Musket (1867–1885) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-bred

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse and a

Leading sire in Australia The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in Australia for each season since 1883–84. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the season. List * 2021/22 – I Am Invincible (1) * 20 ...

and New Zealand.

Breeding

He was sired by Toxophilite, his dam was a bay mare (1857) who was a half-sister to General Peel’s dam, by West Australian (winner of the 1853 British Triple Crown) from Brown Bess (1844) by Camel.Ahnert, Rainer L. (editor in chief), “Thoroughbred Breeding of the World”, Pozdun Publishing, Germany, 1970 Musket was inbred to

Touchstone Touchstone may refer to: * Touchstone (assaying tool), a stone used to identify precious metals * Touchstone (metaphor), a means of assaying relative merits of a concept Entertainment * ''Touchstone'' (album), a 1982 album by Chick Corea * T ...

in the fourth generation (4x4).

Racing record

In England Musket won nine races including the Ascot Stakes before retiring to stud there where he only had limited patronage. In spite of this he managed to sire Petronel winner of the

2,000 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 ...

and Brown Bess (1876) winner of the Doncaster Cup and Goodwood Stakes.

Stud record

In December 1878 Musket was imported into Victoria by the Auckland Stud Company and then sent to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand the following month. Initially he was used here to cover “half-bred” mares to breed coach horses.Leicester, Sir Charles, “Bloodstock Breeding”, J.A. Allen & Co, London, 1969 He sired 28 stakeswinners which had 107 stakes wins, including: * Cuirassier, won

Great Northern Derby The Great Northern Derby is a harness racing event for 3 year old standardbreds. It is a major event for 3 year old colts and geldings in New Zealand. It is run at Alexandra Park in Auckland, on the same night as the Auckland Cup in early March. ...

* Foul Shot, won Auckland Derby * Fusilade, won

New Zealand Cup The New Zealand Cup is a thoroughbred horse race run at the Riccarton Park Racecourse in Christchurch. New Zealand Cup week The New Zealand Cup is raced on the final Saturday of Christchurch "Cup week" held each year in the second week of Novem ...

* Fusilier, won Wanganui Derby * Manton, Derby Stakes, New Zealand Cup, Wanganui Derby * Martini-Henry, Victoria Derby, Melbourne Cup * Nordenfeldt, Victoria Derby, AJC Australian Derby * Trenton, ARC Welcome Stakes, CJC Champagne Stakes, VRC Royal Park Stakes (twice), etc., sire of good racehorses including Wakeful and Auraria. Musket is best remembered for siring the famous Carbine (great-great-grandsire of

Nearco Nearco (January 24, 1935 – June 27, 1957) was an Italian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse described by ''Thoroughbred Heritage'' as "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century" and "one of the most important sires of the century." He ...

), Nordenfeldt, Trenton (a leading sire in Australasia and then exported), Martini-Henry and Hotchkiss, all top sires. Carbine in his day was considered one of the greatest horses in the world, whose feats included winning the 1890 Melbourne Cup with the impost of in the record time of 3:28¼. The bloodlines of Musket including Carbine and Trenton, are still evident in many horses racing today.Becker, Friedrich, ''The Breed of the Racehorse'', The British Bloodstock Agency, London, c.1935 Musket had his portrait painted by the noted equine artist,

Martin Stainforth Martin Frank Stainforth (14 August 1866 – 22 April 1957) was a British-born artist best known for his portraits of Thoroughbred racehorses he painted in England and while living in Australia and the United States. Biography Born at Martley, ...

and it was reproduced in ''Racehorses in Australia''.Painting of Musket by Martin Stainforth
Retrieved 2010-2-28

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 1867 racehorse births 1885 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Champion Thoroughbred Sires of Australia Thoroughbred family 3-d