The other winning streak

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

When exactly is the start of the "modern era" in horse racing?

I keep hearing the phrase modern era ... but no one seems to define it.

The Daily Racing Form was first published in 1896 ... and all the old past performances and result charts still exist from April 1st 1896 onward at the Keeneland Library. Is that the cut off?

Sir Barton won the first triple crown and Man O' War started racing in 1919 ... is that the cut off?

I can't really think of anything else that would seperate the modern era from the pre modern era.

My best guess would be the start of the modern era in horse racing would be either April 1st 1896 or Jan 1st 1919.

Anyone else with an idea?

Yes. When they changed the extant American Thoroughbred bloodstock, by massive European importations. After the Depression. Maybe a little earlier. But starting with the big farms of the 1930's - 1940's, with their Euro imported stallions.

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by Riot

Yes. When they changed the extant American Thoroughbred bloodstock, by massive European importations. After the Depression. Maybe a little earlier. But starting with the big farms of the 1930's - 1940's, with their Euro imported stallions.

Since Man O' War is usually included, along with Sir Barton, I'm not sure that is going to fly.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

Since Man O' War is usually included, along with Sir Barton, I'm not sure that is going to fly.

Yes, they are usually included in "modern era". I just wanted to point out that there was indeed a pretty significant change in the American Thoroughbred world, in the genetic composition of the bloodstock itself, that resulted in what we describe as the "modern Thoroughbred".

Good example: Blenheim

From TB Pedigree:
Owner: A Syndicate in U.S.
Breeder: Lord Carnarvon
Winnings: 10 Starts: 5 - 3 - 0, £ 14,533 ($73,067)

1929: 1st New S. (ENG), Hopeful S. (ENG), Manton Plate (ENG), Speedy Plate (ENG)
2nd Middle Park S. (ENG), Champagne S. (ENG)
AT 3: Won Derby S. (ENG) - only start at 3

Won First Epsom Derby for HH Aga Khan III, as an 18-to-1 outsider, beating the Aga Khan's Rustom Pasha who was the second favourite at 9-to-2. Entered stud in 1931. Imported to USA (1937). Died 1958, buried at Claiborne Farm. Properly US-registered as "Blenheim II".

And from Wiki, basic TB history, one of the reasons why imports took off in the US (so we could sell them back). But that changed our bloodlines,and the look of the horse:

Soon after the start of the 20th century, fears that the English races would be overrun with American-bred Thoroughbreds because of the closing of US racetracks in the early 1910s, led to the Jersey Act of 1913.[36] It prohibited the registration of any horse in the [ English ] General Stud Book (GSB) if they could not show that every ancestor traced to the GSB. This excluded most American-bred horses, because the 100-year gap between the founding of the GSB and the American Stud Book meant that most American-bred horses possessed at least one or two crosses to horses not registered in the GSB. The act was not repealed until 1949, after which a horse was only required to show that all its ancestors to the ninth generation were registered in a recognized Stud Book. Many felt that the Jersey Act hampered the development of the British Thoroughbred by preventing breeders in the United Kingdom from using new bloodlines developed outside the British Isles.

So we imported those horses here, so we could interbred them, and sell them back internationally. The reinfusion of the Euro lines with the extant American lines changed the racehorse into the modern physical and genetic specimen we are most familiar with.

[Kasept]

The modern era certainly pre-dates the Depression and WWII. The mid-90's to the blackout period (1908-11) can be seen as early modern (Breeders like Keene, trainers like Rowe and horses like Domino, Kingston, Colin, Maskette, Roseben, Commando, Beldame, Sysonby, etc.) and post blackout to WWII (1912-1939) as mid-modern (Col. Bradley and John Madden, Man o'War, Grey Lag, Exterminator, Roamer, Sir Barton, Regret, etc.)

Agree with Doug that the record-keeping element is a good drawing line and the origination of Triangle Publications came right around the time of Domino & Kingston. This whole discussion points out the importance of the preservation project of the UK/Keeneland Library.

http://kdl.kyvl.org/drf/drf-giving.php

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Agree with Doug

[Calzone Lord]

Originally Posted by Riot

Yes. When they changed the extant American Thoroughbred bloodstock, by massive European importations. After the Depression. Maybe a little earlier. But starting with the big farms of the 1930's - 1940's, with their Euro imported stallions.

It's kind of tricky to put an exact date or year to something like that.

The foal crop in 1904 -- right before things started to get bad for racing purse money - was 3,990... and a lot of bloodstock had been imported.

40 years later -- the foal crop was just 5,650 in 1944.

It wasn't really until the 1960's when you started to see a massive production of foals.

I read a few interesting columns a while ago written by Vosburgh about the stock farms in Kentucky during the early 1920's.

He wrote in great detail about the big ones of the day such as Elmendorf Stud, Xalapa, Claibourne, Faraway, Hinata, The Nursery Stud, The Whitney and Idle Hour, Woodburn and Hartland.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

It's kind of tricky to put an exact date or year to something like that.

The foal crop in 1904 -- right before things started to get bad for racing purse money - was 3,990... and a lot of bloodstock had been imported.

40 years later -- the foal crop was just 5,650 in 1944.

It wasn't really until the 1960's when you started to see a massive production of foals.

I read a few interesting columns a while ago written by Vosburgh about the stock farms in Kentucky during the early 1920's.

He wrote in great detail about the big ones of the day such as Elmendorf Stud, Xalapa, Claibourne, Faraway, Hinata, The Nursery Stud, The Whitney and Idle Hour, Woodburn and Hartland.

Yes, you're right about the date. I do think you've narrowed it down to the end of racing in the US - it's sorta before and after that date: 1910, 1913 or so.

Don't forget two world wars had an impact on the industry, too.

You might enjoy two volumes that I think Bloodhorse released, about Thoroughbred Breeders in the early 1900's, the big farm and big owners. But it's pretty dry stuff, mostly bloodlines, stallions and mares on their farms and who they imported, who they traded with, who they bred to. But it traces those origins here.

I think you can charge much of the huge rise in foal crops in the 1960's to actions like Leslie Combs (Spendthrift) creating massive syndicates. He really put the "commercial" in horse breeding.