Page 48 - July 2019

SPEEDLINES
allegedly came to Texas from either Kentucky or Illinois in 1844. He was raced for many years and won a race against a horse named Monmouth. His most famous race was with Shiloh that we will cover shortly.
Steel Dust was very popular as a sire and his legend spread throughout Texas and the Southwest. He counts among his foals Tom Driver, who sired Shelby the sire of Eureka who sired Weatherford Joe Bailey, also an important sire.
Steel Dust also sired Old Cold Deck, sire of Printer II who sired Missouri Mike the sire of Missouri Rondo who is the sire of Old Fred, the foundation sire for Coke Roberds of Colorado. The blood of Steel Dust was so coveted that
his name was considered by some wanting it to be the official name of the American Quarter Horse when the AQHA was formed.
Diomed, the winner of the first Epsom Derby in 1780, will be our next significant Thoroughbred to influence the American Quarter Horse. The success of Diomed on the track didn’t go with him to the stud,
and he was eventually exported to America
as an aged stallion where he became a
great foundation sire of the American Thoroughbred and the American Quarter Horse. Diomed is by Florizel by Herod.
His dam is Sister To Juno by Spectator. The dam of Sister To Juno was Horatia by Blank. Blank is by the Godolphin Arabian and out of Amorett by Bartlets Childers by the Darley Arabian. Amorett is the dam of Old Janus, making Blank and Old Janus full brothers.
Sir Archy, by Diomed, was born in 1805 and become a key player in the success of his sire. He became an important sire of both Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds. Sir Archy is out of Castrianira by Rockingham by Highflyer by Herod.
Diomed was exported to America in the late 1700’s
Diomed, the winner of the first Epsom Derby in 1780, was exported to America where he became a great foundation sire. The sire of Diomed is Florizel by Herod, and his dam traces to both the Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Arabian.
Copperbottom, by Sir Archy, was one of his important Quarter Horse sires. He was out of a mare by Buzzard by Woodpecker by Herod. The dam of Buzzard is Misfortune by Dux by Matchem. The mare by Buzzard is out of a mare sired by Rattle by Shark by Marske. Marske is the sire of Eclipse.
Copperbottom, born in Pennsylvania,
was brought to Texas by the legendary Sam Houston. Copperbottom would form the second oldest family of American Quarter Horses in the post-Colonial period. R.L. Underwood was the third President of
the AQHA, and he bred many bloodlines
and one of those bloodlines was with his stallion Golden Chief, a direct descendant of Copperbottom. We see the Copperbottom blood in the AQHA Hall of Fame stallion and famous cutting horse Cutter Bill, who has a breeding pattern of 3x4x3 to Golden Chief.
Shiloh, a foundation Quarter Horse sire, was foaled in 1844 in Tennessee and brought to Texas in 1849. Shiloh is closely associated with Steel Dust, as they were both racehorses in the early days of Texas. They reportedly raced against each other one time in 1855 - with two versions of the race. One version
of the race has Steel Dust winning after
he reared in the chute and with the jockey getting it together to pull out a win. Those who tell this version note that the rearing was an attempt by the trainer to get his horse
beat. Some say that Steel Dust was blind
by this time, as well. The other version has Steel Dust rearing in the chute, injuring his shoulder and forcing him to forfeit the race. This version says Steel Dust went blind as a result of the injury.
Historians have always told us that Shiloh is by Von Tromp by Thomas’ Big Solomon by Sir Solomon by Sir Archy. Shiloa, the dam of Shiloh, is by Union by Arab by Sir Archy. The dam of Union was Rarity by Sir Archy. This gives Shiloh a breeding pattern of 4x4x4 to Sir Archy.
A number of pedigree researchers have reported that they believe the Sir Solomon
in the sire line of Shiloh could have been sired by Tickle Toby by Alfred by Matchem. This is interesting because Sir Solomon, sired by Tickle Toby, is found in the American Studbook as Badger’s Sir Solomon and he was foaled in 1805, the same year Sir Archy was born. His number is 2316. The #2317
in the American Studbook is Sir Solomon
by Imported Citizen and he was foaled in 1808. The American Studbook #2318 is
Sir Solomon (Young) foaled in 1823. He
is by Badger’s Sir Solomon #2316. In the “Pedigrees Not Extended” section it shows another Sir Solomon foaled in 1832 and sired by Trumpator. A Sir Solomon by Peter Teazle was born in England 1796. This tells us that Sir Solomon was a popular name.
Steel Dust, born in 1843
The famous Steel Dust, reportedly born in 1843, became a foundation of the modern Quarter Horse.
46 SPEEDHORSE, July 2019