The Father of Racehorses

Surfing the Internet I came across a very interesting article about The Father of Racehorses on a page of Newsday's World Wide Web site dedicated to Long Island history http://www.lihistory.com/

"Messenger lived from 1780 to 1808 - roughly paralleling the presidency of George Washington," newspaper staffer John Jeansonne wrote. "He was 'the great progenitor.'"

While the steed was the founding sire of harness horses, a distinctly American breed, I was surprised to learn he was the most prominent contributor to this country's thoroughbred stock.

"Among the chips off the Messenger block," Jeansonne pointed out, "were Eclipse, Man 'o War, Equipoise, Gallant Fox, Peter Pan, Kelso, Spectacular Bid, Riva Ridge, Swaps, Tom Fool and even Secretariat."

Whew! What a stable.

Three other chips off his block were harness superstars Hambletonian, Bret Hanover and Niatross.

"In his native England, Messenger had had a modest racing career of 10 wins in 16 starts. But, once in the New World, with a new career standing at stud, he became the central figure in the fledgling nation's first popular spectator sport.

"And he played an enormous role in establishing Long Island, whose racing traditions dated to the country's first-ever racetrack in 1665, as the American cradle of turf and breeding.

"Messenger first worked in Philadelphia in 1788 before winding up on a Long Island farm in what is now the Matinecock section of Locust Valley. For more than two decades, Messenger was bred to English thoroughbreds, half-breeds and even draught horses."

In 1935, the year I was born, members of the Piping Rock Club erected a monument at his burial site adjacent to their club in the valley.

"A bronze-gone-to-green plaque, attached to a 2-foot-high stone, sits alongside Duck Pond Road, just east of the Piping Rock Road intersection and the 1671 Quaker meeting house where Messenger often grazed on the front lawn.

"Approximately Twenty Paces to the South of This Spot Lies MESSENGER," the plaque announces. "No Stallion ... Did More to Improve Our Horse Stock/None Enriched More the Stock of the Whole World/None But Himself Can Be His Parallel."

You can say that again.

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