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look into a pedigree not at a pedigree, know what every name on the page means
2026 – the year of a Fire Horse to arrive new opportunity; sudden ability to transform and occurs wild or natural excitement.
2025 we closed the year upon a small, gallant horse named Gimcrack – a horse who changed ownership hands frequently. By all appearances he appears to be the ideal wagering horse beating early match horses and those identifiable names were entered to the early Studbook.
Gimcrack’s racing feats and progeny are a marvel of those times. Early American breeders bought his sons Medley and Clockfast and dam/grand-dam.
It is difficult to understand how the English allowed Gimcrack to diminish when as sire of numerous winners, among them being Grey Robin, his dam Snapdragon by Snap, winner of the Great Sweepstakes pf 5,600 gns, ran Newmarket Second Spring meeting 1777 to be one of the most remarkable races ever run. The little horse holds ‘honours’ @ Gimcrack Club Dinner held in York every December. To his name, Stakes races are held in honour to this very day.
Having always mused what is a ‘true’ thoroughbred, Type and types takes the greater equation. The classified haplotypes stand affixed yet distracts ‘pools’ or gene ‘islands’ – as ‘lesser’ proportioned contributor breeds. (in context, think of your family DNA)
Alike interpretative: – It may mean entirely different blood in different pedigree, and you must search further to have an intelligent knowledge of the blood lines of the animal. (Osborne)
Through the yarns and expanse of horse tales, the course of history may sound inconsequential however a cross weave inside the very breeding fabric determines an ultimate genotype that simply over time, almost fell between cracks. Hell, it could never disappear.
His (Bruce Lowe) figures are misleading and do not sow “at a glance” what blood has been brought into the combination.
Today, Inbreeding appears to a sire line bottleneck, (science maintains however plenty allelle diversity available) yet for the only remaining complexity – what will incline the elite bred.
Governance to the historical development by GSB, was only approved sires, these came by Herod – Matchem – Eclipse. This somehow overlooked this very distinguishing character where… {the period 1756 to 1765 was noted, not only for the three great horses born within its cycle – Herod (1758), Gimcrack (1760) and Eclipse (1764) but for the quickening of the impulses which were leading to the Golden Age of industry}.
Turning now to Part I., it will be seen that seventy-eight of the principal stallions covering in the United Kingdom during 1898 and following seasons are advertised in this volume, together with their pedigrees and performances in full; and dividing them according to their descent from the three great sires, Eclipse, Herod and Matchem, through the amalgamation of whose blood the breeders of old found the best result, they will be found to stand thus… (Joseph Osbourne Horse Breeders Handbook)
The entrapment of breeding idealism had begun to show…
Eclipse was quite as much due to the five strains of the Lister Turk (+ 9 strains D'Arcy's White Turk) than to the single strain of the Darley Arabian. (n.b. this explanation is noted to Osbourne because the author entirely dismisses the works of Bruce Lowe figure numbers and its introduction as taproot families)
Outstanding among all thoroughbred founder sires, Eclipse was sold as yearling after the death of his breeder. The Duke’s (Duke of Cumberland) stud was sold, according to Professor Robertson, by Tattersall. Robertson gives no authority for his statement, which had, however, been preceded by a similar statement by his predecessor, James Whyte. In his reference to the sale, Whyte referred to the disposal, “for a trifling sum”, of Marske. The buyer was a farmer, who put him to country mares in Dorset, at a fee of half a guinea. Later, the famous Wildman acquired him for 20 guineas. Meanwhile Wildman had bought Eclipse at the sale. He must have been the cleverest, or luckiest, man in London at that time. He bought Eclipse for 75 guineas, Marske for 20 guineas, and Gimcrack, bred by Mr Gideon Elliot.
By introduction or rather the elimination of a key bloodline genotype, only tipped and furthered those 3 determined sires’ lines as they went repeatedly crossed as such English Thoroughbred. Those out of the framework illogically over-ridden.
However, overtime, nature’s genes had come to prove the ‘fire’ of the little horse, a Sub- type, little acknowledged.
Accepting that particular genotype is where today’s breeding should only focus.
Should Byerley Turk, Godolphin Barb, Darley Arabian (Whalebone) are Foundational, the other goes wantonly amiss.
Libraries should give you an idea of the enormous wealth of information at our disposal…. not only the practical breeder but also the scientist to go through the bookshelves and lift the curtain which still covers so many hidden truths. (Tesio)
Our post appraising Byerley Turk morphological delves the Tourbillon pedigree and with a finer or deeper appreciation what has been previously overlooked – the powerful depth 5×5 Hanover (USA) – Gimcrack male line Wild Medley (USA), his daughter Ophelia 4th dam Hanover, – Leading Sire in North America 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898 (n.b.> references blocking the American RH lines 1908 onwards, see P.320 Kirsan*)
By strains to Gimcrack – those of Domino, Ben Brush sire of *Sweep and Broomstick and Fair Play descendants – the breeding propensities were so effectively perpetuated that each individual successfully established a significant sub-family in its own right toasting elite individuals like the undefeated Colin and the famous “chocolate soldier” Equipoise.
This Type clearly displays something so potent and is found to recent deceased Coolmore sire Wootton Bassett distaff through Blue Banner, a daughter of War Admiral (ie Man O’ War/Sweep) – Blue Larkspur (male descendant Domino) – Stimulus. (2x Domino + 2x Lady Thompkins 3x Gimcrack)
Fascinatingly, it is recorded to the racing style of War Admiral , he broke early and lead from the front. Hanover – 17 straight wins in 1st 2 years, including elders., won from 6f to 16f. It is a phenomenon to breaking clean and early of those distinguishing elite performers.
Who would have thought that Australia’s wonder girl, Four Time Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year, champion Winx (Street Cry) had the above Gimcrack (Grey Diomed + Hoskins Melzar) in her veins through broodmare sire line to Hold Your Peace. Or short cut into Type markers – Tourbillon/5×3 Blue Larkspur, Man o War, the rarer distaff (f.f.12-b Lady Grey). This is also @ Hoist the Flag dam Tourbillon/War Admiral to Street Cry’s sire Machiavellian.
World champion sprinter Ka Ying Rising is another ‘break early and lead’. As the punters say, he doesn’t need to go through ‘gears’.
We now understand ‘why’…this is about Type Markers Gimcrack.
references
Tattersalls, Two Hundred Years of History – Vincent Orchard
Breeding the Racehorse – Tesio
The Thoroughbred World – Walter Osborne
The Horse Breeders Handbook – Joe /Beacon’ Osbourne
American Running Horse – A Forgotten Breed, 2nd Edition – Kathleen Kirsan*
and pedigree factors 
