Messenger
(foaled 1780) was an
English Thoroughbred stallion bred by a
John Pratt and imported into the newly formed
United States of America just after the
American Revolution.
Lineage
Along with three other stallions, (Medley, Sharp, and
Diomed), Messenger provided the type of foal, both
filly and
colt, that was needed for the era of long distance (stamina and speed) racing popular in the early days of the American sport.
Messenger was a grey by
Mambrino out of an unnamed mare (1774) by Turf. He was inbred to Cade in the third and fourth generations of his pedigree. Mambrino traced straight back to Blaze, the father of trotters. Messenger has crosses to all three of the Thoroughbred foundation sires, particularly
Godolphin Arabian. Although his sire was a trotter, Messenger never ran a trot race. While still in
England, he started in 16 flat races and won ten of them. Messenger's races, usually less than two and half miles, were mainly "match" races in which the side bets far exceeded the purse.
Arrival in America
No one knows just how Messenger arrived in the United States, or who brought him here. He was not only a great sire of thoroughbreds, he was the founding father of the harness breed, or
Standardbred. One possibility for his arrival in the United States is that he was purchased by
Henry Astor, the brother of
John Jacob Astor, and imported in 1788. It is also possible he was brought to the United States by a Thomas Berenger. If true, it was then, in 1793, that Messenger was sold to Henry Astor.
However Messenger arrived in the United States, he was once advertised in a Philadelphia newspaper as:
Available for service: Inquiries to be made to a certain Alexander Clay at the sign of the Black Horse in Market Street.Stud career
Like the other three English stallions, and as was the custom of the day, Messenger was bred throughout
Pennsylvania,
New York and
New Jersey. The mares he was bred with were not of the highest quality, but even so he proved himself a superior stallion, siring a great many successful
racehorses.
Messenger's daughter, Miller's Damsel, also known as "Queen of the American Turf", gave birth to the horse his breeder named
American Eclipse in the belief the foal would be as great as the famous English
Eclipse. By Duroc, a fine son of
Diomed, American Eclipse did indeed turn out to be a champion.
[ Montgomery, E.S, “The Thoroughbred”, Arco, New York, 1973 ISBN 0-668-02824-6]Through his great grandson, Rysdyk's Hambletonian (also known as
Hambletonian 10), Messenger is the originator of modern-day American
Standardbred horses, the principal
horse breed of
harness racing.
Messenger died on January 8, 1808 at the age of 28. He's buried on
Long Island.
Pedigree
Pedigree for Messenger1780 gray coltSee also
