The origin of the term "Standardbred" was first officially used in 1879. In order for a Standardbred to be registered they must be able to trot a distance of one mile in 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the "standard", and hence the name of the breed, "Standardbred". Now days many standardbreds, which include both trotters and pacers, can go much faster and can eclipse 2 minutes.
The National Association of Trotting Horse Breeders formed The Standardbred Stud Book in 1879. Breeders selected bloodlines that would produce the fastest horses, and one of the most famous sires was a Thoroughbred Stallion "Messenger". Messenger was brought to the United States in 1788 and many of his descendants produced runners and trotters. One of his descendants was Hambletonian 10, born in 1849 and he became one of the most prolific sires in the history of Standardbreds. Today almost every trotter or pacer can be traced back to Hambletonian 10.
There are many outstanding Stallions, but one of the best was "Tar Heel". He set 2 world records and later became one of the best producers. According to Bradley "as a broodmare sire, Tar Heel ranks as one of the greatest of all time and a strong case could be made that he is absolutely the best". Considering his daughters produced 3 winners of Pacing's Triple Crown, I.e., Bret Hanover, Romeo Hanover, and Ralph Hanover, it would seem that "Tar Heel" was truly a great broodmare Sire.
The other half of the golden cross is Adios, a winner of 43 out of 87 starts. Adios is considered by many to be the greatest Standardbred of time with a tremendous amount of speed and set many world records at 1/2 mile and 7/8 mile. Additionally Adios passed this speed on to his off-spring.
According to Bradley: "The Blood of Adios changed harness racing forever and continues to be a major presence in modern great Pacers. "Hal Dale" was the sire of Adios, and sired many great stallions, such as; Adios, Good Time, and Dale Frost.
Many modern trotting lines in the Standardbred go back to "Peter The Great" via his sons; "Teter Volo" and "Peter Scott". Looking at Peter The Great's pedigree we see a strong presence of Hambletonian and Messenger.
Obviously the mares that these Stallions are bred to are of significant impact. Several of the power factors in selecting mares to breed to are found in "Lillian Wilkes", and the full sisters to Adios and By Guy. Other mares of note are Sigrid Volo, Widow Maggie, and Rose Scott.
Some physical characteristics that make the Standardbred a breed of it's own include the following. They tend to be more muscled and longer bodied than Thoroughbreds. They are also a bit heavier and have solid legs and powerful shoulders and hind quarters.
John Bradley has assembled an excellent reference work for breeders of trotters, consisting of a fact-filled assortment of great Sires of the last 50 years. His book is an outstanding contribution to accuracy as a handicapping work on Stallions which can produce winners. Bradley has also produced an extensive international research in his Bradley Standardbred Agency.
We will next take a look at Quarter Horse Racing Bloodlines.
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