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Standardbred harness racing horses are so called because in the early years of the Trotting Registry, the standardbred stud book established in the United States in 1879 by the National Association of Trotting Horse Breeders, only horses who could race a mile in a standard time or better, or whose get could race a mile in standard time or better, were entered in the book. The first harness racers on North America were the Narragansett Pacer and the Canadian Pacer. Crosses between English Thoroughbreds and other breeds, including the Norfolk Trotter, the Hackney, the Morgan and the Canadian Pacer produced a horse that was the predecessor to the Standardbred. In the 17th century, the first trotting races were held in the Americas, usually in fields on ridden horses. However, by the mid-18th century, trotting races were held on official courses, with the horses in harness. Breeders selected bloodlines that would produce the fastest horses, with one of the most notable sires being the gray English Thoroughbred Messenger, who was exported to the United States in 1788. He produced both runners and trotters, and the trotters possessed great speed and heart. His descendant, the legendary Hambletonian 10, was born in 1849. He was sold, his owners thinking he was worthless, but later became one of the most prolific sires of Standardbreds, today with nearly every trotter or pacer tracing its lineage back to him. |
