arabian sire line
Thoroughbred family 11